Bregenz, in which the army of Jellachich had been beaten and captured; and Napoleon's purpose was to get information of this decisive victory to the King of Prussia as soon as possible. Here was the strategy employed:
"Duroc, the marshal of the household, after giving us notice of what we were expected to do, had all the Austrian colours which Massy and I had brought from Bregenz, replaced privately in the quarters which we were occupying. Some hours afterwards, when the Emperor was talking in his study with Herr von Haugwitz, we repeated the ceremony of presentation in precisely the same manner as the first time. The Emperor, on hearing music in the court of his house, feigned astonishment, and went to the window, followed by the ambassador. Seeing the trophies borne by the sergeants, he called the aide-de-camp on duty, and asked what it all meant. The answer was that there were two aides-de-camp of Marshal Augereau, who were coming to bring the Emperor the colours of Jellachich's Austrian army which had been captured at Bregenz. We were ordered to enter, and there, without winking, and as if he had never seen us, Napoleon received the letter of Augereau, which had been sealed up, and read it, although he had known the contents for four days. Then he questioned us, making us enter into minutest details. Duroc had cautioned us
