Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière 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 . One of his sons survived the wars and the family founded the Lariboisière Hospital in Paris . Family and education . He was born on 18 August 1759 , in Fougères . His father , Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière , was lieutenant general of civil and criminal justice and the senechal of Fougères . His mother was Jeanne Monnières . Baston de Lariboisière was designated early for a military career . He was a brilliant student at the military academy and in 1781 received a commission as a lieutenant and entered the same regiment as Napoleon Bonaparte . Although Lariboisière was a few years older than Bonaparte , they developed a rapport that continued until Lariboisière ' s death in 1812 . Military career . Baston de Lariboisière was cited as a distinguished officer the outset of the French Revolution , for which he showed only moderate support . He was promoted to captain in 1791 and assigned to Adam Philippe , Comte de Custine ' s command . He took part in the invasion of Paville against the Prussians . After the surrender of the French army , he was held as a prisoner of war . In the following years , he participated in the campaigns of 1796 , as adjutant colonel , colonel , and brigadier general , and directed the artillery parks of the Army of England , the Army of Helvetia , the Army of the Rhine . When Jean Baptiste Jourdan organized the Army of the Danube , Lariboisière received command of the artillery park . At the First Battle of Zurich , Lariboisière ' s artillery defended the Zurich heights , which gave Andre Massena ' s army enough time to evacuate the city and take position on the opposite side of the Limmat river . Afterward , Lariboisière was sent to northern Italy where he commanded the advance guard division ; Jean Victor Moreau ' s right wing , with Lariboisière ' s infantry and artillery , crossed the Ticino river at Pavia , marched up the left bank of the Po River and took position beneath Alessandria ; there , he protected Moreau ' s flank from Russian skirmishers sufficiently for Moreau to establish a large train of artillery in Turin and to strengthen the French positions between the Po and the Tanaro river . At Battle of Novi , his division was part of Laurent Saint - Cyr ' s right wing . At the battle itself , his troops were the only ones properly positioned ; the rest of the French army was otherwise out of place and unready for battle . He and Saint - Cyr held the center of the French line , beating off two Russian assaults . After the French defeat at Novi , he went with Saint - Cyr to Savona , where he participated in operations around Genoa . Eventually , he rejoined Moreau to campaign in southwestern Germany , culminating in the Battle of Hohenlinden . Napoleonic Wars . Baston de Lariboisière commanded the artillery of the French IV Corps for the 1805 campaign of the War of the Third Coalition . He directed the investment of Ulm prior to its capitulation , and contributed to the success of Austerlitz . There he commanded the artillery attached to Soult corps . By firing on the ice of the lakes over which the Russian columns were retreating , Baston de Lariboisière ' s artillery fire converted a Russian retreat into a full - scale rout : in the bombardment , French artillery pounded the soldiers and broke the ice . The men drowned in the cold ponds , dozens of Russian artillery pieces going down along with them . In the Battle of Jena - Auerstadt , Baston de Lariboisière successfully repelled several infantry charges with artillery fire . Subsequently , Napoleon raised him to major general , and appointed him to command the artillery of the Imperial Guard at Battle of Eylau , in February 1807 . Baston de Lariboisière remained throughout the day - long battle with a battery of 40 guns at the French center . After the campaigns of 1806 , Baston de Lariboisière briefly served as governor of Hanover . He later replaced General Nicolas - Marie Songis des Courbons prior to the engagements in northeastern Prussia in 1807 . At the Battle of Danzig , although wounded by a sniper ' s bullet , he continued to direct the siege of the city . He directed the Imperial guard artillery for the battles of Heilsberg and Friedland ; after Friedland , Baston de Lariboisière organized the security of the raft on the Niemen river , where Napoleon and Alexander II of Russia conferred on the terms of the Peace of Tilsit . In February 1808 , General Lariboisière took command of the artillery of the Army of Spain . Recalled to the Grand Army in 1809 , Napoleon gave the command of the artillery at the Battle of Wagram . In 1811 Napoleon raised him to the post of first inspector general of ordnance — weaponry and ammunition . Russian campaign , 1812 . In planning the Russian campaign , 1812 , Lariboisière immediately foresaw difficulties in transporting the requisite number of artillery and amount of 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 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 . Legacy . His body rests in the church of " les Invalides " , and on his coffin is the following inscription : " Ambroise Baston , Count of La Riboisière , major general , commanding the artillery of the Grande Armée , Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor , born in Fougères , died at Königsberg , December 21 , 1812 . " The General ' s heart is hosted in a private chapel near his castle of Monthorin at Louvigné - du - Désert , in Brittany . Honore Baston de Lariboisière , another of his sons , also served in the artillery , and survived not only the Battle of Borodino in which his brother was killed , but also the retreat from Moscow and the subsequent campaigns in Prussia and Saxony . He served in the Chamber of Deputies and was raised to the peerage of France . He became a peer of France , and founded the Hôpital Lariboisière .