Pierre Garnier de Laboissière

Pierre Garnier de Laboissière
Born	11 March 1755 (1755-03-11) Chassiecq, France
Died	14 April 1809 (1809-04-15) (aged 54) Paris, France
Allegiance	Kingdom of France France
Service / branch	Cavalry, Infantry
Years of service	1772–1809
Rank	General of Division
Battles / wars	War of the First Coalition Battle of the Vosges (1794) Battle of Biberach (1796) War of the Second Coalition Battle of Stockach (1799) Battle of Novi (1799)
Awards	Légion d'Honneur, GC 1804 Count of the Empire, 1808

Pierre Garnier de Laboissière (11 March 1755 – 14 April 1809) commanded a French infantry division during the War of the Second Coalition. After enrolling in a military academy in 1769, he joined a dragoon regiment in 1772 as a sous lieutenant. In 1779 he was promoted to captain. In late 1792 during the War of the First Coalition he was given command of a cavalry regiment with the grade of colonel. While serving in the Army of the Rhine he was captured by the Prussians. After a prisoner exchange he was promoted to general of brigade in October 1793. Laboissière was promoted to general of division in February 1799. He fought at Stockach and led a division at Novi. In the summer and fall of 1799 he fought in several actions near Genoa. Later he commanded troops in Switzerland. Napoleon appointed him to the Sénat conservateur in 1802, awarded him the Commander's Cross of the Légion d'Honneur in 1804 and made him a Count of the Empire in 1808. He died in Paris in April 1809. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 15.

Career

During the Battle of the Vosges on 12–13 July 1794, Laboissière commanded the divisional artillery of Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr's division. One of his officers placed his battery is a badly exposed position and a body of Prussian cavalry led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher pounced on it, seizing two artillery pieces. In the melee Laboissière was also captured.

At the Battle of Biberach Laboissière led a brigade in Saint-Cyr's division. Massing a battery of 24 artillery pieces, Saint-Cyr launched his main assault on the Austrian center, while leaving Laboissière's brigade to contain the enemy left flank under Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Condé and Karl Mercandin. The attack on the center made good progress, but Laboissière sent Saint-Cyr a number of messages for help, claiming that his brigade was in the process of being overwhelmed. Finally, Saint-Cyr suspended the main attack and went to the rescue with some troops. By this time Condé and Mercandin were starting to retreat after seeing that the Austrian center was being driven in. At the head of some cavalry Saint-Cyr tried to cut off the enemy but Condé and Mercandin narrowly escaped across the Riss River. Saint-Cyr then returned to the center to complete the rout of Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour's Austrian army.

References

• Broughton, Tony. "French Chasseur-à-Cheval Regiments and the Colonels who Led Them: 1791-1815". The Napoleon Series. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
• Duffy, Christopher (1999). Eagles Over the Alps: Suvarov in Italy and Switzerland, 1799. Chicago, Ill.: The Emperor's Press. ISBN 1-883476-18-6.
• Mullié, Charles (1852). Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 a 1850 (in French). Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Phipps, Ramsay Weston (2011). The Armies of the First French Republic: Volume II The Armées du Moselle, du Rhin, de Sambre-et-Meuse, de Rhin-et-Moselle. USA: Pickle Partners Publishing. ISBN 978-1-908692-25-2.
• Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.