Among the officers employed at the camp, my father had taken a
great liking to two, who were invited more often than the others.
One was named Augereau and was the adjutant-general, that is to say
colonel of the general staff, the other was Lannes, a lieutenant of
Grenadiers, in a battalion of volunteers from the department of Gers.

They became Marshals of the Empire and I have been aide-de-camp to
both of them.

At this period Augereau, after escaping from the prison of the
Inquisition at Lisbon, had come to fight in the Vendée, where he was
noticed for his courage and his quality of leadership. He was an
excellent tactician, a skill which he had learned in Prussia, where
he had served for a considerable time in the Foot-guards of Frederick
the Great; hence his nick-name of "The Big Prussian." He had an
irreproachable military turn-out, spick and span, curled and
powdered, with a long pig-tail, big, highly polished riding boots and
withal, a very martial bearing. This smart appearance was the more
remarkable because, at this time it was not something on which the
French army could pride itself, being almost entirely made up of
volunteers not used to wearing uniform and very careless of their
grooming. However nobody made fun of Augereau about this, for he was
known to be a brave and accomplished duelist, who had given even the
celebrated Saint-George, the finest swordsman in France, a run for
his money.

I have said that Augereau was a good tactician; because of this,
my father had appointed him to direct the training of the battalions
of new levées, of which the division was largely composed. These men