Charles-Pierre-François Augereau Duke ofCastiglione | |
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 1805 portrait | |
| Born | (1757-10-21)21 October 1757 Paris, France |
| Died | 12 June 1816(1816-06-12) (aged 58) La Houssaye-en-Brie, France |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | France Prussia Naples Portugal |
| Branch | French Army Russian Army |
| Years of service | 1774–1815 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Empire |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Grand Officer of theLegion of Honour Grand Cross of the Order ofCharles III of Spain Knight of theOrder of Saint Louis Peer of France |
| Signature |  |
Charles Pierre François Augereau, duc deCastiglione (French pronunciation:[ʃaʁlpjɛʁoʒʁo]; 21 October 1757 – 12 June 1816)[1] was a French military commander and aMarshal of the Empire who served during theFrench Revolutionary Wars and theNapoleonic Wars. After serving in the Revolutionary Wars, he earned rapid promotion while fighting against Spain and soon found himself as a division commander underNapoleon Bonaparte in Italy. He fought in all of Bonaparte's battles of 1796 with great distinction. During theNapoleonic Wars, Napoleon entrusted Augereau with important commands. His life ended under a cloud because of his poor timing in switching sides between Napoleon andLouis XVIII. Napoleon wrote of Augereau that he "has plenty of character, courage, firmness, activity; is inured to war; is well liked by the soldiery; is fortunate in his operations".[2] Augereau is generally counted as one of the most capable generals of the Napoleonic Wars.
Augereau was born in Faubourg Saint-Marceau, Paris, as the son of aParisian fruit seller (in some accounts, a servant). He enlisted in the army at the age of seventeen in theClare Infantry Regiment, but was soon discharged. Later, he joined the dragoons. He became a notedswordsman andduellist, but he had to flee France after killing an officer in a quarrel. For the next 13 years Augereau drifted across Europe. He claimed to have served in the Russian Army against theOttoman Empire, being present at theSiege of Izmail as a sergeant before deserting afterwards.[3] He later enlisted in the infantry regiment ofPrince Henry of Prussia and claimed he served in the Prussian Foot Guards as well. He deserted by masterminding a mass escape and reachedSaxony, where he taught fencing.[4]
In 1781, KingLouis XVI proclaimed an amnesty for deserters, so Augereau returned to his native land. He joined the cavalry in 1784, and after serving in thecarabiniers he was sent to theKingdom of Naples as part of a military mission. While in Naples, he eloped with Gabrielle Grach and the two lovers traveled toPortugal where they spent the years 1788–1791. After theFrench Revolution broke out, the Portuguese jailed Augereau as a dangerous foreigner. Somehow, Gabrielle persuaded the authorities to release her husband and the couple returned to France. In September 1792, Augereau joined a volunteer cavalry unit, theGerman Legion, but this is without proof as Augereau claims that the papers were taken away from him during the Portuguese Inquisition.[5]
Augereau's unit was sent to put down therevolt in the Vendée in April 1793. TheGerman Legion proved useless in battle because many of the soldiers switched sides, and the officers, including Augereau andFrançois Marceau, found themselves in prison. Released, he served briefly in the 11th Hussars before serving as wagonmaster and as aide de camp to GeneralJean Antoine Rossignol. He was then assigned to train recruits for GeneralJean-Antoine Marbot atToulouse. Marbot liked his work and Augereau soon became a close friend of theMarbot family.[6]
It is not clear when, or if, Augereau was promoted togeneral of brigade, but he transferred to theArmy of the Eastern Pyrenees and was promoted togeneral of division on 23 December 1793.[7] When GeneralJacques François Dugommier became commander in January 1794, the army was thoroughly reorganized. Augereau became a divisional commander and played a significant role at theBattle of Boulou from 29 April to 1 May, where his feint attacks lured the Spanish Army led by GeneralLuis Firmín de la Unión into a false position. After the victory at Boulou, the army advanced a short distance into Spain, with Augereau holding the right wing. At theBattle of San-Lorenzo de la Muga on 13 August, he skillfully repelled the assaults of 20,000 Spanish troops with his 10,000 French troops.[8] On 17 November, Dugommier launched a major offensive against the Spanish at theBattle of the Black Mountain. On the first day, Augereau's attack crushed the Spanish left flank while other French attacks proved unsuccessful. Dugommier was killed on the second day, but after a day's pause, the advance resumed and the Spanish were routed.
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After thePeace of Basel ended theWar of the Pyrenees in July 1795, Augereau and his division were transferred to theArmy of Italy. On 23 November 1795, Augereau fought at theBattle of Loano against the Austrians and Piedmontese. During the fighting, his troops attacked on the right near the coast, while GeneralAndré Masséna's division pierced the Allied center. The following April, his close association withNapoleon Bonaparte began when Bonaparte took command of the army and launched theMontenotte campaign.[9] Augereau fought at theBattle of Millesimo on 13 April 1796, and accepted the surrender of the castle ofCosseria the next morning. He led his troops at theBattle of Ceva on the 16th, before serving in theLodi campaign in early May and at theBattle of Borghetto on 30 May.
