Marshal Pierre Augereau

‘…It is said that Arena, a native of Corsica like himself, aimed a dagger at his [Napoleon’s] breast, which was only averted by the interposition of one of the grenadiers. The fact seems extremely doubtful, though it is certain that Bonaparte was seized by two or three members, while others exclaimed, "Was it for this you gained so many victories?" and loaded him with reproaches. At this crisis a party of grenadiers rushed into the hall with drawn swords, and extricating Bonaparte from the deputies, bore him off in their arms breathless with the scuffle.

It was probably at this crisis that Augereau's faith in his ancient general's fortune began to totter, and his revolutionary principles to gain an ascendence over his military devotion. "A fine situation you have brought yourself into," he said to Bonaparte, who answered sternly, "Augereau, things were worse at Areola—Take my advice—remain quiet, in a short time all this will change."  Augereau, whose active assistance and cooperation might have been at this critical period of the greatest consequence to the Council, took the hint, and continued passive…’

Marshal Pierre Augereau was born this day, October 21^st, in 1757, and his military career with Napoleon merits several entries in Sir Walter Scott’s “The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte”.  But, as the text above alludes to, Augereau didn’t side with Napoleon permanently, and the relationship between the two was not stable.  In 1814, Augereau joined the restored Louis XVIII.  When Napoleon returned from exile on Elba in March of 1815, Augereau tried to rejoin him, but Napoleon refused his service.

Trafalgar

‘Admiral Collingwood, was to break in upon the enemy about the twelfth ship from the rear, and Nelson himself determined to bear down on the centre.  The effect of these manoeuvers must of course be a close and general action; for the rest, Nelson knew he could trust to the determination of his officers and seamen. ..With such dispositions on either side, the two gallant fleets met on the memorable 21^st of October.  Admiral Collingwood, who led the van, went down on the enemy with all sails set. ..Nelson run his vessel , the Victory, on board the French Redoubtable…’

On October 21, 1805, the British Royal Navy under Horatio Nelson met Napoleon's fleet, which was led by Admiral Villeneuve.  In this, the Battle of Trafalgar, the British scored a resounding victory.  As Walter Scott describes in his "The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte", Nelson's partner, Admiral Collingwood sailed the Royal Sovereign to attack the line of the French fleet from the windward, while Nelson approached from the leeward in the Victory.  Horatio Nelson, though victorious, died of a gunshot wound during the battle.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Coleridge was born on this day, in 1772. He was contemporary with Scott, and unwittingly played a major role in Scott's success. In the fall of 1802, Scott heard an unpublished version of Coleridge's "Christabel"; recited by John Stoddart. Scott published his "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" in 1805, well before Christabel was published. It did not take long before Coleridge's friends noticed similarities in the two works. In fact, some of the verses are nearly identical. For example, Scott used the refrain, "Jesu Maria, shield us well!" Coleridge's original was "Jesu Maria, shield her well!"

Coleridge was charged with plagiarism by an anonymous reviewer when his Christobel was published. The opposite was more true. It took until 1824 for Scott to confess to Lord Byron that he had been influenced by Coleridge's work. Finally in 1830, in his Poetical Works, Scott publicly admitted to borrowing from Coleridge.