Gabriel Barbou des Courières

Gabriel Barbou des Courières was born in Abbeville on 11 November 1761, into a prominent upper middle class family from Limousin. His parents were Gabriel Barbou des Courières, a Knight of Saint Louis and captain in the Artois infantry regiment, and Marie Jeanne Bony de la Courcelle. Barbou enlisted in his father's regiment on 14 May 1779, and was promoted to second lieutenant on 14 January 1782. On 13 December that year he embarked for Jamaica with the 2nd battalion of the regiment, but the beginning Peace of Paris meant that their mission was abandoned and they returned home. He was made a lieutenant on 30 May 1788, and received a second posting to the West Indies, this time to Saint-Domingue, on 28 January 1791. He served there until his return to France in July 1792, at which point the War of the First Coalition was already under way. ==French Revolutionary Wars==

In July 1793 Barbou went to the front, serving at first in the Army of the North and then as assistant to the adjutant generals of the Army of the Ardennes. On 23 September 1798 he was assigned to the Army of Batavia, taking part the following year in opposing the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in command of a brigade in General Daendels' division. He fought at Burg Eberach on 3 December and in front of Nuremberg 18–21 December 1800. Once the fighting ended with the Peace of Lunéville, he led the army back to The Hague. In the few years of peace that followed, Barbou had a series of administrative posts. He was appointed commander of the 27th Military Division in Turin on 3 March 1802, replaced Ney as commander in Switzerland on 31 October the same year. On 27 October 1803 he took command of a division in the Utrecht camp, before transferring to the Army of Hanover the following year. He was made a knight of the Legion of Honour on 11 December 1803, and a commander on 14 June 1804. ==Napoleonic Wars==

At the outbreak of the War of the Third Coalition, Barbou was commanding a division in the Army of Hanover under Marshal Bernadotte. When Bernadotte left to take command of I Corps in the Grande Armée, Barbou took over command in Hanover. Facing superior Russian and Swedish forces, he was forced to retreat to the fortress of Hamelin, where he remained until the Peace of Pressburg. Unhappy with his performance at Sacile, Eugene assigned the "fractious and unwelcome" Barbou to the garrison of Venice following the battle. Later, once the Austrians had been driven back, Barbou was sent to put down uprisings in the Tyrol. He was not employed again before the collapse of the Napoleonic regime. Barbou returned to France in May 1814 and made his peace with the Bourbons. He was made a Knight of Saint Louis and a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour in the two months that followed. He took no part in the Hundred Days, and afterwards was given command of the 13th Military District in Rennes. His last official act was to issue a proclamation to the populace urging them to welcome the Prussians. He retired from service on 8 February 1816. ==Family==

Barbou married Rose Marie Sophie Josèphe Henrique (1785–1843) on 15 July 1806. The couple had four children: • Gabriel Barbou des Courières (1812–1814) • Joséphine Aimable Barbou des Courières (1816–1817) Barbou died on in Paris, though the exact location of his grave has since been lost. His name is inscribed on the north side of the Arc de Triomphe. ==References==