François - Nicolas - Benoît Haxo François Nicolas Benoît , Baron Haxo ( 24 June 1774 – 25 June 1838 ) was a French Army general and military engineer during the French Revolution and First Empire . Haxo became famous in the Siege of Antwerp in 1832 . He is the nephew of revolution era General Nicolas Haxo of Étival - Clairefontaine and Saint - Dié - des - Vosges in Lorraine , France . Biography . François - Nicolas - Benoît Haxo was born in Lunéville , France and began his career with the Military engineer s ( " Génie Militaire " ) in 1793 . Haxo embraced the military early in his career . He finished the School of Artillery and Engineers of Chalons - sur - Marne in 1793 with the rank of Lieutenant Minor . Soon after , Haxo earned the rank of Captain of Engineers in the Army of the Rhine in 1794 . In 1796 , he attended École Polytechnique . In 1801 , he became a battalion commander following the capitulation of Fort Bard ( 1 June 1800 ) by the Army of Italy , part of the French military in 1792 - 1802 . Haxo has been called the Vauban of the nineteenth century given his work repairing and reinforcing various fortifications and citadels in the early 1800s . This work became necessary as a result of the development of more sophisticated artillery since the time of Vauban ( 1633 – 1707 ) . For example , in Besançon in the late seventeenth century , guns did not have enough range to reach the citadel from the hills of Bregille and Chaudanne , whose peaks were higher . However , in the early nineteenth century , guns improved and artillery shelling became possible . Haxo built a fort on each of the two hills to prevent the enemy seizing them and using them for artillery shelling . In 1807 , Haxo was responsible for improving the defenses of Constantinople . He then went to Italy , to serve under General Chasseloup . In 1809 , having been promoted to Major , he distinguished himself in the Siege of Zaragoza . Napoleon I then appointed him Colonel . Haxo took part in the Battle of Wagram , and then returned to the Iberian Peninsula to direct the siege operations of Louis - Gabriel Suchet ' s army in Catalonia and Valencia . In 1810 , he was promoted to Brigadier General and gained the title of baron in 1811 . In the same year , he helped to prepare the occupied fortresses of Germany against a possible Russian invasion . In 1812 , he was chief engineer of Louis - Nicolas Davout ' s I Corps , and after the retreat from Moscow , was promoted to the rank of Division General . In 1813 , in addition to commanding the Guard Engineers , he constructed the works around Hamburg , making defense of Davout ' s fortress possible . On 30 August , he was wounded and taken prisoner with General Dominique Vandamme during the Battle of Kulm . After the Restoration , Louis XVIII of France wished to give Haxo a command in the Royal Guards , but the general remained faithful to Napoleon . During the Hundred Days , Haxo laid out the provisional fortifications of Paris and fought at the Battle of Waterloo . It was after the Second Restoration that the best work of his career was accomplished . As Inspector General he managed to reconstruct the old Vauban and Cormontaigne fortresses , which had failed during the invasions of 1814 and 1815 . In 1815 , he was relieved from the military by the Restoration government . In 1819 , however , he was reinstated as Inspector General of frontier fortifications ( Grenoble , Besançon , Dunkirk , St . Omer , Sedan , the Fort Lock , Belfort , and Bitche ) . Haxo was part of the Council of War called upon to judge General Charles Lefebvre - Desnouettes and voted for his death . Appointed Inspector General of the Royal Weapon and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour , Louis Philippe I named him Peer of France in 1832 and presented him with the Grand Cross in 1833 , as well as state counselor and member of the fortifications committee . During this time , Haxo voted against detached forts , instead supporting their continuous enclosure . Soon after he was named Peer of France , the French intervention in Belgium began involving the Siege of Antwerp . Under Étienne Maurice Gérard , Haxo directed the besiegers and completely outmatched the opposing engineers . The fortress was forced to surrender after a siege of a little more than three weeks , ending on 23 December 1832 . Subsequently , Haxo was regarded as the premier military engineer in Europe . He oversaw the fortifications of Belfort , Grenoble , Besançon , Dunkirk , Saint - Omar and Fort l ' Ecluse . He is credited with the invention of an open - backed covered gun emplacement , known in English as the Haxo casemate . During the later years of his life , Haxo wrote " Mémoire sur le figure du terrain dans les cartes topographiques " ( Paris , N . D . ) , and a the biography of General Dejean ( 1824 ) . General Haxo died in Paris on 25 June 1838 .