In 1809, Sir Benjamin Bathurst, Britain's ambassador to the court of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Vienna, assisted with the negotiation of an alliance beteen Britain and Austria against Napoleon.

While returning to Britain by coach in November 1809, Bathurst stopped at an inn in the German town of Perleberg. As his valets and secretary stood by the door of the coach, Bathurst went forward to check on the horses.

Having examined the animals on the near side, Benjamin Bathurst, Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the British Empire, stepped around to inspect those on the other side -- and promptly disappeared.

[Two months later, a notice appeared in a Hamburg newspaper erroneously stating that Bathurst was fine and that his friends had received a letter from him. The source of the notice, like the disappearance itself, remains a mystery. (Napoleon denied allegations that Bathurst had been abducted by his agents.)]