Pierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet (; 14 November 1765 – 19 December 1854) joined the French army in 1781 as an officer cadet and fought in the American Revolutionary War. During the French Revolutionary Wars he fought in the Army of the Rhine and was wounded at First and Second Wissembourg. After being dismissed from the army for a year and a half for having noble blood, he resumed his military career and was wounded at Biberach and Kehl. Promoted to lead the 108th Line Infantry Demi-Brigade, he was in the thick of the fighting at Hohenlinden in 1800, where he was wounded and captured.
At the start of the Napoleonic Wars, Marcognet was a general officer commanding a brigade in Marshal of France Michel Ney's corps. He led his troops at Günzburg, Elchingen, and Scharnitz in 1805. In the 1806-1807 campaign, he led his brigade at Jena, Magdeburg, Eylau, Guttstadt-Deppen, and Friedland. After Ney's corps transferred to Spain, he fought at Tamames, Alba de Tormes, Ciudad Rodrigo, Almeida, Bussaco, Torres Vedras, Casal Novo, and Fuentes de Onoro.
Marcognet commanded a division in the Italian campaign of 1813-1814, fighting at Caldiero, Boara Pisani, the Mincio, and other actions. In 1815, he led a division at Waterloo where it was broken by cavalry after an initial success. Marcognet is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 7.
Revolution Marcognet was born on 14 November 1765 in Croix-Chapeau in Saintonge province, which is now the Charente-Maritime department. His parents were Louis-Nicolas, Count of Marcognet and Suzanne-Emilie Pintault, the count's first wife Suzanne-Louise Guicheneux having died on 30 March 1764. His great-grandfather, the Marquis de Montblin (died 1717) had been governor of La Rochelle, Saintonge, and Aunis.Les Metiers de Binet Marcognet entered the Bourbonnais Infantry Regiment as a cadet on 13 March 1781 and became a sous lieutenant in July 1781. He served in the American Revolutionary War under Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau from 1781 to 1783. Promoted to lieutenant in 1787 and captain in 1792, he was assigned to the Army of the Rhine at the start of the War of the First Coalition. Marcognet was wounded in the right thigh on 14 September 1793 in fighting along the Lauter River. This was one of the skirmishes that preceded the First Battle of Wissembourg. In November he earned a name for himself in action near Saverne. He was wounded again at the Second Battle of Wissembourg when the French retook the Lines of Wissembourg.
In December 1793, Marcognet was dismissed from the army because he was a nobleman and therefore a suspected enemy of the revolution. Indeed, his paternal uncle Binet de Jasson was equerry to King Louis XVI while his aunt Madame de Soran was a maid of honor to Princess Élisabeth. His noble family was torn apart by the French Revolution. Two of his brothers died fighting in the War in the Vendée while a third brother was shot at Neuf-Brisach for carrying a message to Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé, an Émigré leader.Les Metiers de Binet. This source does not exactly state that the first two brothers fought with the Vendean rebels, but it is implied. Readmitted to the army in July 1795 after the Reign of Terror, he resumed the rank of captain.
On 24 August 1795, Marcognet transferred to the 10th Light Infantry Demi-Brigade. With his new unit he fought under Jean Victor Marie Moreau at the Battle of Ettlingen on 9 July 1796 and was promoted to chef de bataillon (major) the following day. He led a provisional battalion at the Battle of Neresheim on 11 August and at Geisenfeld on 1 September. Marcognet was wounded during a French victory at the Battle of Biberach on 2 October. At the Siege of Kehl he was shot in the right arm. Subsequently, Charles Pichegru appointed him to lead a battalion in the 95th Line Infantry Demi-Brigade.. Smith provided the dates of battles.
Marcognet received promotion to Adjutant General (colonel) in the 108th Line Infantry Demi-Brigade on 18 June 1800. At the Battle of Hohenlinden on 3 December 1800, the 2,234-strong 108th Line served in Emmanuel Grouchy's division of Moreau's army. As the head of Johann Kollowrat's Left Center Column advanced along the main highway from the east, they bumped into Marcognet's 108th Line at about 7:00 AM. He deployed his troops in line along the edge of a forest. Franz Löpper, who led the Austro-Bavarian advance guard, immediately ordered his 5,341 foot soldiers and 1,319 cavalrymen to attack. Showing tactical finesse, Marcognet repulsed the first attack by the Benjowski Infantry Regiment Nr. 31 with the help of the 4th Hussars and three cannons. Outnumbered two-to-one, he was holding his ground when enemy reinforcements arrived. Using a forest trail, Lelio Spannochi secretly posted the Sebottendorf Grenadier Battalion on the flank of the 108th Line and charged. Surprised, the French rapidly retreated leaving the wounded Marcognet to be captured.
One of the corps commanders at Hohenlinden, Paul Grenier, called Marcognet, "a highly meritorious officer in every respect, worthy of the command entrusted to him." Jacques Louis François Delaistre de Tilly described him as, "a very distinguished officer, zealous and active." He was promoted to general of brigade on 29 August 1803.
