Belliard, a general of the Empire born in 1769, had two horses killed under him at Arcole and came out of it a brigadier general. Egypt, then Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena: he followed every campaign of the reign. As governor of Madrid, he disobeyed Napoleon by suspending the execution of the Marquis de Saint-Simon, long enough for the condemned man's daughter to go and fetch his pardon. He died in 1832.
The story
Born at Fontenay-le-Comte on 25 March 1769, Belliard enlisted in 1791 and became aide-de-camp to Dumouriez, at Jemappes and at Neerwinden. His chief's defection cost him his rank; he signed on again as a private in the 3rd regiment of chasseurs, and that restored him.
The Italian campaign made him: at Arcole, in 1796, two horses were killed under him and he was made a brigadier general. Egypt followed, from 1798 to 1801 — Alexandria, the Pyramids, Abyssinia, Heliopolis — and in Cairo he withstood a siege by the English, the Turks and the Mamluks that ended in an honourable capitulation.
Murat's chief of staff from 1805 to 1806, he was at Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau and Friedland. As governor of Madrid he stayed the execution of the Marquis de Saint-Simon against Napoleon's express orders, giving the condemned man's daughter time to win his pardon.
During the retreat from Russia he rallied the cavalry after Moscow; the following year he was wounded at Leipzig. Peer of France and knight of Saint-Louis in 1814, he became French ambassador to Belgium after July 1830, where his own intervention saved Antwerp from the Dutch guns.
He died of a sudden apoplexy on 28 January 1832, walking out of King Leopold's palace in Brussels. His body was laid at Père-Lachaise on 14 March. His name is cut into the Arc de Triomphe, and Brussels raised him a statue by the sculptor Geefs.
The grave
The inscription is of military sobriety: “Count Auguste Belliard, lieutenant general, peer of France, born in 1769, died in 1832”, then, on two lines, his campaigns — “Italy, Egypt, Germany, Spain, Belgium”. Five words for forty years of war, and the last names the country where he fell, as ambassador, on leaving a royal audience. His name is engraved elsewhere, on the Arc de Triomphe, and Brussels raised a statue to him by the sculptor Geefs.
On site, do not miss
The two lines of campaigns engraved beneath the name: Italy, Egypt, Germany, Spain, Belgium — the last country being the one where he died.
Visitors' questions
Where is Count Belliard's grave?
In Division 35, Avenue des Acacias, third row, in the upper part of the cemetery. The inscription sums up his career in five words of geography: “Italie, Égypte, Allemagne, Espagne, Belgique” — Italy, Egypt, Germany, Spain, Belgium.
Octave de BéhagueWhere did Belliard fight?
Everywhere: Jemappes and Neerwinden under Dumouriez, Italy and Arcole in 1796, Egypt from 1798 to 1801, then Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau and Friedland as Murat's chief of staff, Spain, and the retreat from Russia.
Marshal AugereauHow did he die?
Of a massive stroke, on 28 January 1832 in Brussels, as he left the palace of King Leopold, to whom he was French ambassador. His body was brought back to Paris and laid to rest at Père-Lachaise on 14 March that year.
General d'Astier de la VigerieDid he ever disobey Napoleon?
Once, and deliberately: as governor of Madrid, he stayed the execution of the Marquis de Saint-Simon in defiance of formal orders, long enough for the condemned man's daughter to obtain his pardon. His name nonetheless appears on the Arc de Triomphe.
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