General Taupin

Born in Barbery, Oise, Taupin joined the Regiment de Roi (King's Regiment) in 1787.
In 1791, he joined the 1st battalion of National Volunteers of the Oise as a sous-lieutenant and was soon elected captain. From 1792 to 1795, he served with the Army of the North, during which time he earned promotion to chef de battalion  in the 28th Line Infantry Regiment. From 1795 to 1797, he soldiered with the Army of the Interior. Beginning in 1798, he served in the Army of Helvetia.

In the Marengo campaign, Taupin fought under the command of Jean Lannes.
He fought at the Battle of Montebello in June 1800 and in Marengo where Taupin was badly wounded.
For his bravery in this action, he received a sabre d'honneur in 1802. He served first at Boulogne-sur-Mer in the force gathered for Napoleon's invasion of the United Kingdom and later in the Army of Batavia (Holland) under the orders of Dominique Vandamme. In December 1803, he was promoted to major in the 11th Line Infantry Regiment.

Taupin became an officer in the Legion d'Honneur in 1804. In February 1805, he was named colonel of the 103rd Line Infantry Regiment in Honoré Gazan's division. In this capacity, he led his regiment in all the major campaigns from 1805 to 1807. When his regiment was attacked by an overwhelmingly superior force of Russians and Austrians in the Battle of Dürenstein it was able to cut its way out of the trap, though it suffered heavy losses. At the Battle of Austerlitz, Taupin's actions brought him to the attention of Napoleon, who made him a commandant in the Legion d'Honneur shortly afterward.

Taupin's regiment served in Lannes' V Corps at the Battle of Jena in October 1806.
In December, the 103rd fought in the Battle of Pultusk. After the Battle of Eylau he was promoted to general of brigade. He went to Spain in 1808, returning to fight in the 1809 Danube campaign. He missed the Battle of Wagram, being assigned to command a brigade in Marshal François Kellermann's Reserve Corps at Frankfurt am Main.
In 1810, he returned to Spain and commanded a brigade in Bertrand Clausel's division of Jean-Andoche Junot's VII Corps at the Battle of Bussaco and in Marshal André Masséna's invasion of Portugal.

In January 1813, he was promoted to general of division. He took command of the 4th Division in Honoré Reille's Army of Portugal in March. He fought at the Battle of Vitoria in June.
After Marshal Nicolas Soult reorganized the army in July, Taupin assumed command of the 8th Division. He led his division in the battles of the Pyrenees, San Marcial, the Bidassoa, the Nivelle.

In January 1814, Taupin was named to lead the 4th Division in Soult's newly reorganized army.
At the Battle of Orthez in February, his troops repelled a British attack on Soult's right flank and recovered the church of Saint-Boes in a counterattack.
At the Battle of Toulouse on April 10, his division defended the Heights of Calvinet (Mont Rave) against the main Anglo-Allied thrust. During the fighting Taupin was mortally wounded and died

He was buried in the Saint-Etienne Cathedral.

The name TAUPIN appears on the 37th column of the Arc de Triomphe.