He intrigued to obtain command of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees and got his wish when Louis-Charles de Flers was dismissed in August 1793.

When the Spanish commander Antonio Ricardos surrounded Perpignan with a chain of fortified camps, Barbantane panicked and fled the city, going absent without leave.

Two subordinates, Eustache Charles d'Aoust and Jacques Gilles Henri Goguet saved the day by beating the Spanish in the Battle of Peyrestortes.

Meanwhile, Barbantane was arrested and put in prison, but remarkably he avoided the guillotine.

Considering his unmilitary behavior, is it astonishing that BARBANTANE is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 34.