Charles-Pierre Augereau
Charles-Pierre Augereau was born in the Faubourg Saint-Marceau district of Paris on the 21st of October 1757. His father worked as a fruit seller, though some accounts suggest he was merely a servant. The young man enlisted in the Clare Infantry Regiment at age seventeen but faced immediate discharge. He later joined the dragoons and became known for his skill with a sword. A quarrel led him to kill an officer, forcing him to flee France immediately.
For thirteen years, Augereau drifted across Europe without a fixed home or allegiance. He claimed service in the Russian Army against the Ottoman Empire during the Siege of Izmail. After deserting there, he joined Prince Henry of Prussia's infantry regiment. He even served in the Prussian Foot Guards before masterminding a mass escape to reach Saxony. In Saxony, he taught fencing while living off his wits.
King Louis XVI proclaimed an amnesty for deserters in 1781, allowing Augereau to return to France. He joined the cavalry in 1784 and served in the carabiniers. A military mission sent him to the Kingdom of Naples where he eloped with Gabrielle Grach. The couple traveled to Portugal and spent the years from 1788 to 1791 there. When the French Revolution broke out, Portuguese authorities jailed Augereau as a dangerous foreigner. Gabrielle persuaded officials to release her husband so they could return to France.
Augereau's unit arrived in the Vendée region in April 1793 to suppress a royalist revolt. His German Legion proved useless in battle because many soldiers switched sides. Officers including Augereau and François Marceau found themselves imprisoned. Released men served briefly in the 11th Hussars before becoming wagonmasters or aides de camp. Augereau trained recruits for General Jean-Antoine Marbot at Toulouse and became close friends with the Marbot family.
He transferred to the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees and received promotion to general of division on the 23rd of December 1793. General Jacques François Dugommier reorganized the army in January 1794. Augereau commanded a division during the Battle of Boulou from the 29th of April to the 1st of May. His feint attacks lured Spanish forces led by General Luis Firmín de la Unión into a false position. After victory at Boulou, his troops advanced into Spain holding the right wing.
On the 13th of August, Augereau repelled assaults from 20,000 Spanish troops using only 10,000 Frenchmen. He fought at the Battle of the Black Mountain on the 17th of November where his attack crushed the Spanish left flank. General Dugommier died on the second day but the advance resumed after a pause. The Spanish were routed completely. This period marked his rapid rise from private soldier to division commander.
Augereau's division moved to the Army of Italy after the Peace of Basel ended the War of the Pyrenees in July 1795. He fought at the Battle of Loano against Austrians and Piedmontese on the 23rd of November 1795. His troops attacked near the coast while General André Masséna pierced the Allied center. Napoleon Bonaparte took command of the army in April 1796 and launched the Montenotte campaign.
Augereau fought at the Battle of Millesimo on the 13th of April 1796 and accepted the surrender of Cosseria castle the next morning. He led troops at Ceva on the 16th of May before serving in the Lodi campaign. The critical moment arrived at Castiglione on the 5th of August 1796. Augereau held off the main Austrian army under General Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser with only 11,000 men.
He attacked General Anton Lipthay's brigade and drove it back toward the Austrian main body. By day's end, Augereau faced 20,000 Austrians alone. French losses were heavy including General Martial Beyrand who died in action. Augereau's bold front allowed Bonaparte to defeat Quasdanovich then mass strength to beat Wurmser two days later. Napoleon later summarized Augereau's qualities as character, courage, steadiness, activity, and luck.
Bonaparte sent Augereau to Paris in 1797 to encourage Jacobin Directors. Augereau and his troops coerced moderate members in the councils during the Coup of 18 Fructidor on the 4th of September 1797. He commanded French forces in Germany afterward but took little part in the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire in November 1799. His final adhesion to Bonaparte's fortunes earned him a Marshal's baton on the 19th of May 1804.
