he made his first appearance as an author in 1802, when he contributed to the magasin encyclopédique a critique on johann schweighäuser's edition of athenaeus. in the following year appeared his "eloge d'hélène", a free imitation rather than a translation from isocrates, which he had sketched in 1798. courier had given up his commission in the autumn of 1808, but the general enthusiasm in paris over the preparations for the new campaign affected him, and he attached himself to the staff of a general of artillery. but he was horror-struck by the carnage at wagram (1809), refusing from that time to believe that there was any art in war.