Auguste François - Marie de Colbert - Chabanais Auguste François - Marie de Colbert - Chabanais , born 18 October 1777 in Paris - died 3 January 1809 , Cacabelos , Spain ) , Comte de l ' Empire joined the French army during the French Revolutionary Wars . He became a general officer of cavalry during the Napoleonic Wars and fought in a number of major battles under Emperor Napoleon I of France in 1805 - 1807 . He was killed by a British rifleman during the Peninsular War in 1809 . Early career . Colbert joined the army as a private , but soon became aide - de - camp to Emmanuel Grouchy , then to Joachim Murat and served in the Army of Italy . During the Egyptian campaign , he took part in the Saléhieh affair and the Siege of Acre , receiving a serious wound in the latter action . He returned to France with Louis Desaix then went to Italy , where he behaved with distinction at the Battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800 . His actions merited the star of the Légion d ' honneur , granted him on 11 December 1803 , and on 25 December 1804 , he was made a colonel of the 10th Chasseurs à cheval Regiment . Napoleonic Wars . Colbert distinguished himself at the Battle of Elchingen on 14 October 1805 . During the combat , he led the 3rd Hussar and 10th Chasseur Regiments in support of Marshal Michel Ney ' s attacking infantry . He also fought at the Battle of Austerlitz in December . Promoted to Brigadier General at the end of 1805 , he was given an important mission to St Petersburg by Napoleon , where he was accompanied by his great friend Claude Testot - Ferry , later a colonel in the cavalry of the Imperial Guard . He and Ferry met again in Spain . He married the daughter of senator Canclaux , and they had 2 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 , leading several charges of the 3rd Hussar and 10th Chasseur Regiments against enemy infantry . Still with VI Corps , he led his troopers at the Battle of Eylau on 8 February 1807 and the Battle of Friedland 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 , Colbert fought at the Battle of Medina del Rioseco on 14 July 1808 while serving under Marshal Jean - Baptiste Bessières . On 23 November , he led his cavalry at the Battle of Tudela under Marshal Jean Lannes . That winter , he commanded the 3rd Hussars and 15th Chasseurs in the cavalry advance guard of Marshal Nicolas Soult , who was pursuing Sir John Moore ' s British army in its retreat to A Coruña . 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 English . Later the same day , however , at the Battle of Cacabelos , British Rifleman Thomas Plunket , a noted sharpshooter in the 95th Rifles , 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 . 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 . " 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 .