El Barto is known as the greatest hero of Polerica, even though he was actually a citizen of Poland. Still, Poland is one of Polerica's main sources for countrymen, so it's not far off.
The man who would be known as El Barto was a general in the Napoleanic Wars. While glory hogs like Wellesley and Blucher took all the credit for Napolean's defeat, El Barto had a part to play as well. Still, there is some truth to the claims of Barto's uselessness. He hadn't managed a single victory prior to Waterloo. In fact it was rare indeed for him to even find the enemy army.
Waterloo found him alone amidst the British lines, having accidently lost his army (he was reported as having said "They were right behind me a second ago..." to Wellington.) He was in a state of depression since nobody was willing to let him command even an aide-de-camp, much less a regiment of men or something.
As the battle approached El Barto decided that he couldn't take it any more. He took a pistol and wandered out of the camp, not knowing that he was approaching the French army. When he got tired of walking he put the pistol to his head and pulled the trigger.
I think now is a good time to point out that El Barto was a fantastically bad shot. His officers used to joke that it was a miracle that the bullet managed to even find its way out of the barrel when it was El Barto who pulled the trigger. So it might not be a complete surprise that El Barto's suicide attempt failed. The bullet creased his skull, knocking him out but not doing any serious damage.
At the same time Napolean was sitting in an outhouse on the edge of his camp, doing his business. According to those who were near the outhouse at the time, the emperor suddenly let out a loud screech and burst out of the outhouse, hurriedly pulling his pants on, while screaming "Rats dans la cuvette! Rats dans la cuvette!" which means "Rats in the bowl! Rats in the bowl!"
Prompt medical examination found a pistol bullet lodged in the great man's buttocks. After the war, his doctor supposedly commented "Wellington may have defeated him at Waterloo, but it was El Barto who was the greatest pain in the rear."