Hercule Corbineau Marie Louis Hercule Hubert Corbineau ( 10 April 1780 – 5 April 1823 ) was a French soldier of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries . Biography . Corbineau was born in Marchiennes , the youngest son of Jean - Charles Corbineau , Inspector General of the King ' s Stables in the Généralité of Tours and bailiff - general of Marchiennes Abbey , and his wife Mary - Louise - Magdeleine Varlet . His older brothers Jean and Claude were also army officers , and together the three men were known as " les trois Horaces " ( " the three Horatii " ) . Corbineau volunteered for service in the Navy on 1 April 1793 , when only 12 years old , to save his father from persecution by the revolutionaries . After serving aboard the privateer " Requin " and the corvette " Naïade " , he then entered the Army , as a private soldier in the " Légion des Francs " , serving in the Army of the North . He transferred to the cavalry of the " Légion des Francs " , and was promoted to " sous - lieutenant " on 20 September 1796 . With his brother Claude , he participated in the expedition to Ireland in December 1796 . Promoted to lieutenant on 30 October 1797 , he served in campaigns with the Army of Helvetia and the Army of the Rhine , joining the 7th Regiment of Hussars on 29 July 1798 , and transferring the 5th Regiment of Chasseur s on 5 April 1800 . Corbineau distinguished himself at the battle of Hohenlinden on 3 December 1800 . He served as " adjudant - major " from 2 April 1802 , and was promoted to " capitaine " on 16 March 1804 . On 5 November 1804 he was made a Legionnaire of the Legion of Honour . Corbineau entered the Imperial Guard on 12 September 1805 , where he served in the " Chasseurs à Cheval de la Garde Impériale " successively as an " adjoint à l ' état - major " ( assistant to the Staff ) , then " adjudant - major " , and finally as a " chef d ' escadron " . He fought at the battles of Austerlitz ( 2 December 1805 ) , afterwards receiving promotion to major ( 18 December 1805 ) , and also at Jena ( 14 October 1806 ) , Eylau ( 7 / 8 February 1807 ) — where he was wounded in the right thigh , and his older brother Claude was killed — and Friedland ( 14 June 1807 ) . He was awarded the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honour on 17 November 1808 , and promoted to colonel on 13 June 1809 . At the battle of Wagram ( 5 – 6 July 1809 ) , while his regiment attacked a battery , Corbineau ' s right knee was shattered by a musket ball , necessitating the amputation of his leg at the thigh , putting an end to his military career . Corbineau recovered in hospital alongside his friend Pierre Yrieix Daumesnil , who had suffered a similar wound . One night , Daumesnil heard what sounded like water dripping . He called out to Corbineau , but got no reply . Despite his unhealed amputation , Daumesnil crawled out of his bed and found that Corbineau ' s wound was haemorrhaging badly . Daumesnil crawled out of the room and down two flights of stairs to call for help before passing out . Doctors arrived , and both men ' s lives were saved . In honour of Corbineau ' s and Daumesnil ' s service , Napoleon left them on the roll of the Chasseurs , despite the fact that neither served with the regiment again . Corbineau returned to France and was given the post of " Receveur Général des Finances " ( Receiver General of Finances ) for the department of Seine - Inférieure on 14 March 1810 , based at Rouen . He was made a Baron of the Empire on 1 June 1810 , and was also a member of the Electoral College of the Northern Department . In 1814 , after the First Restoration , Corbineau was transferred to the department of the Marne , where he died on 5 April 1823 . Personal life . In 1810 Corbineau married Reine Rose Kermarec de Travrou , the daughter of a former member of Parlement of Brittany , and had a son , Eugène - Hercule , and a daughter , Adèle - Marie , who married the Comte de Champagny ( son of the Duke of Cadore ) in Paris on 30 July 1836 .