As an example of the kind of thing which raises a question in my
mind, in his opening chapter he says that he was a very sturdy infant
and that the only illness he ever suffered from was small-pox. This
does not seem probable; an outbreak of small-pox in the family would
be a disastrous occurrence, it is a disease with a high mortality and
could not be dismissed as a childish complaint. He also goes on to
describe how his head got stuck in the cat-hole, but in the original
he claims that his face turned blue and that he was being strangled
when his father removed the door from its hinges to extricate him.
Anyone who has attempted to remove a door from its hinges knows that
you cannot do so without opening the door and using at least a
screwdriver. It is also an operation which is difficult to perform
single-handed and with a small child stuck in it even more so. He
says that he was about three or four at the time, and the long-term
memory does not start developing in a child until around the age of
four. I think it more than likely that that good Baron has a false
recollection derived from being told of these goings on by his mother
and truly believes that he remembers them. A misdiagnosis of
small-pox would not be surprising given the inadequate state of
medical knowledge and practice of the time.

I do not doubt that he ran great danger and was seriously injured
at Eylau, but there are elements in his recital which although they
enhance the drama and would pass muster with the lay reader, are open
to criticism by anyone with a medical training. He says that while he
was attempting to release the "Eagle" from its standard, a bullet
passed through his hat without touching his head. As a result of this
he claims that he found himself paralysed and unable to use his legs
to urge his horse forward, although he remained mentally perfectly