Amédée Emmanuel Francois Laharpe

Amédée Emmanuel François Laharpe (born de La Harpe; , 27 September 1754 – 8 May 1796) was a Swiss military officer who served as a volunteer in the French Army during the French Revolutionary Wars. He rose to become a general of the Revolutionary Army, and led a division in Italy under Napoleon Bonaparte until his death in battle after being hit by friendly fire. He was a cousin of the Swiss political leader Frédéric-César de La Harpe.

Early life and career

Amédée de La Harpe was born into a noble family in Rolle, Vaud, Switzerland on 27 September 1754. He was the son of Louis Philippe de La Harpe, Seigneur des Uttins and member of Lausanne's Council of Sixty, and Sophie Hugonin. He attended a philanthropinist school in Haldenstein along with his cousin Frédéric-César de La Harpe,

As a young man La Harpe served as a mercenary in the Netherlands. He was then sentenced to death in absentia by Bern, and his property in Switzerland was confiscated.

French Revolutionary Wars

In late 1791, Laharpe joined the French Army as a lieutenant-colonel of the 4th volunteer battalion of Seine-et-Oise, first being deployed with the Army of the Rhine and then the Army of the Alps.

Legacy

During his exile in Saint Helena, Napoleon described Laharpe as "an officer of distinguished bravery. A grenadier in heart and stature. Beloved by his troops whom he led with intelligence". He is honored on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, where the name LAHARPE is inscribed on column 24, right below that of fellow Vaudois volunteer Jean Reynier.

Family In 1775, during his mercenary service in the Netherlands, La Harpe married Baroness Charlotte d'Auvin de Burdinne, from the County of Namur.