on 12 November. 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.”
Napoleon sent Augereau to Paris in late 1797 to
aid in the coup of 18 Fructidor (4 September 1797)
that overthrew the revolutionary government. After Na-
poleon took power in France, Augereau was honored
with the title of marshal of France on 19 May 1804
and awarded the Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honor
in 1805. With this rank, he was placed in command
of the VII Corps of the French army, and in 1806 he
saw action at Konstanz (Constance) and Bregenz. That
same year, in two separate battles at Auerstädt and Jena,
Napoleon’s armies crushed Prussian troops and took
control of Prussia. At the battle of Jena (14 October
1806), Augereau’s forces crushed the troops under the
command of Prussian general Ernst von Rüchel (also
Ruechel). On 8 February 1807, Augereau suffered one
of his few military defeats at Eylau when, with their
general ill and strapped to his horse, his troops rushed
the center of the Russian army in a snowstorm and were
badly defeated. Wounded in his arm, Augereau was
evacuated back to France, where he was awarded the
title of the duc de Castiglione (duke of Castiglione).
Transferred to Spain, Augereau was put in charge of the
VII Corps of the French army in Spain, and though he
was again victorious, particularly at the siege of Gerona
(4 June–10 December 1809), he was criticized for ex-
cessive cruelty.
Following this action, Augereau did not serve again
until 1812, when Napoleon marched into Russia. How-
ever, in this campaign and that of 1813, Augereau had
clearly lost much of his dash and vigor, and Napoleon
criticized his performance. Prior to the battle of Leipzig
(16–19 October 1813), Augereau told Napoleon that
he could become the military leader of old: “[G]ive me
back the old soldiers of Italy, and I will show you that I
am.” In 1814, after Napoleon was overthrown, Augereau
went to serve King Louis XVIII, but after Napoleon’s es-
cape from Elba, he returned to his old commander; his
service, however, was rejected. Napoleon’s attempt lasted
only 100 days, ending at Waterloo. With Louis XVIII
back in power, Augereau was stripped of his pension
and titles, the final blow. Confined to his estate at La
Housaye, he died there of heart failure on 12 June 1816.
Despite his long and distinguished record of service, his
part in Napoleon’s wars is nearly forgotten.
References: Durant, Will, and Ariel Durant, The Age of Na-
poleon: A History of European Civilization from 1789 to 1815
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975); Bruce, George,
“Eylau” and “Jena,” in Collins Dictionary of Wars (Glasgow,
Scotland: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995), 85, 118–119.Augustus (Gaius Octavius, Octavian) (63 b.c.–
a.d. 14) Roman emperor
Augustus was born Gaius Octavius—better known as
Octavian—in Rome on 23 September 63 b.c., the son
of Gaius Octavius, a Roman senator who died when Oc-
tavian was four years old; through his mother he was a
great-nephew of Julius caesar. Because of his status as a
patrician, he enjoyed the privileges and education of that
class, and he was named as a pontifex, or priest, when he
was only 15. From an early age, Octavian was involved
with his great-uncle Julius Caesar in a number of mili-
tary expeditions, and in 46 b.c. he served at Caesar’s side
in fighting in Africa. In 44 b.c., although he was only
18, he was named as master of the horse.
Octavian was in Apollonia in Illyria (modern Yugo-
slavia) when he learned that Caesar had been assassinated
in Rome. Returning there, he discovered that Caesar’s
will named Octavian as his heir. Mark antony, Cae-
sar’s friend who had taken control of the city following
the killing, dissuaded Octavian from avenging Caesar’s
murder. However, there were many in Rome, including
a majority of the Roman Senate, who like Octavian,
wanted to punish Caesar’s killers. Octavian was given
a Senate seat, and he participated in the formation of a
demand that Antony release Caesar’s wealth, over which
he had assumed control. When Antony gathered Roman
troops in northern Italy, Cicero and the other senators
gave their approval for Octavian to raise an army and
fight him there.
Marching north with the consuls Hirtius and
Pansa, Octavian fought and, in 43 b.c., defeated Antony
at Mutina (now Modena, Italy), forcing the latter’s with-
drawal into Gaul (now present-day France). However,
Hirtius and Pansa were killed, and these two men had
been the Roman Senate’s only control on Octavian, who
met with Antony and his co-consul Lepidus in Bolo-
gna. In 43 b.c., the three men agreed to form a coali-
tion, called the second Triumvirate, with their main goal
being to defeat Caesar’s murderers, the consuls Marcus
Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. In 42 b.c.,
at Philippi in northern Greece, the triumvirate was vic- AuguStuS