Early Empire
Marcognet became a member of the Légion d'Honneur on 10 December 1804 and received the cross of the Légion d'Honneur from Emperor Napoleon on 14 June 1805. In the War of the Third Coalition he was assigned to Jean-Pierre Firmin Malher's 3rd Division of Marshal Michel Ney's VI Corps. At the Battle of Günzburg on 9 October 1805 he led Malher's center column in an attempt to seize the Danube bridge. His troops overran the Austrian covering force, capturing Konstantin Ghilian Karl d'Aspré, 200 men, and two cannons. Marcognet ordered four cannons to provide covering fire as the French tried to rebuild the destroyed span, but the troops were driven back by intense hostile fire. Mahler's division was present at the Battle of Elchingen on 14 October but it was mostly kept in reserve. Marcognet fought at Scharnitz in the Tyrol on 4 November.
At the start of the War of the Fourth Coalition, Marcognet commanded a brigade in Gaspard Amédée Gardanne's division of Marshal Michel Ney's VI Corps. The brigade consisted of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 25th Light Infantry Regiment. He led his troops at the Battle of Jena on 14 June 1806 Smith incorrectly listed Marcognet as a division commander with the rank of general of division. and at the Siege of Magdeburg from 22 October to 11 November. Ney's corps arrived at the Battle of Eylau at 7:15 PM on 8 February 1807.
Marcognet fought in Baptiste Pierre Bisson's division at the Battle of Guttstadt-Deppen on 5 and 6 June 1807. In this action, Ney's 17,000 troops executed a brilliant rearguard action against over 63,000 Russians. Marcognet participated in the Battle of Friedland on 14 June.. Smith did not list Bisson, but he specifically named Marcognet as present in action. Bisson's division formed Ney's left flank. After initial success, a massed Russian cavalry charge against Bisson's left flank stopped Ney's attack cold. However, Claude Perrin Victor's corps drove back their enemies, allowing Ney's troops to rally and capture the town of Pravdinsk (Friedland).
In 1808 Napoleon granted Marcognet the title of Baron of the Empire. By 1809 he was with Ney's corps in northwest Spain, fighting in the Peninsular War. After trying without success to suppress the insurrection in Galicia, Ney abandoned the province in June. In the fall, Ney went on leave, leaving Jean Gabriel Marchand in command. When a Spanish army under the Duke of Del Parque took a position at Tamames, Marchand rushed to engage it with 14,000 soldiers and 14 guns. Del Parque arranged his 20,000 infantry, 1,500 cavalry, and 18 guns on a ridge south of the town. In the Battle of Tamames on 18 October 1809, the French commander sent Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune to attack the Spanish left while the 25th Light Infantry Regiment pinned the Spanish right. When the two efforts tied up Del Parque's troops, Marcognet's six battalions would smash through the enemy center. Maucune's six battalions made good progress at first, then stalled. At this moment, Marcognet's assault lurched forward and was soon being pounded by 12 guns. Mounting a steep slope, the French columns were riddled by Spanish musketry and fell into confusion. When the Spanish counterattacked, Marcognet's troops fled back down the ridge, prompting Marchand to bring up his reserves and call off the battle. French casualties in the fiasco numbered 1,400, the Spanish only 700.
Under the overall command of François Étienne de Kellermann, the VI Corps and a dragoon division overcame Del Parque's army at the Battle of Alba de Tormes on 26 November in a lopsided victory. While the cavalry inflicted most of the damage, the infantry arrived in time to capture the bridge and town. At the time of the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo from April to July 1810 and the subsequent Siege of Almeida from July to August 1810, Marcognet led a brigade in Marchand's 1st Division.
On 15 September 1810, Marcognet's 2nd Brigade consisted of 1,686 men of the 39th Line Infantry Regiment under Jacques-Pierre Soyer and the 1,790-strong 76th Line Infantry Regiment led by Jean Chemineau. He led these units in Marshal André Masséna's invasion of Portugal. Marchand's division lost 1,173 men in its futile attack during the Battle of Bussaco on 27 September. During the retreat from Portugal in early March 1811, Marcognet's brigade was detached to assist Louis-Pierre Montbrun's cavalry. After rejoining his division, his brigade fought in rearguard actions at Redinha, Casal Novo, and Foz do Arouce between 12 and 15 March. The first action was a draw, the second a French success, but in the last skirmish, the 39th Line lost its eagle. Marcognet led his men in the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro. On 5 May, Marchand's division overran the hamlet of Pozo Bello, but the French were unable to secure a victory. On 6 August 1811, Marcognet received promotion to general of division. On 6 February 1812 he took command of the 14th Military Division.
Late Empire
After Napoleon's disastrous campaign in Russia in 1812, one Italian and three French divisions from the garrison of Italy were sent to Germany as reinforcements. By recalling the Italian units serving under Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet in Spain and mass conscription, an entirely new army was formed and placed under Napoleon's step-son, Eugène de Beauharnais. By May 1813, the new Italian army consisted of the 46th, 47th, 48th, and 49th Infantry Divisions, plus one cavalry division. In June, the 50th, 51st, and 52nd Divisions were added. Marcognet received command of the 48th Division. In August 1813, the division consisted of three battalions each of the 29th and 30th Provisional Demi-Brigades, four battalions of the 106th Line Infantry Regiment, and three battalions each of the 1st and 2nd Neapolitan Line Infantry Regiments.