Louis Nicolas Davout (Louis-Davoust) was Duke of Auerstadt and Prince of Eckmuhl, marshal and peer of France. He was born in 1770 at Annoux, in Burgundy and died in 1823. He entered the army at the age of seventeen; served with distinction under Dumouriez, and at the passage of the Rhine, in 1797. He went with Bonaparte to Egypt in 1798, and commanded the cavalry of the army of Italy in 1800. He received a marshal's baton in 1804, led the right wing at Austerlitz in 1805, and defeated the Prussians at Auerstadt in 1806. He shared the glory of Eyiau, Eckmuhl, and Wagram; was made governor of Hamburg; took part in the Russian campaign of 1812, and was wounded at Borodino. During the Hundred Days in 1815 he was Napoleon's minister of war, and after the Battle of Waterloo was appointed by the provisional government general-in-chief of the French armies. In 1819 he was a member of the Chamber of Peers. Research Louis Davout
Louis Auguste Victor de Ghaisne, Comte de Bourmont, was a Marshal of France. He was born in 1773 and died in 1846. Entering the republican army he distinguished himself under Napoleon, who made him a general of division. After the restoration he readily took service with the new dynasty, and in 1830 commanded the troops which conquered Algiers, a success which gained for him the marshal's baton. After the revolution of 1830 he followed the banished Charles X into exile, but latterly retired to his estate in Anjou, where he died. Research Louis de Ghaisne
Ludwig Spohr was a German violin virtuoso and composer. He was born in 1784 at Brunswick and died in 1859. He was musical director at Gotha in 1805, Vienna in 1813, Frankfort-on-Main in 1817 until 1819 and at Kassel from 1822 to 1857. He was the first conductor to use a baton in Britain when he conducted the London Philharmonic in 1820. Research Ludwig Spohr
The Derne Expedition was an American intervention in Tripoli in 1805. General William Baton, US Consul at Tunis, persuading his Government to lend the co-operation of its naval forces in the Mediterranean, marched from Egypt across the desert with Hamet, rightful bashaw of Tripoli, in an attack upon his usurping brother Joseph. On April the 27th 1805, he took Derne. Upon this success a highly favourable treaty was extorted from the bashaw, Hamet being induced to retire. Research Derne Expedition
In the British army, a drum-major or sergeant-drummer is a non-commissioned officer whose duty it is to teach and direct the drummers. He marches at the head of the band carrying the regimental baton. Research Drum-major
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Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Baton Blue
