Brigadier-General Auguste François-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais (18 October 1777 – 3 January 1809) was a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

officer who served in the

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (sometimes called the Great French War or the Wars of the Revolution and the Empire) were a series of conflicts between the French and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompas ...

. He became a

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of cavalry during the Napoleonic Wars and fought in several major battles under Emperor

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

from 1805 to 1807. He was killed by a long-range shot fired by Irish rifleman Thomas Plunket during the

Battle of Cacabelos The Battle of Cacabelos was a minor battle of the Peninsular War that took place on 3 January 1809, at the bridge just outside the village of Cacabelos, Province of León, Spain, as British forces under Sir John Moore making their retreat to ...

in 1809.

Early career

Colbert joined the army as a private, but soon became aide-de-camp to Emmanuel Grouchy, then to

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also ; ; ; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French Army officer and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the military titles of Marshal of the ...

and served in the Army of Italy. During the

Egyptian campaign The French invasion of Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was a military expedition led by Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The campaign aimed to undermine British trade routes, expand French influence, and establish a ...

, he took part in the Saléhieh affair and the Siege of Acre, receiving a serious wound in the latter action. He returned to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

with

Louis Desaix Louis Charles Antoine Desaix () (17 August 176814 June 1800) was a French general and military leader during the French Revolutionary Wars. According to the usage of the time, he took the name ''Louis Charles Antoine Desaix de Veygoux''. He was co ...

then went to Italy, where he behaved with distinction at the

Battle of Marengo The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. Near the end of the day, the French overcame General ...

on 14 June 1800. His actions merited the star of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, granted him on 11 December 1803, and on 25 December 1804, he was made a colonel of the 10th

Chasseurs à cheval ''Chasseur'' ( , ), a French term for "hunter", is the designation given to certain regiments of French and Belgian light infantry () or light cavalry () to denote troops trained for rapid action. History This branch of the French Army o ...

Regiment.

Napoleonic Wars

Colbert distinguished himself at the

Battle of Elchingen The Battle of Elchingen, fought on 14 October 1805, saw French forces under Michel Ney rout an Austrian corps led by Johann Sigismund Riesch. This defeat led to a large part of the Austrian army being invested in the fortress of Ulm by the ...

on 14 October 1805. During the combat, he led the 3rd

Hussar A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...

and 10th Chasseur Regiments in support of Marshal

Michel Ney Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The son of ...

's attacking infantry. He also fought at the

Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV French Republican calendar, FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important military engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near t ...

in December. Promoted to brigadier general at the end of 1805, he was given an important mission to

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

by Napoleon, where he was accompanied by his great friend Claude Testot-Ferry, later a colonel in the cavalry of the

Imperial Guard An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops (or a member thereof) of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the emperor and/or empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial force ...

. He and Ferry met again in Spain. He married the daughter of senator Canclaux, and they had two sons in 1805 and 1808. On 14 October 1806, while commanding the cavalry of Ney's VI Corps, Colbert served at the

Battle of Jena A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, leading several charges of the 3rd

and 10th Chasseur Regiments against enemy infantry. Still with VI Corps, he led his troopers at the

Battle of Eylau The Battle of Eylau (also known as the Battle of Preussisch-Eylau) was a bloody and strategically inconclusive battle on 7 and 8 February 1807 between Napoleon's and the Imperial Russian Army under the command of General Levin August von Be ...

on 8 February 1807 and the

Battle of Friedland The Battle of Friedland (14 June 1807) was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars between the armies of the French Empire commanded by Napoleon I and the armies of the Russian Empire led by General Levin August von Bennigsen. Napoleon and t ...

on 14 June. At this period Ney said of him, "I sleep peacefully when Colbert commands my outposts." Sent to Spain in 1808 to join the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, Colbert fought at the Battle of Medina del Rioseco on 14 July 1808 while serving under Marshal

Jean-Baptiste Bessières Jean-Baptiste Bessières, duc d'Istrie (; 6 August 1768 – 1 May 1813) was a French military leader of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon in 1804. Born into the ''petit ...

. On 23 November, he led his cavalry at the

Battle of Tudela The Battle of Tudela (23 November 1808) saw an Imperial French army led by Marshal Jean Lannes attack a Spanish army under General Castaños. The battle resulted in the complete victory of the Imperial forces over their adversaries. The c ...

under Marshal

Jean Lannes Jean Lannes, 1st Duke of Montebello, Prince of Siewierz (; 10 April 1769 – 31 May 1809), was a French military commander and a Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was one of Napol ...

. That winter, he commanded the 3rd Hussars and 15th Chasseurs in the cavalry advance guard of Marshal

Nicolas Soult Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as President of the Council of ...

, who was pursuing Sir John Moore's

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

army in its retreat to

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

On the Astorga road not far from Villafranca, Colbert's troopers captured 2,000 prisoners and wagon trains carrying rifles, as well as releasing some French troops captured by the British. Later the same day, however, at the

, Irish Rifleman Thomas Plunket, a noted sharpshooter in the

95th Rifles The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

, one of the British units still under effective military discipline, advanced alone towards the French. Plunket killed Colbert with a single long-range rifle shot, then killed an officer who came to Colbert's assistance with a second shot. These shots were likely taken beyond the normal rifle range of 200–300 meters, and well beyond the musket range of 80 meters, so Colbert would not have considered himself close enough to the British rearguard to be in any danger. His last words were: "I am still very young to die; but at least my death is that of a soldier of the great army, because, exhaling, I see flee the last and eternal enemies of my country!" When Ney learned of his death, he sent an aide to collect his personal effects. He wrote, "His wife and child will one day attach value to having what belonged to him. Besides it is the only and final proof of friendship that I could give to this brave young man."Young 1987, pp. 363–364. By a decree of 1 January 1810, Napoleon decided that a statue of Colbert should be placed on the pont de la Concorde, though this project never came to fruition. The name COLBERT is engraved on Column 38 on the west face of the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...

Notes

References

* * Smith, Digby (1998). ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' London: Greenhill. * Young, Peter (1987). "Ney: The Bravest of the Brave". in Chandler, David (ed). ''Napoleon's Marshals.'' New York: Macmillan.

Early career

Napoleonic Wars

Notes

References

Further reading