Colonel Antoine Anselme Malet

Officer who served in the Guard for most of his career and was mortally wounded at Waterloo

Born: January 9, 1778

Place of Birth: Avignon, Vaucluse, France

Died: August 9, 1815

Cause of Death: Mortally wounded

Place of Death: Charleroi, Belgium

Enlisting in the army in April of 1793, Antoine Anselme Malet served with the Army of Italy from 1793 to 1798. In May of 1796 he joined the guides that protected the commander-in-chief and he was wounded by a bayonet to the left hip at the Battle of Lodi . In 1798 Malet joined the Army of the Orient to continue his service as a guide and in 1799 he returned to France. In January of 1800 he joined the Consular Guard and later that year he served on campaign with the Army of the Reserve in Italy. At the Battle of Marengo Malet was wounded by a shot to the left heel. A month later he was commissioned as a sous-lieutenant and then in 1804 he was promoted to lieutenant and he began serving with the Chasseurs à Pied of the Imperial Guard.

Malet served with the Grande Armée during the campaigns of 1805, 1806, and 1807. In 1808 he served in Spain and in 1809 he served with the Army of Germany and was promoted to capitaine in the 1st Conscrits-Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard in April. Malet served at the Battle of Aspern-Essling where he was wounded by a shot of grapeshot to the right thigh. A week later he joined the 2nd Tirailleurs-Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard. In 1810 Malet was named a Knight of the Empire and he served in Spain in 1810 and 1811. After receiving a promotion to chef de bataillon in April of 1812, he served on the campaign in Russia that year. Having survived the retreat, Malet served in the campaign in Saxony in 1813 and he was wounded at the Battle of Lützen and then again at the Battle of Dresden. In 1814 he continued to serve with the Imperial Guard and he took part in the defense of France.

After Napoleon's abdication in April of 1814, Malet commanded the battalion of the Imperial Guard that accompanied the emperor to exile at Elba. In 1815 he returned to France with Napoleon and was appointed a major and commander of the 3rd Chasseurs à Pied of the Imperial Guard. Malet participated in the campaign that June with the Army of the North and he fought at Waterloo where he was wounded by a ball to the left shoulder. Transported to Charleroi, he died from his wounds in August.

Bibliography

Quintin, Danielle, and Bernard Quintin. Dictionnaire des Colonels de Napoléon. Paris: S.P.M., 1996.

Updated March 2023