Custine galloped to him, snatched the paper from his hand, and angrily asked what he was doing. Upon noticing that Gouvion's drawing closely matched the positions, he assigned the young officer to his own staff. One of Custine's staff officers, Simon François Gay de Vernon wrote that he was careful of his soldiers' well-being, a good administrator, generous with his own money, used to managing soldiers, able to understand things at a glance, sober, and active. Custine appreciated the sage advice of intelligent officers and showed his gratitude to them. Aside from Saint-Cyr, Custine appointed Louis Desaix and Jean-Baptiste Kléber to his staff. His enormous vanity, his belief that his plans were so wonderful that he failed to see their flaws, and his bad habit of accusing and denouncing other generals were Custine's greatest flaws. When Houchard was appointed to command two armies, Custine wrote accurately, "the conduct of two armies is beyond Houchard's power..." The letter was published and hurt the feelings of a man who had served Custine loyally. Custine unwisely got into a quarrel with General Pierre Joseph Ferrier du Chastelet who was on friendly terms with the War Minister Jean Baptiste Noël Bouchotte. He also denounced fellow army commanders Pierre de Ruel, marquis de Beurnonville and François Christophe de Kellermann. Family Born in Metz on 4 February 1740, Custine was a son of Philippe-François-Joseph, comte de Custine, and Anne-Marguerite Maguin, daughter of Francois, comte d' Roussy and Marguerite de Walter. His father, the tenth count, had died at the Battle of Rossbach in 1757, one of six French generals killed in the engagement. Custine's other titles included Signeur de Guermagne and de Sareck, and he was, after 1770, also the lord of Niderviller, a property he purchased. He married Adelaide-Celeste Louise Gagnat de Longny. In 1790 Custine's daughter, Adelaide-Anne-Philippe, married Henri Evrard, marquis de Dreux-Brézé, master of ceremonies for Louis XVI. She and her husband spent much of the early 1790s as refugees in Britain, although he returned to France several times to visit his estates; he was eventually confirmed as a peer of France, resumed his pre-Revolution position as master of ceremonies, this time for Louis XVIII, and was awarded military rank. Custine's son, Renaud-Louis-Philippe-Francois, (b. in Paris in 1768 and died 3 January 1794), also called Armand, was a captain in one of the regiments in the Army of the Rhine. As a young