Everything about Pierre Augereau totally explained
Charles Pierre François Augereau, 1st Duc de Castiglione (
October 21,
1757 –
June 12,
1816) was a French soldier and military commander during the
Revolutionary and
Napoleonic Wars. He was a
Marshal of France.
Early life
Pierre Augereau was born in Faubourg Saint-Marceau, Paris, as the son of a
Parisian fruit seller; he enlisted in the army at seventeen in the
carabiniers. He became a noted
swordsman and
duellist, but he'd to flee France after killing an officer in a quarrel. He served in the
Russian army against the
Ottoman Empire; but afterwards escaped into
Prussia and enlisted in the guards. He deserted and reached the border of
Saxony. Service in the
Neapolitan army and a sojourn in
Portugal took up the years 1788–1791; but the events of the
French Revolution brought Augereau back to France.
General during the French Revolutionary Wars
He served with credit against the
revolt in the Vendée and then joined the troops opposing the
Spaniards in the south. There he rose rapidly, becoming general of division on
December 23,
1793. His division distinguished itself even more when transferred to the
army of Italy; and under
Napoleon Bonaparte he participated in the
Battle of Millesimo (
1796) and in taking the castle of
Cosseria (
April 14,
1796).
But it was at the
Battle of Castiglione (
August 5,
1796) that he rendered the most signal services. General
de Marbot described him as encouraging even Bonaparte himself in the confused situation that prevailed before that battle, though Marbot's memoirs are hardly the most reliable source, and in any case it was Bonaparte's undoubted superiority as a strategist that made the victory at Castiglione a possibility. Bonaparte summed up Augereau's military qualities: "Has plenty of character, courage, firmness, activity; is inured to war; is well liked by the soldiery; is fortunate in his operations."
In 1797 Bonaparte sent Augereau to Paris to encourage the
Jacobin Directors. Augereau and the troops led by him coerced the "moderates" in the councils and carried through the
coup d'état of
18 Fructidor (
September 4)
1797. He was then sent to command French forces in
Germany.
Augereau took little part in the
coup d'état of
Brumaire (November 1799), and didn't distinguish himself in the Rhenish campaign which ensued. Nevertheless, owing to his final adhesion to Bonaparte's fortunes, he received a
marshal's
baton at the beginning of the
First French Empire (
May 19,
1804).
Marshal during the Napoleonic Wars
Augereau commanded a camp in
Brest,
Brittany, during the preparations for the invasion of England. When Napoleon called off the invasion, because of the growing threat from Austria and Russia, the camp became the VII Corps of the
Grande Armée.
Augereau and his corps were charged with protecting the army’s lines of communications during the
War of the Third Coalition. He also fought actions at
Konstanz and
Bregenz,
In the
War of the Fourth Coalition he was again at the head of the VII Corps, it and he distinguished itself at
Jena where it made up the left flank.
Early in 1807 he fell ill with fever, and at the
Battle of Eylau (
February 7,
1807) he'd to be supported on his horse, but directed the movements of his corps with his usual bravery. His corps was almost annihilated and the marshal himself received a wound from which he never quite recovered.
He became Duke of Castiglione on
March 19,
1808, a hereditary
victory title (for example not in chief of an actual fief, but a hollow title), in honour of his 1796 victory (see above), which granted his heirs ducal rank till the extinction in 1915. He was married without issue to Adélaïde Josephine Bourlon de Chavange (
1789 –
1869), daughter of Gilles Bernard Bourlon de Chavange and wife Jeanne Françoise Launuy ?, but his nephews had become heirs of that title. His wife later remarried Camille de Sainte-Aldegonde (
1787 –
1853), by whom she'd a daughter Valentine de Sainte-Aldegonde (
1820 –
1891), who married the 3rd Duke of Dino.
When transferred to
Catalonia, Augereau gained some successes but tarnished his name by cruelty. In the campaign of 1812 in
Russia and in the Saxon campaign of 1813 his conduct was little more than mediocre. Before the
Battle of Leipzig (October 1813), Napoleon reproached him with not being the Augereau of Castiglione; to which he replied, "Give me back the old soldiers of Italy, and I'll show you that I am".
In 1814 Augereau had command of the army of
Lyon, and his slackness exposed him to the charge of having come to an understanding with the
Austrian invaders.
Thereafter he served the restored Bourbon King
Louis XVIII, but, after reviling Napoleon, went over to him during the
Hundred Days. The Emperor repulsed him and charged him with being a traitor to France in 1814.
Louis XVIII, when re-restored to the royal throne, deprived him of his military title and pension. Augereau died at his estate of
La Houssaye. He is buried in the
Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Sources and references
-
- Koch, Mémoires de Masséna
- Bouvier, Bonaparte en Italie
- Count A. F. Andreossi, La Campagne sur le ..., 1800 - 1801
- Baron A. Ducasse, Précis de la campagne de ... de Lyon en 1814
- Marbot, Mémoires
- Elting, Colonel John R. Napoleon's Marshals. New York: Macmillan, 1987.
For the battle of Castiglione in particular, see: Boycott-Brown, M. "The Road to Rivoli, Napoleon's First Campaign", London, Cassell, 2001
- Heraldica.org- Napoleonic Victory titles
- Pierre Augereau at Find-A-Grave
Further Information
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