General Lauriston

He obtained his first commission about 1786, served with the artillery and on the general staff during the early campaigns of the Revolution, and became brigadier of artillery in 1795. Resigning in 1796, he was brought back into the service in 1800 as aide-de-camp to Napoleon, with whom, as a cadet, Lauriston had been on friendly terms.

In the years immediately preceding the first empire, Lauriston was, successively, director of the La Fère artillery school and special envoy to Denmark before being selected to convey to England the ratification of the peace of Amiens (1802).

In 1805, having risen to the rank of general-of-division, he took part in the war against Austria. He occupied Venice and the Republic of Ragusa in 1806, was made governor-general of Venice in 1807, took part in the Erfurt negotiations of 1808, was ennobled as a count, and served with the emperor during the Peninsular War in Spain (1808-1809), where he commanded the division that besieged and won Pamplona.

He held commands under the viceroy, Eugène de Beauharnais, in the Italian campaign and the subsequent advance to Vienna. At the battle of Wagram, he commanded the guard artillery in the famous "artillery preparation" which ultimately decided the battle.

In 1811, he was made ambassador to Russia; in 1812, he held a command in the Grande Armée and gained distinction through his firmness in covering the retreat from Moscow. He commanded the 5th army corps at Lützen and Bautzen and the 5th and 11th in the autumn campaign, but he fell into the hands of the enemy in the disastrous retreat from Leipzig.

He was held a prisoner of war until the fall of the empire.

Then he joined Louis XVIII, to whom he remained faithful during the Hundred Days.

His reward was a seat in the Chamber of Peers and a command in the royal guard.

In 1817, he was created a marquis, and, in 1823, marshal of France.