Claude Matthieu , Count Gardane Charles - Matthieu , Comte de Gardane ( 11 July 1766 , Marseille – 30 January 1818 ) was a French general and diplomat . He entered the army and rose rapidly during the revolutionary wars , becoming captain in 1793 . In May 1799 he distinguished himself by saving a division of the French army which was about to be crushed by the Russians at the battle of Bassignana , and was named at once brigadier - general by Moreau . He incurred Napoleon ' s displeasure for an omission of duty shortly before the battle of Marengo ( June , 1800 ) , but in 1805 was appointed to be " aide - de - camp " of the emperor . His chief distinction , however , was to be won in the diplomatic sphere . In the spring of 1807 , when Russia and Prussia were at war with France , and the emperor Alexander I of Russia was also engaged in hostilities with Persia . The court of Tehran sent a mission to the French emperor , then at the Finckenstein Palace in East Prussia , with a view to the conclusion of a Franco - Persian alliance . The Treaty of Finckenstein was signed on 4 May 1807 , at that castle ; and Napoleon designed Gardane as special envoy for the cementing of that alliance . The secret instructions which he drew up for Gardane , and signed on the 30th of May , are of interest as showing the strong oriental trend of the emperor ' s policy . France was to guarantee the integrity of Persia , to recognize that Georgia ( then being invaded by the Russians ) belonged to the shah , and was to make all possible efforts for restoring that territory to him . He was also to furnish to the shah arms , officers and workmen , in the number and to the amount demanded by him . Napoleon on his side required Persia to declare war against Great Britain to expel all Britons from her territory , and to come to an understanding with the Afghans with a view to a joint Franco - Perso - Afghan invasion of India . Gardane , whose family was well known in the Levant , had a long and dangerous journey overland , but was cordially received at Tehran in December 1807 . The conclusion of the Franco - Russian treaty at Tilsit in July 1807 rendered the mission abortive . Persia longed only for help against Russia and had no desire , when all hope of that was past , to attack India . The shah , however , promised to expel Britons and to grant to France a commercial treaty . For a time French influence completely replaced that of England at Tehran , and the mission of Sir John Malcolm to that court was not allowed to proceed . Finally , however , Gardane saw that nothing much was to be hoped for in the changed situation of European affairs , and abruptly left the country ( April 1809 ) . This conduct was not wholly approved by Napoleon , but he named him count and in 1810 attached him to Marshal Massena ' s army in Portugal . There , during the disastrous retreat from Santarém to Almeida , he suffered a check which brought him into disfavour . The report which he sent to Champagny ( dated April 23 , 1809 ) on the state of Persia and the prospects of a successful invasion of India is of great interest . He admitted the difficulties of this enterprise , but thought that a force of picked French troops , aided by Persians and Afghans , might under favorable conditions penetrate into India by way of Kandahar , or through Sindh , especially if the British were distracted by maritime attacks from Mauritius .