page_title: Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière
section_title: Russian campaign, 1812
hierarchical_section_title: Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière / Russian campaign, 1812
caption_attribution_description: Portrait of General Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière and his son Ferdinand {de}, a lieutenant in the first company of the first squadron of the 1st Carabiniers-à-cheval at the Battle of Borodino in 1812. Ferdinand salutes his father before charging with his regiment. He would be mortally wounded during the charge.
context_page_description: Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière, also Count de Lariboisière, was a general of artillery of the First French Empire. He fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars and died of fatigue at Königsberg in East Prussia on 21 December 1812, during the Grand Army's retreat from Moscow.
  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 War of the First Coalition in 1793–1794. He also directed the investment and, if necessary, the sieges of Mainz, Ulm, and Danzig, among others. In addition, he was a reliable commander of infantry, supporting Laurent Saint-Cyr's corps in northern Italy in the 1799 campaign.
  Lariboisière's direction of artillery fire at the Battle of Austerlitz resulted in the destruction of 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 fire on the Russian lines. Lariboisière's artillery also provided the rear guard coverage of the French withdrawal from Beresina.
context_section_description: In planning the Russian campaign, 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. Despite heavy rain, the French arrived in Vilnius; despite the mud, the artillery was established prior to the battle and contributed with successful targeted fire.
  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.
caption: General Lariboisière and his son Ferdinand, a lieutenant in the 1st company of the 1st squadron in the 1st Carabiniers-à-Cheval regiment at the battle of Borodino. Ferdinand salutes his father before charging with his regiment; he would be mortally wounded during the charge. Painting by Antoine-Jean Gros.
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