Charles Augereau

Charles-Pierre-François Augereau was born on 21 October 1757 in Paris. Son of a mason and a fruit seller, he enlisted in the army in 1774. He deserted, served in the Russian, Prussian, and Neapolitan armies. In 1790, he returned to France, joined the National Guard then the revolutionary army. In 1794, he was a brigadier general in the Pyrenees. In 1796, Bonaparte took him into the Army of Italy. At Montenotte, Millesimo, Lodi, Augereau distinguished himself. On 15 November 1796, at the bridge of Arcola, he seized a flag, led the troops in the assault. Gros's painting immortalised the moment — Napoleon and Augereau side by side on the bridge. On 5 August, at Castiglione, Augereau crushed Wurmser's Austrians. Napoleon gave him the title of Duke of Castiglione in 1808.

In 1804, Augereau was one of the first marshals. At Jena in 1806, he commanded the 7th Corps and outflanked the Prussian wing. In 1807, at Eylau, he was less brilliant — the corps suffered in the snow. In Spain in 1808, his health declined. He was recalled. In 1812, he commanded the 11th Corps in Germany; in 1813, he was in reserve. His loyalty to Napoleon eroded.

In 1814, when the Coalition invaded France, Augereau commanded the Army of Lyon. On 21 March, he published a proclamation that disavowed Napoleon and called for peace. It was open treason. The Emperor abdicated a few days later. Augereau rallied to Louis XVIII, received a peerage. During the Hundred Days, he remained faithful to the Bourbons and refused to join Napoleon. He died on 12 June 1816 at La Houssayé, in the Manche. He was fifty-eight. His career illustrated the winding path of the Marshals of the Empire: from the bridge of Arcola to defection, from revolutionary glory to opportunistic rallying.

The Battle of Eylau, on 8 February 1807, marked a turning point in Augereau's career. He commanded the 7th Corps, tasked with breaking the Russian left wing. A snowstorm blinded the troops; Augereau took the wrong direction and exposed them to enemy artillery. His regiments were mown down. He himself was hit — he had already received several wounds in Italy. Napoleon had to commit the Guard and Murat's cavalry to plug the gap. The battle remained indecisive. Augereau emerged from it diminished.

In Spain, in 1808, his health declined. He fought at Medina de Rioseco, but the guerrilla, the climate, the privations exhausted him. Napoleon recalled him. In 1812, he commanded the 11th Corps in Germany; in 1813, he was in reserve. His loyalty eroded. When the Coalition invaded France in 1814, Augereau was at Lyon. Instead of resisting, he published on 21 March a proclamation that disavowed the Emperor and called on the population for peace. It was open — and premeditated — treason. Napoleon abdicated four days later. Augereau received a peerage from Louis XVIII. The man of the bridge of Arcola, the one who had brandished the flag under fire, ended as a defector. The history of the Marshals of the Empire counts few paths as contrasted.