Amédée Emmanuel François Laharpe

Born in Switzerland on October 17 (or September 27) 1754, at the Château des Uttins near Rolle in the Vaud region, Amédée Emmanuel François Laharpe was forced into exile after a failed conspiracy to remove his native land from the control of the Canton of Bern. Sentenced to death, he fled to France and joined a volunteer battalion (in 1791).

In 1793, he took part in the siege of Toulon, where he gained the rank of general and met Napoleon Bonaparte.

Laharpe then moved to Italy with André Masséna division, becoming major general on August 16, 1795, and distinguished himself at Montenotte (April 12, 1796), the first battle of the Italian campaign of 1796-1797, and then at Millesimo.

He died on May 10, 1796 at Codogno, killed by French soldiers who fired on his escort in the dark, mistaking it for an enemy troop.

Laharpe's name is inscribed on the 24th column (south pillar) of the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile .

When he became First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte, who held this grenadier in high esteem for his heart as well as his size, asked the French ambassador in Basel to have Laharpe's property, confiscated after his conviction, returned to his children.