Charles-Pierre Augereau

Charles-Pierre-François Augereau, duc de Castiglione was a French military commander and a Marshal of the Empire who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. After serving in the Revolutionary Wars, he earned rapid promotion while fighting against Spain and soon found himself as a division commander under Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy. He fought in all of Bonaparte's battles of 1796 with great distinction. During the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon entrusted Augereau with important commands. He distinguished himself as a corps commander at Jena, although at Eylau he led a charge into a snowstorm that proved disastrous. His life ended under a cloud because of his poor timing in switching sides between Napoleon and Louis 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". Augereau is generally counted as one of the most capable generals of the Napoleonic Wars.