Stèle du lieutenant de Chasseval

Located on the Route Forestière du Faîte, a hundred meters from General Mangin's observatory, this monument commemorates Lieutenant Henri de Chasseval of the 11th Dragoons, who fell here on June 12, 1918 at the age of 25.


Viscount Henri du Chemin de Chasseval was born on August 23, 1892 in La Bussière (Loiret). A Saint-Cyrien of the Croix du Drapeau class, he commanded the machine-gun section. On June 12, 1918, he was in the middle of this section, called up to protect the Infantry Division command post on hill 255 (Tour Réaumont), when between 2:30 and 3:30 it came under intense German artillery fire. Seriously wounded, Henri du Chemin de Chasseval was evacuated to Crépy-en-Valois hospital, ambulance 7/20, where he died of his wounds the same day. Decorated with the Legion of Honor and the Croix de Guerre, he was posthumously awarded the following citation: "Excellent officer, of high moral value. Showed remarkable composure and brilliant courage on all occasions. Mortally wounded in the midst of the men he commanded".


The 11th Dragoons was disbanded on August 7, 1916 and divided into two half-regiments, its squadrons becoming divisional squadrons of various infantry divisions. On the 12th, the 1st half-regiment, comprising the 3rd and 4th squadrons under Henri Duchemin de Chasseval, joined the 60th Infantry Division in Champagne, while the 2nd half-regiment, comprising the 1st and 2nd squadrons, moved to the Fusiliers Marins in the north of France.
From June 1918, back on horseback, they all took part in the hard fighting in the Villers-Cotterêts forest, then in the counter-offensive that led to victory, where the Dragons constantly maintained contact with the German rearguards.
Sources : picardie1418.com

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