| Guillaume Joseph Nicolas de Lafon-Blaniac | |
| Birth Date: | 25 July 1773 |
| Birth Place: | Villeneuve-sur-Lot, Lot-et-Garonne |
| Death Place: | Vico, Corsica |
| Allegiance: | Kingdom of Spain |
| Branch: | French Army Spanish Army |
| Serviceyears: | 1792–1815, 1818-1825, 1830–1833 |
| Rank: | General de division |
| Battles: | |
| Awards: | Legion of Honour (Grand Officier) Order of St. Louis Inscription on the Arc de Triomphe |
Guillaume Joseph Nicolas de Lafon-Blaniac (1773–1833) was a French military commander.
Lafon-Blaniac enlisted as a second lieutenant in the 5th Regiment of chasseurs à cheval (French light cavalry), in 1792.
After seeing action in Italy, he saw further action in Napoleon's Egypt, and was equerry to Joseph Bonaparte in Austria, Prusia and Naples.[1]
He was promoted to brigadier general in 1806.[2]
See main article: Peninsular War.
When Joseph Bonaparte became King of Spain in 1808 Lafon-Blaniac entered Spanish service as his aide-de-camp, with the rank of major general.[1] In 1810 he was appointed governor of Madrid.[3]
In March 1812, Lafon-Blaniac was named governor of La Mancha and given command of the vanguard for the Army of the Centre.[3]
Appointed Captain-General of New Castille, he was left in command of the garrison when King Joseph marched from Madrid on 21 July, too late to help Marmont's Army of Portugal at Salamanca (22 July).[4]
At the beginning of August, with Wellington's vanguard rapidly approaching, Lafon-Blaniac was given the order to defend the citadel —contrary to Jourdan's advice[4] — rather than withdrawing from the capital.[5] His garrison at Madrid consisted of some 2,000 men, mainly drafts belonging to the Army of Andalusia. Although they belonged to several different regiments, they were all French troops of the line; there were no juramentados among them.[4]
Although the double enceinte and the star fort in the interior would have been effective against guerrilleros or insurgents, the place could not hold out against siege-guns,[4] and following the Battle of Majadahonda (11 August), fought on the outskirts of the city, on 14 August 1812 Lafon-Blaniac surrendered.[4] Wellington himself had entered the city two days previously;[6] an initial attack on the citadel had forced its defenders into the inner enceinte which, although formidably palisaded, with a ditch twelve feet deep and twenty-four wide, had only one well left. An additional danger was that the huge arsenal was vulnerable to shell-fire.[4]
In June 1813 Lafon-Blaniac was wounded at Vitoria.
Afterwards he re-entered French service, with the rank of general de division. In January 1814 he was given command of the Cavalry of the Reserve of the Army of Italy, and fought in all the battles until Napoleon abdicated. While being retained in the army and given the Order of St. Louis, he returned to the Emperors side during the Hundred Days.[1]
After the Bourbons had returned to power once more, Lafon-Blaniac eventually was listed in the army again from 1818 until his retirement in 1825. After the July Revolution of 1830 he was reactivated, named a grand officer of the Legion of Honour and later given command of a division on Corsica. He died there in Vico. His name is inscribed on the southern pillar of the Arc de Triomphe.[1]