Moustache, sometimes abbreviated to Mous, (September 1799 – 11 March 1812) was a barbet who is reputed to have played a part in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. His story is recounted in many publications but may be partly fictionalised. Moustache is said to have been born in Falaise, Normandy, France, in 1799 and to have joined a grenadier regiment at Caen. He followed the regiment through the Italian Campaign of the Revolutionary Wars and is said to have alerted the regiment to a surprise night attack by Austrian forces. He is reported to have been present at the Battle of Marengo, during which he lost an ear, and with a cuirassier regiment at the Battle of Austerlitz. At Austerlitz Moustache was apparently responsible for the discovery of an Austrian spy, and the recovery of the regiment's standard from the Austrians. As a result of wounds taken at Austerlitz Moustache had a leg amputated and was reportedly rewarded with a medal by Marshal Jean Lannes. He is later said to have followed a unit of dragoons to Spain where he fought in several actions of the Peninsular War. Seeing action in the Sierra Morena and later, with a gunboat unit, at the Battle of Badajoz, where he was killed by a cannonball. Moustache was interred beneath a gravestone on the battlefield but his memorial is said to have been smashed and his bones burned after the war. Historical sources One of the earliest written accounts of Moustache's life is that written by Arna Cano and published in The Kaleidoscope magazine of Liverpool in January 1826. This, published twenty years after the dog's death, may be partially fictionalised. A similar story is recounted in a detailed French-language account written by Alain de Fivas and published in 1864. Moustache is mentioned in at least eleven English, French and German publications. The story presented here is drawn largely from the Cano and de Fivas accounts and notes any disagreement with the other accounts. Early life Moustache, a black barbet, was born in Falaise in Normandy, France in approximately September 1799. At the age of six months Cano states that he was sent to Caen to live with a grocer and whilst there encountered a group of grenadiers on parade. He goes on to say that Moustache followed behind the regiment, which had no other dogs, as it left the town and, on