The Death of Prince Louis Napoléon
THE DEATH OF PRINCE LOUIS NAPOLÉON
A practical shooting lesson from history.
Marthinus de Lange
Practical Pistol Shooting
In 1993 I used to be involved in the sport of Practical Shooting, with the Wits Command Practical Pistol Club. I had resigned from the police the year before and started shooting with the army club at the request of a friend of mine, who was an SADF armourer and very active member of the club. The practice sessions, on a Wednesday afternoon, were informal and lots of fun. With officers and enlisted shooting together. One of the senior officers, a colonel, whose name I have sadly forgotten, was a very educated and eloquent man. He would often mention historical anecdotes related to shooting and the practical applications of it. I greatly enjoyed listening to his stories and speaking with him.
For those unfamiliar with the sport of Practical Pistol Shooting, some exercises require the use of the shooter’s so-called “weak hand”. The pistol being fired with the shooter’s non-dominant hand to simulate using the firearm with an injury to the dominant hand. Many former SAP members reading this will probably have done similar exercises on Maleoskop or during tactical training at some of the more specialised units.
It was during one such exercise that a young lieutenant (What the army dismissively calls a “one pip loot”) when required to shoot with his left hand, missed the target entirely with several shots. While we scored and patched the targets, the lieutenant began talking about the fact that he seriously doubted if he would ever have to fire his sidearm left-handed.
Prince Louis Napoléon
The colonel then, calmly, explained that Prince Louis Napoléon, who was also a lieutenant at the time, had died fighting the Zulus, ending the Napoleonic dynasty, because he too couldn’t shoot with his left hand! The story was very interesting at the time, and, over the years, I have read various accounts of it. This article will attempt to describe what happened as well as provide a short analysis.
Born on the 16th of March 1856 Prince Louis Napoléon was the only child of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie. When Napoléon III was dethroned, Louis-Napoléon and his parents moved to Kent in England. Upon Napoléon III’s death, in 1873, Bonapartists in France proclaimed Louis Napoléon to be Napoléon IV. He was the last hope for the restoration of the House of Bonaparte to the throne of France.
In 1872 the prince attended the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in England. He is said to have finished 7th in his class of thirty-four students. He was however top of his class in both riding and fencing. As of the time of writing I could not find any details of his marksmanship ability.
South Africa
Having served with the Royal Artillery at Aldershot the prince was very keen to see active duty. With the outbreak of the Zulu War in 1879 and the British defeat at Isandlwana, he saw his chance to do so. The prince, who was a lieutenant, petitioned to join the British forces being sent to South Africa. This request was initially refused. However, after both his mother, Empress Eugénie, and Queen Victoria pleaded on his behalf he was allowed to go. After his arrival in Durban, he was placed on the staff of Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron of Chelmsford, the commander of British forces in South Africa. Lord Chelmsford is said to have not been happy about the prince’s presence in South Africa.
The prince was known to be very enthusiastic. Sometimes overly so. During the reconnaissance for the second invasion of Zululand he, apparently, drew his sword and conducted a one man charge against a party of Zulus who had fired shots at him. The Zulu riflemen dispersed which, supposedly, delighted the prince. This event greatly worried people who were charged with his safety and the general feeling was that he was too brash.
I find this event rather interesting since, in my opinion, it illustrates, once again, the British, and Europeans in general, unfamiliarity with asymmetrical warfare. Despite them repeatedly encountering it. In the earlier wars in America, and in the later Boer wars, partisan riflemen would generally disperse rather than taking on their enemies head on.
31st of May 1879
On the 31st of May 1879, when the invasion of Zululand began, the prince sought to continue his scouting work. On the 1st of June he proceeded to do so in the company of one Lieutenant Jahleel Brenton Carey. A French speaking officer that he had befriended. Both lieutenants left the camp, along with a small escort and headed deep into Zululand. By the afternoon they were sketching (Sketching was part of the reconnaissance) near an abandoned Zulu kraal. Toward late afternoon a party of Zulus was sighted by one of the scouts. These Zulus then attacked. It appears that the Zulus initially opened fire on the prince’s party. Under fire, Carey, the prince and the escort desperately tried to mount their horses and escape. The prince however failed to successfully mount his horse. He slipped and fell, and the horse then galloped away, trampling his right hand (Some accounts say hand whilst others say arm) in the process. The prince then drew his revolver with his left hand and attempted to flee. By this time the Zulu warriors on foot had reached him and he was stabbed (some accounts say it was a thrown spear) in the leg with a spear. The prince then fired his revolver repeatedly, unfortunately for him, he missed all his attackers with every shot that he fired. Some reports talk of him pulling a spear from his body and holding it in his right hand whilst firing his revolver with his left. Sadly, the prince was then overwhelmed and stabbed to death. The surgeon’s report indicated 18 stab wounds. The fatal wound was a stab wound to the right eye which penetrated the brain.
