Augereau was the younger brother of a Marshal of the Empire, and began as his elder's aide-de-camp: the most convenient of positions, and the heaviest to bear. Brigadier general in 1804, baron in 1811, he served in every campaign without ever stepping out of that shadow. His friend General Lemoine paid for the monument and had a verse carved on it for them both, six years before joining him there.
The story
Born in Paris in September 1772, Jean-Pierre Augereau was the younger brother of Pierre-François-Charles Augereau, the future Marshal of the Empire and Duke of Castiglione, who rests in Division 59 of the same cemetery.
He began as his brother's aide-de-camp, in 1795 — the easiest career to come by and the hardest to carry —, then became squadron commander in the 9th Dragoons in 1799.
Brigadier general in 1804, Baron of the Empire in 1811, lieutenant general in 1815: he fought every campaign of the age without once stepping out of his elder brother's shadow.
He died in Paris in September 1836. His friend General Louis Lemoine paid for the monument out of his own pocket and had an epitaph cut into it that speaks of them both — six years before he was buried beneath it himself.
He rests in Division 40, on Avenue Transversale no. 1, first row. The stone has him dying on 26 September 1836; he died on the 25th, two days short of his sixty-fourth birthday.
The grave
A monument raised at the expense of General Louis Lemoine for his friend — and which took him in in turn. The pediment bears an epitaph few military tombs can match: “ICI REPOSENT deux anciens guerriers, deux amis fidèles. La mort les sépara, la mort les réunit. La gloire est éternelle et l'amitié finit.” — here lie two old warriors, two faithful friends; death parted them, death reunites them; glory is eternal, and friendship ends. The two service records follow. Augereau's dates there are a day out, at birth as at death.
On site, do not miss
The epitaph on the pediment, written by the friend who paid for the tomb: “La mort les sépara, la mort les réunit. La gloire est éternelle et l'amitié finit.” — death parted them, death reunites them; glory is eternal, and friendship ends. General Lemoine entered it six years after Augereau.
Visitors' questions
Where is Jean-Pierre Augereau's grave?
In Division 40, Avenue Transversale No. 1, first row. He does not lie there alone: General Louis Lemoine, who had paid for the monument, joined him in 1842. His brother the marshal is in Division 59.
Marshal AugereauWhat does the epitaph on the Augereau tomb say?
“ICI REPOSENT deux anciens guerriers, deux amis fidèles. La mort les sépara, la mort les réunit. La gloire est éternelle et l'amitié finit.” — Here lie two old warriors, two faithful friends. Death parted them, death reunited them. Glory is eternal, and friendship ends. The words are those of the surviving friend, General Lemoine, who had paid for the monument.
General de CambacérèsWho was his brother?
Pierre-François-Charles Augereau, Marshal of the Empire and Duke of Castiglione, who rests in Division 59. Jean-Pierre was his aide-de-camp in 1795 and spent his whole career in his shadow, rising to the rank of lieutenant-general.
Marshal SuchetIs there a mistake on this grave?
Two, of a day each: the stone has him born on 27 September 1772 and dead on 26 September 1836, where he was born on the 28th and died on the 25th. The discrepancies are kept as they are: it is the carving that bears them.
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