Jacques MacDonald

Marshal of France (1765-1840)

Fame56.4
Momentum7.9
France rank#151

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Fame56.4
Momentum7.9
France rank#151
Politicians rank#94
Wikipedia6K

Lived 1765–1840, aged 75France

France PoliticiansPolitician

Wikipedia
39 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in France
#151
Politicians
Era
1765–1840
Aged 75
Awards
10
recognised works

Summary

Updated 2026-06-11

The son of an exiled Scottish Jacobite who became one of Napoleon's marshals — raised to that rank on the battlefield at Wagram in 1809, then titled Duke of Taranto. Often counted among the Emperor's less capable field commanders, but his career survived revolution, empire, defeat, and restoration.

Biography

About

Born in Sedan in 1765, Macdonald was serving in the Irish Brigade when the revolution broke. He threw in with the cause and climbed fast: brigade general by 1793 after Jemappes, divisional general a year later. He commanded French forces in Rome after the republic was declared there in 1798, helped conquer Naples in 1799, then took a crushing defeat at the Trebbia against Suvorov's Austro-Russian army. He backed Napoleon's 1799 coup but his ties to Moreau cost him — forced into semi-retirement for years. Napoleon pulled him back in 1809; at Wagram he fought well enough to be made marshal on th…

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