Bonaparte knew well that his Jacobinical lieutenant, famed as the first swordsman of the day, and the leader of the fighting division of the army, would do his work thoroughly, always vaunting his own prowess and decrying that of his commander.

It was so.

Augereau rushed to Paris, breathing threats of slaughter against the royalists.

Checked for a time by the calculating _finesse_ of the triumvirs, he prepared to end matters by a single blow; and, when the time had come, he occupied the strategic points of the capital, drew a cordon of troops round the Tuileries, where the Councils sat, invaded the chambers of deputies and consigned to the Temple the royalists and moderates there present, with their leader, Pichegru.

Barthelemy was also seized; but Carnot, warned by a friend, fled during the early hours of this eventful day--September 4th (or 18 Fructidor).