Étienne Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre Macdonald, 1st Duke of Taranto (17 November 176525 September 1840), was a Marshal of the Empire and military leader during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Family background Étienne Jacques Joseph Alexandre Macdonald was born in Sedan, Ardennes, France. His father, Neil MacEachen, later MacDonald, came from a Jacobite family from Howbeg in South Uist, in the West of Scotland. He was a close relative of Flora MacDonald, who played a key role in the escape of Prince Charles Edward Stuart after the failure of the 1745 Rising. Military life In 1784, Macdonald joined the Irish Legion, raised to support the revolutionary party in the Dutch Republic against the Kingdom of Prussia and was made lieutenant on 1 April 1785. After it was disbanded, he received a commission in Dillon's Regiment. At the start of the French Revolution, the regiment of Dillon remained loyal to the King, except for Macdonald, who was in love with Mlle Jacob, whose father was an enthusiastic revolutionary. After his marriage on May 5, 1791, on 17 August 1792, he was promoted to captain, and on 29 August 1792 he was appointed aide-de-camp to General Charles François Dumouriez. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Jemappes, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 12 November 1792 and then colonel on 8 March 1793. He refused to desert to the Austrians with Dumouriez and as a reward was made général de brigade on 26 August 1793 and appointed to command the leading brigade in Pichegru's invasion of the Netherlands. His knowledge of the country proved useful, and he was instrumental in the capture of the Dutch fleet by French hussars in January 1795. In 1797, having been made général de division back in November 1794, he now served first in the Army of the Rhine and later in the Army of Italy as of 24 April 1798. When he reached Italy in 1798, the Treaty of Campo Formio had been signed on 18 October 1797, and Bonaparte had returned to France; but, under the direction of Berthier, Macdonald occupied Rome in the 1798-1799 Roman Republic, of which he was made governor on 19 November 1798, and then in conjunction with Championnet he defeated General Mack at the Battle of Ferentino, the Battle of Otricoli, the 5 December 1798 Battle of Civita Castellana, and two military affairs, first at Calvi Risorta and then on 3