War Commissary of the Army of the Alps, he followed Masséna to Genoa and Bonaparte into Italy, then became chief commissary-general of the Grande Armée before retiring in 1815. His epitaph has him fighting “since the crossing of the Bridge of Arcole, in 1792”: the battle was fought four years later.
The story
Born at Antibes in 1757, Philippe Aubernon was a freemason before the Revolution ever came — a loyalty that outlasted every regime he went on to serve under arms.
War commissary to the Army of the Alps in 1792, he served with Masséna in the Genoa campaign and then in Italy under General Bonaparte. He rose to be commissary-general-in-chief of the Grande Armée, decorated with the Order of Saint-Louis and made a commander of the Legion of Honour.
He was retired in 1815, just as the Napoleonic adventure he had followed from the Alps to the supreme command came to its end. He was the father of the prefect Joseph Victor Aubernon.
The grave
On the chemin Masséna, the epitaph names five generals — Kellermann, Bonaparte, Brune, Moreau and Masséna — and states that he “a fait toutes les guerres, depuis le passage du Pont d'Arcole, en 1792, jusqu'à la bataille de Waterloo”: fought in every war from the crossing of the bridge at Arcole in 1792 to the battle of Waterloo. Arcole was fought in November 1796, so the stone brings the battle forward by four years. Aubernon did take the field in 1792, but in the Alps, as a commissary of war. A plaque calls him commander of the Légion d'honneur; the grave was restored in 2000 by the Souvenir français and the association for the conservation of Napoleonic monuments.
On site, do not miss
The epitaph lists five generals and two battles, from Arcole to Waterloo — with a four-year error on the first. The grave was restored in 2000 by the Souvenir Français.
Visitors' questions
Where is Philippe Aubernon's grave at Père-Lachaise?
In Division 37, Chemin Masséna, second row. The grave was restored in 2000 by the Association for the Conservation of Napoleonic Monuments and the Souvenir Français. Division 37 is also home to General Gobert.
General GOBERTWhat error appears on Philippe Aubernon's gravestone?
A date wrong by four years. The epitaph claims he “fought in every war, from the crossing of the bridge at Arcole in 1792 to the Battle of Waterloo” — but Arcole was fought in November 1796. It was in 1792, as a Commissary of War with the Army of the Alps, that he actually began his campaigns.
Lucy ARBELLWhat did a commissary-general do?
He administered the armies. Supplies, hospitals, pay, transport: the role was not a fighting one, but every campaign depended on it. Aubernon held it for the Army of Italy, two corps of the Grande Armée, and the armies of Dalmatia and Illyria.
Pierre TIRARDUnder which generals did Philippe Aubernon serve?
His epitaph names them: Kellermann, Bonaparte, Brune, Moreau and Masséna. He took part in the Genoa campaign alongside Masséna, then in the Italian campaign under General Bonaparte.
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