François Marie d'ABOVILLE
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Artillery general, senator of the First Empire.
He was thirteen at Fontenoy, beside his uncle, an inspector of artillery. In 1781 he commanded Rochambeau's artillery at Yorktown, whose surrender decided American independence; eleven years later, he directed the batteries at Valmy. Two cannon captured from the enemy hold up his tomb.
The story
Born in Brest and fatherless a year later, he was brought up by his uncle Julien d'Aboville, first inspector-general of artillery. He was fifteen at Fontenoy, on 11 May 1745, standing beside that uncle; he would be at Lauffeld in 1747, then at the siege of Münster in 1759, during the Seven Years' War.
In 1781 he commanded Rochambeau's artillery at the siege of Yorktown. Cornwallis's surrender there settled American independence, and Aboville was given the Order of the Cincinnati. Maréchal de camp in March 1788 and lieutenant-general on 7 September 1792, he directed the French batteries at Valmy — a battle fought almost entirely with cannon, and of which Goethe, who watched it, would say that it opened a new age.
On 12 April 1793 he signed a proclamation against Dumouriez's treason; he became suspect in his turn, was imprisoned with his family and saved his head at Thermidor. Director of the Paris arsenal and president of the central artillery committee, he was appointed by the First Consul first inspector of artillery, and then senator.
He escorted Pope Pius VII to Paris for Napoleon's coronation, became governor of Brest on 26 March 1807 and a count of the Empire in 1808. In 1814 he voted for the Emperor's deposition and backed the return of the Bourbons, who made him a peer of France; named to the Chamber of Peers during the Hundred Days, his health kept him from taking his seat.
He died in Paris on 1 November 1817, at eighty-seven, a few weeks after receiving the grand cross of Saint-Louis. He lies in Division 25 with his wife, his two general sons and his daughter — the very division to which Molière and La Fontaine were moved in that same year of 1817.
The grave
The tomb is held up by two real cannon captured from the enemy, set upright as columns — a case unique in Père-Lachaise. On the right-hand one are engraved the battles: Fontenoy 1745, Lawfeld 1747, Valmy 1792, and the engagements of Münster, Hesse and Saarbrücken. On the left-hand one, the sieges: Tournai, Ostend, Nieuwpoort, Antwerp, Mons, Maastricht, “Yorck 1781” — Yorktown — Le Quesnoy and Valenciennes. The family's coat of arms and a marble medallion crown the whole. His wife Gabrielle Angélique, his two sons, both generals, and his daughter rest with him.
On site, do not miss
The two cannon mounted as columns: read the names engraved on them, sieges on the left, battles on the right, down to Valmy 1792 and Yorktown 1781.
Visitors' questions
Where is General d'Aboville's grave?
In Division 25, Chemin Laplace, third row, in the older part of Père-Lachaise — the division that is also home to the tombs of Molière and Jean de La Fontaine. Two cannons make it recognisable from a distance.
Alexandre Ledru-RollinWhy two cannons on his grave?
Because they were captured from the enemy: mounted as supporting columns, they carry the engraved names of the general's battles and sieges, from Fontenoy in 1745 to Valenciennes in 1794. It is one of the most unusual graves in the cemetery.
Paul Lafargue et Laura MarxDid he fight in America?
Yes, during the American War of Independence: he commanded Rochambeau's artillery at the siege of Yorktown in 1781. The surrender of Cornwallis that followed sealed the independence of the United States, and he was awarded the Order of the Cincinnati.
Maurice ThorezWhat other graves are worth seeing in Division 25?
The twin sarcophagi of Molière and Jean de La Fontaine, transferred here in 1817, the very year of Aboville's death: it is one of the most visited divisions in the cemetery, five minutes from the Boulevard de Ménilmontant entrance.
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