Gzhatsk, he was still there with his wounds unhealed when the retreating army returned to Gzhatsk at the end of October. Friant returned to France to recover from his wounds in January 1813. He returned to the front in June 1813, commanding the Old Guard Division at the Battles of Dresden (26 August), Leipzig (16–19 October), and Hanau (30 October 1813). In the 1814 campaign in France, Friant and his 1st Division of the Old Guard fought a successful defensive action against Gyulai's Austrians at Bar-sur-Aube on 24 January. Friant took part in Napoleon's surprise counter-offensive against Blücher's Army of Silesia, gaining victories at Montmirail (11 February), Château-Thierry (12 February), and Vauchamps (14 February 1814). Friant's Old Guard was the core and reserve of the Emperor's masse de manoeuvre. They were committed to battle in the bloody and indecisive clash at Craonne (7 March 1814), the reverse at Laon (9–10 March), the recapture of Reims (13 March), and the defeat at Arcis-sur-Aube, (20 March). Waterloo and final years During Napoleon's exile, Friant was retained as commander of the grenadiers à pied de France. In the campaign of the Hundred Days, he was Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadiers à Pied de la Vieille Garde. His men made the final assault on Ligny as darkness fell on 16 June 1815. On 18 June, at Waterloo Friant led his Old Guard Grenadiers in the final, fateful attack on the Allied center, where he was wounded yet again. Friant retired in September 1815. He died on 24 June 1829, aged 70. References Counts of France French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Commanders in the French Imperial Guard 1758 births 1829 deaths Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe