Etienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre, Duke of Tarentum, was descended from a Scottish family, and was born in 1765 at Sancerre, in France. He entered the French army in 1784, and having embraced the principles of the Revolution, served in the army of the north as brigadier-general; but in 1795 was promoted for his bravery to the rank of general of division. In this capacity he commanded at Düsseldorf and Cologne. After serving in the army of the Rhine, he acted under Bonaparte in the army of Italy, and in 1798 became governor of the Roman States. Forced, however, in 1799 to retreat before Suvaroff and Mélas, he was defeated by them at Trebia, and with great difficulty effected a conjunction with Moreau at Genoa. In the revolution of the 18th Brumaire, Macdonald ably seconded Bonaparte; and in 1800 was rewarded for his services with the command of an army of reserve in Switzerland. There he displayed great military skill in his passage of the Splügen. On his return to Paris in 1802, he was appointed French plenipotentiary at the court of Denmark, and at the expiry of this office, he was decorated with the star of a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. For his bold defence of Moreau, Macdonald forfeited the favour of Bonaparte. Yet in 1809, so brilliant was his success in defeating the enemy's centre at Wagram, that Napoleon acknowledged his bravery in presence of the army, and bestowed upon him the marshal's staff and the title of Duke of Tarentum. No less noted was his military prowess in the famous invasion of Russia, and in the battles of Lutzen, Bautzen, and Leipzig. During the Hundred Days, Macdonald lived in retirement. After the downfall of Napoleon he was appointed chancellor of the Legion of Honour, an office which he held till 1831. In 1825 he attended Charles X. to the coronation at Rheims, and afterwards visited Great Britain and Ireland. He died in 1840.