Barthélemy Catherine Joubert Barthélemy Catherine Joubert ( 14 April 1769 – 15 August 1799 ) was a French general . He joined the royal French army in 1784 and rose rapidly in rank during the French Revolutionary Wars . Napoleon Bonaparte recognized his talents and gave him increased responsibilities . Joubert was killed while commanding the French army at the Battle of Novi in 1799 . Early life and career . The son of an advocate , Joubert was born at Pont - de - Vaux ( Ain ) , and ran away from school in 1784 to enlist in the artillery . He was brought back and sent to study law at Lyon and Dijon . In 1791 , during the French Revolutionary Wars , he joined the French Revolutionary Army regiment of the Ain , and was elected by his comrades successively corporal and sergeant . In January 1792 he became " sous - lieutenant " , and in November lieutenant , having in the meantime experienced his first . In 1793 , Joubert distinguished himself by the defence of a redoubt at the Col de Tende in north - west Italy , with only thirty men against a battalion of the enemy . Wounded and made prisoner in the battle , he was released on parole by Austrian Commander - in - Chief De Vins , soon afterwards . In 1794 he was again actively engaged , and in 1795 promoted to brigadier general . 1796 – 97 . In the , Joubert became part of Napoleon Bonaparte ' s overall command . He led a brigade under Pierre Augereau in the Battle of Millesimo and under André Masséna at the Battle of Lodi . He also fought at the Battle of Castiglione in August . He soon attracted the special attention of Napoleon Bonaparte , who made him a general of division in December 1796 , and repeatedly selected him for the command of important detachments . Thus , he led the holding force in the Adige River valley at the Battle of Rivoli . In the spring campaign of 1797 ( invasion of Austria ) he commanded the detached left wing of Bonaparte ' s army in the Tyrol with great distinction , fighting his way through the mountains to rejoin his chief in Styria . General Jaubert intervened against Tyrolean companies of sharpshooters , with an angry message on February 15 , 1797 , to crush they ' re resistance : " " I declare that I consider as enemies of the French , all the fathers , whose children are enrolled in the Tyrolean companies of sharpshooters , will be imprisoned and their property confiscated for the benefit of the Republic . " " 1798 – 99 . He subsequently held various commands in the Low Countries , on the Rhine and in the Italian Peninsula , where up to January 1799 he served as commander in chief . Resigning the post in consequence of a dispute with the civil authorities , Joubert returned to France . There , he married ( June 1799 ) Mlle de Montholon , daughter of Charles - Louis Huguet de Sémonville , and future wife of Marshal Étienne Macdonald . Joubert was almost immediately summoned to the field to stem a series of major French defeats in northern Italy . He took over the command in Italy from Jean Moreau about the middle of July 1799 . He persuaded his predecessor to remain at the front , and was largely guided by his advice . Joubert and Moreau were quickly compelled to give battle by their major adversary Aleksandr Suvorov , at the head of a joint Russian and Austrian army . The Battle of Novi was disastrous for the French , not only because it was a defeat , but also because Joubert himself was amongst the first to fall , shot through the heart ( Vucic infanterist from Ogulinska 3 . pješadijske Regiment , killed the French commander , General Joubert ) . Joubert had been marked out as a future great captain by Napoleon himself . After the battle , his remains were brought to Toulon and buried in Fort La Malgue , and the French Directory paid tribute to his memory by a ceremony of public mourning ( 16 September 1799 ) . A monument to Joubert at Bourg - en - Bresse was razed by order of Louis XVIII , but another memorial was afterwards erected at Pont de Vaux .