Early Life
He was born at Limoges, a member of a noble family of Périgord, the youngest of thirteen children. He ran away from home, and for some years lived in the country as an agricultural worker. At the age of twenty he became a private soldier in the Vélites of the Imperial Guard, with which he took part in the Austerlitz campaign of the following year. Early in 1806, he was given a commission, and as a Second Lieutenant he served in the Jena and Eylau campaigns, winning his promotion to the rank of lieutenant at the Battle of Pultusk.
In 1808, he was in the first French corps to enter Spain, and was stationed in Madrid during the revolt of the Dos Mayo. At the Second Siege of Saragossa, he won further promotion to the rank of captain, and in 1809 - 1810 found opportunities for winning distinction under Suchet in the eastern theatre of the Peninsular War, in which he rose to the rank of major and the command of a full regiment. At the first restoration he was made a colonel, but he rejoined Napoleon during the Hundred Days, and under his old chief Suchet distinguished himself in the war in the Alps.
Read more about this topic: Thomas Robert Bugeaud
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