Augereau commanded a camp in Brest, Brittany during preparations for Britain invasion. When Napoleon called off the invasion due to threats from Austria and Russia, the camp became VII Corps of the Grande Armée. This force fought in the War of the Third Coalition protecting lines of communications during the Ulm campaign. His corps destroyed General Franz Jellacic's Austrian division at Dornbirn in Vorarlberg on the 13th of November 1805.
Frankfurt am Main fell under occupation shortly after. Augereau's wife Gabrielle died while he was away. In 1808, he became Duke of Castiglione as a hereditary victory title honoring his 1796 performance. The title held no actual fief but remained hollow yet prestigious.
Augereau's corps suffered near annihilation during the fighting. The marshal himself received a wound in the arm from grapeshot. Despite this disaster, he displayed usual bravery under fire. He sat out the German campaign in spring 1813 due to illness. Before the Battle of Leipzig in October, Napoleon reproached him for not being the Augereau of Castiglione.
Augereau replied that he needed back the old soldiers of Italy to show his true capabilities. He led IX Corps at Leipzig with skill and brought off his command in good order. This period showed both his enduring courage and the physical toll of constant warfare on an aging commander.
Augereau served in Catalonia from February to May 1810 during the Peninsular War. He gained some military successes but tarnished his name with acts of cruelty. His brother Jean-Pierre served under Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers and was taken prisoner by Russian vanguard near Smolensk. Augereau married Adélaïde Josephine Bourlon de Chavange in 1809 when she was only nineteen years old.
Adélaïde was daughter
of Gilles Bernard Bourlon de Chavange and wife Jeanne Françoise Launuy. The couple had no children so the ducal title became extinct upon Augereau's death. She later remarried Camille de Sainte-Aldegonde who fathered a daughter named Valentine. This marriage produced a lineage continuing through the 3rd Duke of Dino.
In 1814, Augereau received command of the army of Lyon. His slackness exposed him to charges of understanding with the Allies. He then served the restored Bourbon King Louis XVIII after Napoleon's initial defeat. However, he switched sides again during the Hundred Days to support Napoleon once more.
Napoleon repulsed Augereau and charged him with being a traitor to France in 1814.
After Louis XVIII regained the throne following Napoleon's final defeat, the king deprived Augereau of his military title and pension. Augereau died at his estate of La Houssaye just one year later on the 12th of June 1816. He lies buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery where his legacy remains complex and controversial.
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Common questions
When and where was Charles-Pierre Augereau born?
Charles-Pierre Augereau was born in the Faubourg Saint-Marceau district of Paris on the 21st of October 1757. His father worked as a fruit seller, though some accounts suggest he was merely a servant.
How did Charles-Pierre Augereau rise to become a general during the French Revolution?
Charles-Pierre Augereau received promotion to general of division on the 23rd of December 1793 after serving in the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. He commanded a division during the Battle of Boulou from the 29th of April to the 1st of May and later repelled assaults from 20,000 Spanish troops using only 10,000 Frenchmen on the 13th of August 1794.
What role did Charles-Pierre Augereau play in Napoleon Bonaparte's campaigns in Italy?
Charles-Pierre Augereau fought at the Battle of Castiglione on the 5th of August 1796 where he held off the main Austrian army under General Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser with only 11,000 men. Napoleon Bonaparte took command of the army in April 1796 and launched the Montenotte campaign which included battles at Millesimo and Ceva.
When was Charles-Pierre Augereau made a Marshal of France and what title did he receive?
Napoleon awarded Charles-Pierre Augereau a Marshal's baton on the 19th of May 1804 for his final adhesion to Bonaparte's fortunes. In 1808, he became Duke of Castiglione as a hereditary victory title honoring his performance during the 1796 Italian campaign.
Why did Charles-Pierre Augereau lose his military titles after the fall of Napoleon?
After Louis XVIII regained the throne following Napoleon's final defeat, the king deprived Charles-Pierre Augereau of his military title and pension. The monarch had previously repulsed Augereau and charged him with being a traitor to France in 1814 due to switching sides multiple times.