Louis François Félix Musnier de La Converserie (French pronunciation: [lwi fʁɑ̃swa feliks mysnje də la kɔ̃vɛʁsəʁi]; 18 January 1766 – 16 November 1837) became a general officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and led a division during the Napoleonic Wars.

Born on 18 January 1766 at Longueville, France, Musnier entered the military school of Paris on 22 August 1780 as a gentleman cadet.

On 27 March 1795 he was named chef de bataillon (major) of the 1st Battalion of the 106th Line Infantry Demi Brigade.

Musnier joined the Army of Italy on 18 October 1798 and performed notable service in the capture of Novara on 5 December 1798.

[4] Led by the 9th Light, the new French line pushed back the Austrians of the Michael Wallis Infantry Regiment Nr.

11, but recoiled when Austrian chief of staff Anton von Zach sent a brigade of crack grenadiers into the fight.

With perfect timing, the French unleashed a ferocious bombardment of the grenadiers just as François Etienne de Kellermann's heavy cavalrymen charged into their flank.

[1] At this time Napoleon made the unwise decision to seize Spain by force and expel King Charles IV and his royal family.

On 16 February 1808, the French armies seized control of a number of important places and soon afterward sent the Spanish ruling family to be detained in France.

[6] Among the first French forces in Spain, Musnier commanded the 1st Division in the 24,430-strong corps of Marshal Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey.

[9] For Napoleon's second invasion of Spain, Moncey's command was renamed the III Corps and reinforced to a strength of 37,690 men.

[14] The III Corps, now under General of Division Jean-Andoche Junot, overran the southern part of Aragon after the fall of Zaragoza.

A Spanish army under General Joaquín Blake y Joyes appeared and threatened French control of Aragon.

Leaving Laval and a 2,000-man brigade to observe the Spanish right bank division, Suchet confronted Blake in the Battle of María on 15 June 1809.

Blake struck at Musnier's division but the 114th Line beat back the attack with help from a Polish lancer regiment.

[19] At length, the French reinforcements arrived and Suchet launched Habert and Pierre Watier's cavalry at Blake's right wing.

Suchet paid no attention to Blake's center while sending Musnier to attack the Spanish left and Habert to assault the right.

Suchet left Musnier to watch Blake's force and returned to Zaragoza to restore order in Aragon.

Because Joseph's forces were in the process of overrunning Andalusia against spotty resistance, the king believed that the Spanish armies were in a state of collapse.

After finding that General Henry O'Donnell was marching to the city's relief, Suchet took Musnier's division and went looking for the hostile army.

[25] The next morning, Miguel Ibarrola Gonzáles encountered Jean Isidore Harispe's small covering force east of Lérida.

In the Battle of Margalef, as the Spanish troops faced Musnier's infantry, the 13th Cuirassier Regiment charged into their flank.

[2] From 16 December 1810 to 2 January 1811, Musnier led his division in the Siege of Tortosa which ended in a Spanish surrender.

His superior Marshal Pierre Augereau left Musnier to cope with the situation and rode to Valence to gather more troops.

Believing his soldiers might run away, Musnier moved them to the west bank of the Saône River on 17 January, evacuating the city.

Austrian commander Ferdinand, Graf Bubna von Littitz heard about this and sent an officer to demand Lyon's surrender.

Completely fooled, the Austrian officer's report to his superior caused Bubna to pause in his plan to storm the city.

Musnier's actions averted the early capture of Lyon and allowed the French to pose a threat to the main Allied armies' supply lines.

His force of 6,000 men included elements of the 32nd Light and 20th, 23rd, and 67th Line Infantry Regiments, 13th Cuirassiers, 12th Hussars, and National Guard of Toulon.

With 56,000 soldiers and 124 cannon, the Austrians enjoyed a large numerical superiority over the French army's 20,786 infantry, 1,976 cavalry and 1,507 gunners with 33 field guns.