Everything about Tienne-jacques-joseph-alexandre Macdonald totally explained
Etienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald,
1st Duc de Taranto (
November 17,
1765 –
September 7,
1840) was
Marshal and a French military leader during the Napoleonic Wars.
Family background
He was born in
Sedan, France. His father, Neil MacEachen (later MacDonald) of Howbeg came from a
Jacobite family from the island of
South Uist, in the
Outer Hebrides of
Scotland. He was a close relative of the celebrated
Flora MacDonald, who played a key role in ensuring the escape of
Prince Charles Edward Stuart after the failure of the
1745 Rising.
Military life
In
1785 Macdonald joined the legion raised to support the revolutionary party in the
Netherlands against the
Prussians, and after it was disbanded he received a commission in the regiment of Dillon. On the breaking out of the
Revolution, the regiment of Dillon remained eminently loyal, with the exception of Macdonald, who was in love with Mlle Jacob, whose father was enthusiastic for the doctrines of the Revolution. Directly after his marriage he was appointed
aide-de-camp to
General Dumouriez. He distinguished himself at the
battle of Jemappes, and was promoted colonel in 1793.
He refused to desert to the
Austrians with Dumouriez, and as a reward was made general of brigade, and appointed to command the leading brigade in
Pichegru's invasion of the Netherlands. His knowledge of the country proved most useful, and he was instrumental in the capture of the Dutch fleet by French
hussars. In
1797, having been made general of division, he served first in the army of the Rhine and later in that of Italy. When he reached Italy, the
treaty of Campo Formio had been signed, and Bonaparte had returned to France; but, under the direction of
Berthier, Macdonald first occupied
Rome, of which he was made governor, and then in conjunction with
Championnet he defeated
General Mack, and revolutionized the
kingdom of Naples under the title of the
Parthenopaean Republic.
When
Suvorov invaded northern Italy, and was winning back the conquests of Bonaparte, Macdonald collected all the troops in the peninsula and moved northwards. With only 30,000 men he attacked, at the
Trebbia, Suvorov with 50,000, and after three days' fighting, during which he held the Russians at bay and gave time for
Moreau to come up, he retired in good order to
Genoa. After this gallant behaviour he was made governor of Versailles, and acquiesced, if he didn't co-operate, in the events of the 18th
Brumaire.
In
1800 he received the command of the army in Switzerland which was to maintain the communications between the armies of Germany and of Italy. He carried out his orders to the letter, and at last, in the winter of 1800-1, he was ordered to march over the Splügen Pass. This achievement is fully described by
Mathieu Dumas, who was chief of his staff, and is at least as noteworthy as Bonaparte's famous passage of the St Bernard before
Marengo, though followed by no such successful battle. On his return to Paris Macdonald married the widow of
General Joubert, and was appointed French plenipotentiary in
Denmark. Returning in 1805 he associated himself with Moreau and incurred the dislike of Napoleon, who didn't include him in his first creation of marshals.
Under Napoleon
Till
1809 he remained without employment, but in that year Napoleon gave him the command of a corps and the duties of military adviser to the young prince
Eugène de Beauharnais, viceroy of the
kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic). He led the army from Italy till its junction, with Napoleon, and at
Wagram commanded the celebrated column of attack which broke the Austrian centre and won the victory.
Napoleon made him
marshal of France on the field of battle, and presently created him duke of
Taranto, which he'd created in
1809 a
duché grand-fief (a rare, nominal but hereditary honor; extinguished in
1912) -by the French name
Tarente- in the Bonapartist kingdom of Naples.
In
1810 he served in Spain and in
1812 he commanded the left wing of the grand army for the invasion of Russia. In
1813, after sharing in the battles of
Lützen and
Bautzen, he was ordered to invade Silesia, where Blücher defeated him with great loss at
Katzbach. After the terrible
Battle of Leipzig, he was ordered with
Prince Poniatowski to cover the evacuation of Leipzig; after the blowing up of the bridge, he managed to swim the
Elster, while Poniatowski was drowned. During the defensive campaign of
1814 Macdonald again distinguished himself; he was one of the marshals sent by Napoleon to take his abdication in favour of his son to Paris. When all were deserting their old master, Macdonald remained faithful to him. He was directed by Napoleon to give in his adherence to the new
régime, and was presented by him with the sabre of
Murad Bey for his fidelity.
Under the Bourbons
At the
Restoration he was made a
peer of France and knight grand cross of the royal order of St. Louis; he remained faithful to the new order of things during the
Hundred Days. In
1815 he became chancellor of the
Legion of Honour (a post he held till 1831), in 1816, major-general of the royal bodyguard, and he took a great part in the discussions in the
Chambre des Pairs, voting consistently as a moderate Liberal.
In 1823 he married Mademoiselle de Bourgony, by whom he'd a son, Alexander, who succeeded on his death in 1840 as duke of Taranto.
From
1830 his life was spent in retirement at his country place Courcellesle-Roi (
Seine et Oise), where he died.
Summation
Of him, the Encyclopedia Britannica of 1911 says:
Macdonald had none of that military genius that distinguished Davout, Masséna and Lannes, nor of that military science conspicuous in Marmont and St Cyr, but nevertheless his campaign in Switzerland gives him a rank far superior to such mere generals of division as Oudinot and Dupont. This capacity for independent command made Napoleon, in spite of his defeats at the battle of Trebia (1799) and the battle of Katzbach, trust him with large commands till the end of his career. As a man, his character can't be spoken of too highly; no stain of cruelty or faithlessness rests on him. (External Link
)
Sources and references
-
- Heraldica.org- Napoleonic heraldry
Macdonald was especially fortunate in the accounts of his military exploits, Mathieu Dumas and Ségur having been on his staff in Switzerland.
- M.Dumas, Evénements militaires
- Ségur's rare tract, Lecture sur la campagne du Général Macdonald dans les Grisons en 1800 et 1801 (1802), and Eloge (1842).
- His memoirs were published in 1892 (Eng. trans., Recollections of Marshal Macdonald), but are brief and wanting in balance.
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