Pierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet

Pierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet
General of Division Pierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet
Born	14 November 1765 (1765-11-14) Croix-Chapeau, Saintonge, France
Died	19 December 1854 (1854-12-20) (aged 89) Paris, France
Allegiance	Kingdom of France  Kingdom of the French  French First Republic  First French Empire Bourbon Restoration
Service/branch	Infantry
Years of service	1781–1832
Rank	General of Division
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars
Awards	Légion d'Honneur Order of Saint Louis Order of the Iron Crown
Other work	Baron of the Empire

Pierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet (French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ lwi binɛ də maʁkɔɲɛ]; 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.