Augustin d'Aboville, a general's son, was an artillery second lieutenant at sixteen, in 1789, in the corps his father commanded. Courtrai, the crossing of the Rhine, Italy: he would spend his whole career in the learned arm and end a count and a peer of France. His stone lists all his titles accurately, then gets his birth wrong by a year, 1774 instead of 1773. He died in Paris in 1820.
The story
Son of General François-Marie d'Aboville, Augustin Gabriel d'Aboville entered the artillery school at Châlons in 1789, at sixteen, and came out a lieutenant in 1792 — in the arm his father commanded.
He distinguished himself at Courtrai, at the crossing of the Rhine, at Stockach, then in the campaigns of Italy, Portugal and Spain — Vimeiro, Corunna, Vitoria. Baron of the Empire, Commander of the Legion of Honour, Knight of Saint-Louis and Peer of France, he has his name carved on the Arc de Triomphe.
He died in Paris on 15 August 1820 and lies in Division 25, in the same division as his father — two generations of gunners in the same plot. The stone calls him “né à la Fère le 20 mars 1774”: he was born in 1773, and that is what makes his sixteen years at the artillery school in 1789 possible.
The grave
An inscription that lists the decorations precisely and errs on the civil record: “Augustin Gabriel comte d'ABOVILLE, pair de France, maréchal des camps et armées du roi, commandant de la Légion d'honneur, chevalier de Saint-Louis et de la Couronne de fer, né à la Fère le 20 mars 1774, décédé à Paris le 15 août 1820.” — Augustin Gabriel, Count d'Aboville, peer of France, maréchal de camp of the king's armies, Commander of the Legion of Honour, Knight of Saint-Louis and of the Iron Crown, born at La Fère on 20 March 1774, died in Paris on 15 August 1820. He was born in 1773: one year's difference. He rests in the Division of his father, General François-Marie d'Aboville — two generations of artillerymen in the same plot.
On site, do not miss
The inscription lists all his titles accurately, then errs on the civil record: “né à la Fère le 20 mars 1774” — born at La Fère on 20 March 1774 — one year later than his real date of birth.
Visitors' questions
Where is General d'Aboville's grave?
In Division 25, chemin Laplace, third row — the same Division as his father, General François-Marie d'Aboville, and as the tomb of Molière and La Fontaine. The inscription there lists his four decorations.
François-Marie d’AbovilleIs there a mistake on his grave?
About his birth: the stone has him “born at La Fère on 20 March 1774” when he was born in 1773. A year adrift, on an inscription that otherwise lists his four decorations with perfect accuracy.
Charles RutyWhat were his campaigns?
Courtrai, the crossing of the Rhine, Stockach, the Italian campaigns, then Portugal and Spain, where he commanded the artillery at the siege of Cádiz. He was a second lieutenant by 1789, at sixteen, and left the artillery school a lieutenant in 1792, for the corps in which his father served.
Marshal VictorWhat distinctions did he hold?
All carved: peer of France, maréchal de camp in the king's armies, commander of the Legion of Honour, knight of Saint Louis and of the Iron Crown — this last an order of Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy.
MolièreAudio guide to Père Lachaise: the best unusual guided tour!
Discover the secrets of the most astonishing tombs
the audio guidefrom€6.99