Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière
Jean-Ambroise Baston, Comte de Lariboisière | |
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General of Division | |
Battles/wars | French Revolutionary Wars |
Awards | Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur , 4 June 1807Count of the Empire, 26 October 1808[1] |
Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière, also Count de Lariboisière, was a general of
A superb organizer and tactician, Baston de Lariboisière rose rapidly through the artillery ranks and reliably directed the artillery park for the initial engagements of the
Lariboisière's direction of artillery fire at the Battle of Austerlitz destroyed the ice covering the lake over which Russian army forces retreated. His placement of artillery at the Battle of Borodino gave the French a tactical advantage in firing on the Russian lines. Lariboisière's artillery also provided the rear guard coverage of the French withdrawal from Beresina. One of his sons survived the wars and the family founded the Lariboisière Hospital in Paris.
Family and education
He was born on 18 August 1759, in Fougères. His father, Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière, was lieutenant general of civil and criminal justice and the seneschal of Fougères. His mother was Jeanne Monnières. Baston de Lariboisière was designated early for a military career.[2]
He was a brilliant student at the military academy and in 1781 received a commission as a lieutenant and entered the same regiment as Napoleon Bonaparte. Although Lariboisière was ten years older than Bonaparte, they developed a rapport that continued until Lariboisière died in 1812.[2]
Military career
Baston de Lariboisière was cited as a distinguished officer at the outset of the
In the following years, he participated in the campaigns of 1796, as adjutant colonel, colonel, and brigadier general, and directed the artillery parks of the
At the
At
Napoleonic Wars
Baston de Lariboisière commanded the artillery of the French IV Corps for the 1805 campaign of the
In the
In February 1808, General Lariboisière took command of the artillery of the
Russian campaign, 1812
In planning the Russian campaign, in 1812, Lariboisière immediately foresaw difficulties in transporting the requisite amount of artillery and ammunition the vast distance from the Nieman River into Russia. The army left Prussia with over 1100 artillery pieces of various kinds and sizes.[12] Despite heavy rain, the French arrived in Vilnius; despite the mud, the artillery was established before the battle and contributed to successful targeted fire.[2]
Honors and Promotions
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On the evening before the Battle of Borodino, Baston de Lariboisière scouted the Russian positions to determine the means of bombarding the redoubts that the Russians had established on their left. During the night, he strategically placed the French artillery park; at daybreak, the artillery bombarded the Russian positions, firing over 70,000 rounds. One of Lariboisière's sons (Ferdinand), was fatally wounded in a charge on the Russian lines at Borodino. Grief-stricken and exhausted with fatigue, the general fell sick in Vilnius and died in Königsberg on 21 December 1812.[2]
Legacy
His body rests in the church of les Invalides, and on his coffin is the following inscription:[2]
Ambroise Baston, Count of La Riboisière, major general, commanding the artillery of the Grande Armée, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, born in Fougères, died at Königsberg, December 21, 1812.[2]
The General's heart is hosted in a private chapel near his castle of Monthorin at Louvigné-du-Désert, in Brittany.[13]
Sources
Notes and citations
- ^ a b Tony Broughton. "The Garde Imperiale and Its Commanders during the Period 1804–1815: Artillery." Military Subjects: Organization, Tactics and Strategy. Napoleon Series. Robert Burnham, Editor in Chief, March 2003. Accessed 17 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m (in French) Charles Mullié. "Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière." Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850. Paris, 1852
- ^ Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. A Memoir of the Operations of the Army of the Danube under the Command of General Jourdan, Taken from the Manuscripts of that Officer. London: Debrett, 1799, p. 94.
- ^ Ramsay Weston Phipps. The Armies of the First French Republic and the Rise of the Marshals of Napoleon I: The Armies on the Rhine, in Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Egypt, and the coup d'état of Brumaire 1797–1799. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, [1939] 1980, vol. 5, p. 265.
- ^ Phipps, vol. 5, p. 315.
- ^ Phipps, vol. 5, p. 323.
- ^ Phipps, vol. 5, p. 333.
- ^ a b c Revue critique d'histoire et de littérature. Paris, E. Leroux. 18. p. 509.
- ^ (in French) Faculté des lettres de Rennes. "Discours, pron. a l'inauguration de la Statue du General Lariboisière." Annales de Bretagne, Rennes: Plihon, [ -1973], Volume 8, p. 735–742.
- ISBN 0-02-523660-1, p. 432
- ^ Paul Dawson. "French Artillery in 1807." Military Subjects: Organization, Strategy and Tactics. Napoleon Series. Robert Burnham, Editor in Chief. August 2004. Accessed 17 May 2010.
- ^ Richard K Riehn. 1812 Napoleon's Russian Campaign. New York: Wiley 1991, p. 159.
- ^ Lariboisière's short biography in Napoleon & Empire website, displaying photographs of the castle and the private chapel
- ^ (in French) Germaine Sarrut. "Honore Baston Comte de Lariboisière." Biographie des hommes du jour, industriels,--conseillers-d'État. Paris, H. Krabe, 1835–41, p. 43–44.
- ^ (in French) Discours, p. 735.
Bibliography
- Broughton, Tony. "The Garde Imperiale and Its Commanders during the Period 1804–1815: Artillery." Military Subjects: Organization, Tactics and Strategy. Napoleon Series. Robert Burnham, Editor in Chief, March 2003. Accessed 17 May 2010.
- Chandler, David. The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. ISBN 0-02-523660-1.
- Dawson, Paul. "French Artillery in 1807." Military Subjects: Organization, Strategy and Tactics. Napoleon Series. Robert Burnham, Editor in Chief. August 2004. Accessed 17 May 2010.
- (in French) Faculté des lettres de Rennes. "Discours, pron. a l'inauguration de la Statue du General Lariboisière. (1892)" Annales de Bretagne, Rennes: Plihon, [ -1973], Volume 8.
- Jourdan, Jean-Baptiste. A Memoir of the Operations of the Army of the Danube under the Command of General Jourdan, Taken from the Manuscripts of that Officer. London: Debrett, 1799.
- (in French) Mullié, Charles. "Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière." Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 à 1850. Paris, 1852.
- Phipps, Ramsey Weston. Armies of the French Republic, Westport CT: Greenwood Press, [1939] 1989, volume 5.
- (in French) Sarrut, Germaine. "Honore Baston Comte de Lariboisière." Biographie des hommes du jour, industriels,--conseillers-d'État. Paris, H. Krabe, 1835–41, p. 43–44.
External links
Media related to Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière at Wikimedia Commons