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Can folks check my history, here? This is part of the background for my Masks stories:

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1793 François (Le Rapière Rouge) Augereau fights the excesses of the French Revolution openly in a flamboyant disguise while working to improve the system from within in his civilian identity. 

Second son of a prosperous but non-noble merchant family, François earned the disfavor of his father by becoming an actor; the two never reconciled. He favored energetic - even acrobatic - roles, often playing the classic figure of the scaramouche clown. François became involved in politics late in 1790, due to his acting mentor's membership in a liberal political assembly. Having developed a talent as a negotiator between actors and management, François served much the same role in first the political movement and, later, the Republique Française. A quiet, even shy man when not playing an adventurous role, he rarely attracted much attention from political allies and rivals, despite his successes in peacemaking within the disparate and squabbling factions of the Republic.

François and his mentor were among those who opposed executing Louis XVI and his family. They first advocated exile then, later, life imprisonment. They lost, the royals were executed and both men fell out of influence. Disgusted with politics, François turned his attentions fully to the theater while his mentor semi-retired. 

In 1793 - as the Terror was just getting underway - François' mentor was accused of secret royalist sentiments and imprisoned. No trial was scheduled, but François received word from allies that his mentor was targeted for private execution. 

Desperate to save the old man, François and others from the theatrical world who knew and admired him pieced together makeshift disguises from theatrical garb, all including some sort of mask. François - as ever flamboyant when taking an adventurous role - chose an outfit of mostly scarlet. The group stormed the jail and liberated all the prisoners, their action such a surprise that the jailers gave little opposition and there were few injuries on either side. In a moment of inspiration François struck a theatrical pose just before exiting - at the rear of the group - and proclaimed that all those unjustly imprisoned should take heart; Le Rapière Rouge would free them. 

Thus was born the first known costumed and masked adventurer. 

The prisoners were smuggled out of France by a hastily improvised process. Most went to England. This was soon expanded and improved on by a larger organization, which was similar in some ways to the later Underground Railroad of the United States. 

François realized that there were things he could do as Le Rapière Rouge which were not possible as himself or through the secret organization which he and his fellow theater folk created following this operation. Moreover, Le Rapière Rouge had struck a chord among many people of widely disparate backgrounds. François learned that in the frantic haste of the operation, no-one knew who was in which costume. Even some of those who had participated were soon convinced that Le Rapière Rouge was not one of them, but a mysterious figure who had organized and led the rescue through his strange powers. 

From this sprang an idea. François created a role, a larger than life champion of the oppressed. A man in favor of the Revolution but opposed to the excesses of those who had gained control of it. With the help of a few confidantes he let in on his secret, he formed Le Comité Rouge de Liberté. The legend grew, deliberately encouraged by François both as himself and as his alter ego. For the next few years Le Rapière Rouge greatly hampered many of the exercises in excess of the Jacobin Club. An enormous price was put on his head but never claimed. Aiding this was that the official descriptions of Le Rapière Rouge were both vague and variable. About the only thing they had in common were that they declared that Le Rapière Rouge was male, masked and wore red. 

The actions of Le Rapière Rouge helped discredit the Jacobin Club and was part of the reason for their fall from influence. Shortly after the Thermidorian Reaction, Le Rapière Rouge made a final appearance, atop the Bastille. He bowed, made a sweeping flourish with his plumed hat, and announced that sanity had returned and he was no longer needed. Then he vanished in a cloud of red smoke. 

François Augereau participated in the Thermidorian Reaction, but soon again retired from politics; permanently this time. He returned to acting, which he frequently stated was more real. He married a brilliant woman and together they had half a dozen children, most of whom also chose the theatrical life. He expanded into producing, then writing, then forming a troupe, and eventually owned his own successful theater. He finally revealed his role as Le Rapière Rouge in his memoirs, published when he was seventy-eight. Many denounced his writings, claiming he was either an old man desperately trying to regain some fame before his death by claiming glory which wasn't his, or that he clearly was demented. Few were still alive from the time of Le Rapière Rouge who were ever close to the masked man and none of those were among the tiny group who knew that champion's true identity. François never answered the criticisms and never provided any physical evidence to support his claims.

However, analysis of what he wrote about Le Rapière Rouge and his Le Comité Rouge de Liberté shows that the material in François' memoirs contained information about the group and its activities which only an insider could have known at that time. Several historians and other scholars investigated - some of them even interviewing François - and confirmed many of his statements. The fact that he was still teaching stage acrobatics and swordplay to young actors - and often showing them up - in his eighties strongly supported his claims. 

François refused to comment publicly on the Empire, but privately complained that most of what he had fought for died with the crowning of Napoleon. He refused to take action against the new regime, however, except in plays he wrote and roles he played which indirectly criticized Napoleon and his works through portrayal of fictional or historical characters. (Though he did like the new method of preserving food Napoleon paid for developing.) François lived to an unusually old age, actually long enough to comment - publicly and in his journals - on the US Civil War and see hope in the reconciliation following its end. 

François learned basic swordplay for some of his early stage roles, and through further training and hard experience became arguably the finest swordsman of his time. He was also an expert with knives of several types, for both fighting and throwing, as well as firearms. In one adventure on a farm Le Rapière Rouge threw a hatchet exactly where it needed to go. While he frequently showed mercy to his foes - and a reluctance to kill - he did not hesitate to use lethal force to good effect when he felt that was necessary. 

François was a natural athlete, one of those people capable of doing well at anything physical they try. In addition he was intellectually brilliant and well-read, with a talent for negotiation. This way with words extended to his writing. Some of his plays are still produced today, and a few enthusiasts proclaim him to be the equal of Shakespeare. As well, several of his books on stagecraft - especially his manuals of arms for using various weapons in performances - are still in print. 

Whether he had any actual powers is unknown; disregarding the more spectacular feats of Le Rapière Rouge as stagecraft or pure invention, we are left with an account which could represent either an extraordinary normal human or a low-level super. In either case, his abilities were augmented by excellent training, hard practice and frequently by expert prearrangement, as well as help from knowledgeable aides. What is known for certain is that both direct and collateral descendants of François have genes for powers. However, multiple searches for actual genetic material from François Augereau have been fruitless. Following his wishes, after death he was cremated and his ashes scattered in the wind from the roof of his theater. He remains a mystery to this day. Something which most likely would have amused him greatly.

There is a huge amount of speculation about the "true" inspiration for Le Rapière Rouge. Some claim that François was familiar with the works of Robert Montgomery Bird and his Nick of the Woods character. Given the completely different personality of Le Rapière Rouge, even if he did know of the character François did not base his greatest role on him.

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