Two other members of the escort, troopers from the Natal Native Horse, were killed in this action, along with a Zulu guide who had been part of the escort. Lieutenant Carey and the four surviving men under his command had managed to ride some distance away but did not fire on the Zulus.
Body was returned to England
The prince’s body was returned to England and his mother, Empress Eugénie, would later make a pilgrimage to the site of his death. A memorial, paid for by Queen Victoria, was erected at the site and still stands to this day.
The prince’s death shook European society, with many eager to lay blame. Carey was initially made the scapegoat for the prince’s death. He was court-martialled and sentenced for “Misbehaviour before the enemy” however the sentence was overturned, and he returned to his regiment. In 1883 Carey died of peritonitis whilst serving in Karachi.
Before we get to the practical shooting related aspects of the prince’s unfortunate death there are a few things that need to be mentioned.
The prince was not a combat veteran by any stretch of the imagination. Experience, particularly in a field where mistakes can get a person killed, is often the best teacher.
Accomplished fencer
He was, aside from his revolver, armed with a sword and was an accomplished fencer. I have an interest in historical fencing techniques and can confirm that the period manuals for officers did include defence against bayonets, something that should be able to be transferred to assegais. Period fencing treatises often go on about how one should be competent in the use of both hands. One can only assume that the damage to the prince’s hand made him unable to use his sword. Some of the swords of the time would be usable in the left hand. Others, because of the handguard, would not have. The exact type of sword the prince carried seems to be lost to history. As a fencer, an officer and an aristocrat he would, conceivably, have had one of his own purchase. Non-regulation swords were rather common with upper class officers.
The prince was a skilled equestrian yet, despite this, when fired on he struggled to mount his horse. With accounts saying he slipped off the stirrup and failed to catch the saddle.
Was the colonel correct in his assertion?
So, was the colonel correct in his assertion that the prince died because he couldn’t shoot left-handed? That would seem to, at least partly, be the case. Having to defend oneself with the weak hand, when the dominant hand has been injured, is exactly what the weak hand Practical Pistol exercise was trying to simulate. Therefore, the colonel’s story certainly did illustrate the point of it.
Whilst I was unable to find a pistol training manual from the prince’s exact service time, the 1898 musketry manual has a brief section on practice with the revolver. It describes very basic exercises with both hands, and I would assume it was that way in the prince’s time as well. He should have been familiar with it. So yes, the colonel was correct in that aspect.
Shooting at targets under pressure
Now, with due respect the colonel, having said all of that: Calmly shooting at static targets, on a shooting range and shooting at targets under pressure when one’s life is at stake are two different things. Particularly with a handgun. Modern pistol training attempts to add the element of stress. Something which was not necessary the case with previous training. Even so, things change when one’s life is at risk, and the adrenalin is pumping. Any policeman who has ever had to use their duty sidearm can confirm this. As I stated above the prince was not a veteran and this was his baptism of fire as it were.
Even if the prince had managed to use his revolver to lethal effect, one wonders how much it would have helped him. Reloading the weapons of the time was a ponderously slow process, some officers took to carrying spare revolvers for this reason. History seems to indicate that the Zulu spearmen were very familiar with swarming a European who was armed with a firearm.
If the account of the prince’s leg wound is correct, he would not have been able to outrun Zulu warriors on foot.
Garnet Joseph Wolseley
In the end, perhaps the words of Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, ring truest. He described the prince as follows: “a plucky young man, and he died a soldier’s death. What on earth could he have done better?”
For those of us in this modern day and age, with more advanced firearms, we can still learn from the prince’s unfortunate history and practice our skills diligently. Because, if the manner of his death proves anything, it’s that things can go horribly wrong. And when they do go wrong, one does not necessarily rise to the occasion. Instead, it is highly probable that one sinks to the level of one’s training and practice!
Bibliography And References with Some Notes
Rifle and Carbine Exercises. Manual Exercise, Firing Exercise,
Bayonet Exercise, Firing Exercise for Webley Pistol, and
Instructions of Cleaning Arms. 1898, (London, Harrison and
Sons, 1898)
The Death Of A Prince: Louis Napoléon And The Tragedy Of The Zulu War by Mark Simner
https://www.historynet.com/the-death-of-a-prince-louis-napoleon-and-the-tragedy-of-the-zulu-war/
Retrieved 2025-08-30.
BattleRoyal – Louis, Prince Imperial
https://www.military-history.org/feature/battle-royal-louis-prince-imperial.htm
Retrieved 2025-08-30.
Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Napol%C3%A9on,_Prince_Imperial
Retrieved 2025-08-30.
Useful overview which gives details of the exact manner of the prince’s death. References a JSTOR document that is not available for public download.
