Antoine Adolphe Marcelin Marbot

Who was Antoine Adolphe Marcelin Marbot?

Antoine Adolphe Marcelin Marbot, was born in La Riviere, the son of General Jean Antoine Marbot, who died in the defence of Genoa under Masséna. He entered the army at an early age, obtained commissioned rank in the revolutionary wars and became aide-de-camp to Bernadotte.

In 1802 he was arrested on the grounds of being concerned in a plot of the Republicans against the Consulate, but he was released, though Napoleon continued to regard him as an opponent of the established regime. After a term of duty with the army in Santo Domingo he participated in the campaigns of 1806-7, and from 1808 to 1811 he was employed in the Peninsular War.

In the Russian War of 1812 he was wounded and made prisoner. At the end of two years of captivity he returned to France at the general peace, was aide-de-camp to Marshal Davout during the Hundred Days, and thereafter passed into retirement, from which he did not emerge until 1830. He attained the rank of marechal-de-camp under Louis Philippe and died at Bra on 2 June 1844.

His younger brother, Jean Baptiste Antoine Marcellin Marbot was also a military man famous for his Memoires that depict Napoleonic war from the eye of a soldier.