Gangrene set into Lannes’ leg and it took him nine days to die. Napoleon visited him twice daily, and arrived to see him moments after he had expired. His valet Louis Constant found the Emperor shortly afterwards in his quarters, ‘seated immobile, mute, and staring into space, in front of his hastily prepared meal. Napoleon’s eyes were inundated with tears; they multiplied and fell silently into his soup.’
[…]
Today Lannes lies in caverne XXII of the Panthéon, in a coffin draped with the tricolor, under nine flags hanging from the walls covered with the names of his battles.
’The loss of the Duke of Montebello, who died this morning, has grieved me much,’ Napoleon wrote to Josephine on May 31. ‘So everything ends!!! Adieu, my love; if you can do anything toward consoling the Marshal’s poor widow, do it.’
Source:
Roberts, Andrew. "Wagram." Napoleon: A Life. New York: Penguin, 2014. 516-17. Print.
Original Source(s) Listed:
Blond, La Grande Armée p. 242, ed.
Summerville, Exploits of Marbot p. 167.
Dumas, Memoirs II p. 196.
Rovigo, Mémoires IV p. 125.
Martin, Napoleonic Friendship p. 40.
CG9 no. 21105 p. 634, May 31, 1809.
Further Reading:
Just popping by to say hello, I finally signed up.
Napoleon was one driven man, I'm quite interested in Tallyrand, I've been looking for a good book on him for some time.