Military Figure. He was a French General during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. He was an aristocrat by birth and was admitted to the military school of Brienne. He entered the King's Guard in 1782 and as a lieutenant, he left for Santo Domingo in 1791 and spent a year there. He returned to France in July 1792. He was appointed to several positions as a general staff officer in the Armies of the North, then of the Rhine-and-Moselle. He became a general de brigade at the beginning of 1799 and was given command during the Swiss campaign. The following year he took part in several battles and was promoted general de division for his heroism on the battlefield. That winter he commanded the 2nd division in the right wing at the decisive French victory at Hohenlinden. He was then given command of the 3rd Division in the Grande Armée and fought in the wars of the Third Coalition and Fourth Coalition between 1805 and 1807. His 3rd Division of the III Corps was the first major formation into action at the battle of Auerstädt and it took the main brunt of the fighting and suffered 40% casualties, one of whom was Gudin who was seriously wounded. A count of the First French Empire in 1808, he was named governor of the castle of Fontainebleau the following year. He then took part in several battles of the War of the Fifth Coalition. He was wounded at the great battle of Wagram. In 1812 he was given the command of a division of the second Grande Armée. He was struck by a cannonball during the battle of Valutinov fighting against Russian troops near Smolensk in Russia and his leg was amputated. He later died on the battlefield. However, his heart was taken out to be buried in a chapel in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, his name was inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe, his bust was placed at the Palace of Versailles and a Paris street was named after him.