Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour order of Cavalry General Jean-Joseph Ange d'Hautpoul

General d'Hautpoul received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor on February 8, 1806. "His Majesty Emperor and King has just conferred on you by his decree of the 8th of this month the grand cordon of the Legion of Honor. I feel great satisfaction, General, in announcing to you this new mark of the benevolence of His Imperial and Royal Majesty and the esteem that he grants to the eminent services rendered to the Fatherland." /from the letter of Grand Chancellor of the Order/.

Gold, enamel.​

Width 69.5 mm.
Height 93.5 mm.
Weight 65 g.

Presumably cross was made by the goldsmith Halbout. Ring marked with a French gold hallmark "small rooster's head" from 1798-1809 time period.

Inscription reads: "Décoration et ruban portés par le Gal d'Hautpoul (Jean Joseph) 1807". Signed "Cte d'Hautpoul" (his son, Alphonse-Napoléon, (1806-1889), comte d'Hautpoul).

 

Jean-Joseph Ange d'Hautpoul (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ ʒozɛf ɑ̃ʒ dopul]; 13 May 1754 – 14 February 1807) was a French cavalry general of the Napoleonic Wars. He came from an old noble family of France whose military tradition extended for several centuries.

Efforts by the French Revolutionary government to remove him from his command failed when his soldiers refused to give him up. A big, loud-voiced man, he led from the front of his troops. Although the failure of his cavalry to deploy at the Battle of Stockach (1799) resulted in a court martial, he was exonerated and went on to serve in the Swiss campaign in 1799, at the Second Battle of Stockach, the Battle of Biberach, and later at Battle of Hohenlinden. He served under Michel Ney and Joachim Murat; he was killed in Murat's massive cavalry charge of the Battle of Eylau in 1807.​