(TDB) - The gay hussars

The issue of sabrage, that is to say using a sabre or sword to open a bottle of Champagne, is a little contentious. There are some who see it as brash exhibitionism, others as a waste of good wine, still more who think it just a bit of fun.

Those who do are usually aware that they are recreating the acts of Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops but do they know which soldiers in particular or why?

The Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries was the golden age of the military tailor and the best, the most outlandishly grandiose uniforms were those of the cavalry – and in particular the hussars.

They were the most dashing of what was generally thought to be a dashing corps and epitomised “la gloire” – the glory – of Napoleon’s campaigns.

Across the battlefields of Germany, Poland, Italy and Spain they cultivated a reputation for swagger, arrogance and hot headedness as well as their fabulous moustaches. And before you think them boorish they were equally renowned for charm, courage and a devil-may-care bravado.

No odds were too high, no situation too impossible, no battle too fierce, no lady too beautiful – or married – for these hard-riding, hard-drinking, hard-fighting, womanising gentlemen vagabonds and chief among them was General Lasalle.

The Alsatian born Antoine-Charles-Louis Comte de Lasalle fought with Napoleon’s armies across Europe into Egypt, where he adopted bright red Mameluke saroual trousers and then back into Europe, cutting a dash wherever he fought; the Spanish called him “el Picador“, the rogue.

Many stories about him, in true hussar fashion, are carefully cultivated half-truths or out and out fallacies but others were perfectly accurate.

In 1806 for example he and a small band of hussars forced the city of Stettin to capitulate simply by riding up to the gates and convincing the garrison that a far larger French force was just around the corner.

Similarly, in 1796 he conducted a love affair with an Italian marquise in Viacenza which required him to constantly cross Austrian lines. He never bothered to hide his French uniform, using his fluency in German to bluff his way through instead.