A general of brigade at 23, Davout spent his early years stationed near the German states and took part in the actions at Mannheim, Kehl and Haslach. He was captured, but exchanged, a move that the Prussians would later regret. Davout became known to Bonaparte and joined the expedition to Egypt. He fought at the Pyramids, Aboukir and upon while returning to France following the abortive campaign was again captured but this time by the British Navy, he was returned after about mouth captivity.

The young Davout was promoted to general and took charge of the cavalry arm of the Army of Italy. Davout took over III Corps and through discipline and training turned it into the finest force in the French army. At Austerlitz, he was the base upon which Bonaparte crushed the Russians and Austrians, but it was in 1806 at Auerstadt that he showed his true brilliance. His single corps of around 26,000 battled the main Prussian army of at least 50,000 men to a standstill and then on to sweep them from the field in one of the greatest military displays in history. Unfortunately for Davout, his triumph took place on the same day as Bonaparte's victory at Jena (against a smaller Prussian force) and so the result was played down.

He got on with few of this fellow marshals but, in typical fashion, he was more interested with defeating France's enemies than pandering to courtiers and politicians. He was harsh, difficult to get on with and had no patience with those who tried to take easy ways out. The fellow marshals undermined Davout's strategies. This caused Napoleon to question his abilities and eventually had him replaced by Ney.

Historian debate if Napoleon had Davout with him then the results at Quatre Bras and Waterloo could have been very different. For such a brilliant military man, Davout was very near-sighted.

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