But it was at theBattle of Castiglione on 5 August 1796 that Augereau rendered the most notable services. In his memoirs, GeneralMarcellin Marbot described Augereau as encouraging even Bonaparte himself in the confused situation that prevailed before that battle, though Marbot may not be the most reliable source, as he had not witnessed these events directly and because of his outspoken sympathy for Augereau. In any case, it was Bonaparte's undoubted superiority as a strategist that made the victory at Castiglione a possibility. On 3 August, while Bonaparte defeated the Austrian corps of GeneralPeter Quasdanovich, Augereau held off the main Austrian army of GeneralDagobert Sigmund von Wurmser. With 11,000 men, he attacked GeneralAnton Lipthay's brigade and drove it back on the Austrian main body. By the end of the day, Augereau faced 20,000 Austrians. The battle cost the Austrians about 1,000 casualties, while French losses were also heavy, including General Martial Beyrand who was killed. Augereau's bold front allowed Bonaparte to dispose of Quasdanovich, then mass his main strength to beat Wurmser at Castiglione two days later.[10]
Shortly after Castiglione, Bonaparte tersely summed up Augereau's military qualities: "Much character, courage, steadiness, activity; is used to war, liked by the soldiers, lucky in his operations."[11]
In 1797, Bonaparte sent Augereau to Paris to encourage theJacobinDirectors. Augereau and the troops led by him coerced the "moderates" in the councils and carried through theCoup of 18 Fructidor (4 September 1797). He was then sent to command French forces in Germany.
Augereau took little part in thecoup d'état of18 Brumaire in November 1799, and did not distinguish himself in the Rhenish campaign which followed. Nevertheless, owing to his final adhesion to Bonaparte's fortunes, Augereau received aMarshal'sbaton at the beginning of theFirst French Empire on 19 May 1804.
Augereau commanded a camp inBrest, Brittany, during preparations for theinvasion of Britain. WhenNapoleon called off the invasion because of the growing threat from Austria and Russia, the camp became the VII Corps of theGrande Armée. With this force, Augereau fought in theWar of the Third Coalition. His corps was charged with protecting the army's lines of communications during theUlm campaign. He fought in the battles ofKonstanz andBregenz, before tracking down and destroying GeneralFranz Jellacic's Austrian division atDornbirn inVorarlberg on 13 November 1805. This was followed by the occupation ofFrankfurt am Main. His wife Gabrielle died while he was away.[12]
During theWar of the Fourth Coalition, Augereau was again commander of the VII Corps. He distinguished himself at theBattle of Jena on 14 October 1806 where his corps made up the left flank. Early in 1807, he fell ill with fever, and at theBattle of Eylau on 7 February 1807, he had to be supported on his horse. Nevertheless, he directed the movements of his corps with his usual bravery. Augereau's corps was almost annihilated and the marshal himself received a wound in the arm from grapeshot.[13]
Augereau became Duke of Castiglione on 19 March 1808, a hereditaryvictory title (i.e. not in chief of an actual fief, but a hollow title), in honour of the 1796 victory. In 1809, he married the 19-year-old Adélaïde Josephine Bourlon de Chavange (1789 – 1869) whom he had become infatuated with.[14] Adélaïde, the daughter of Gilles Bernard Bourlon de Chavange and wife Jeanne Françoise Launuy, had no children with Augereau and the ducal title became extinct upon his death. His wife later remarried Camille de Sainte-Aldegonde (1787 – 1853), by whom she had a daughter Valentine de Sainte-Aldegonde (1820 – 1891), who married the 3rd Duke of Dino.
While serving inCatalonia during thePeninsular War from February to May 1810, Augereau gained some successes but tarnished his name with cruelty. It was Augereau's brother Jean-Pierre, serving underLouis Baraguey d'Hilliers, who was taken prisoner by the Russian vanguard near Smolensk.[15] He sat out the German campaign in spring 1813 due to illness. Before theBattle of Leipzig in October, Napoleon reproached him with not being the Augereau of Castiglione; to which he replied, "Give me back the old soldiers of Italy, and I will show you that I am."[16] Yet, he led the IX Corps at Leipzig with skill and brought off his command in good order.[14]
In 1814, Augereau was given command of the army ofLyon, and his slackness exposed him to the charge of having come to an understanding with the Allies. Thereafter, he served the restored Bourbon KingLouis XVIII. But, after reviling Napoleon, he went over to him during theHundred Days. The emperor repulsed Augereau and charged him with being a traitor to France in 1814.
After being re-restored to the throne in 1815 following Napoleon's defeat, King Louis XVIII deprived Augereau of his military title and pension. Augereau died at his estate ofLa Houssaye only a year later.[17] He is buried in thePère Lachaise Cemetery.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Rose, John Holland (1911). "Augereau, Pierre François Charles".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). pp. 900–901.
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