Nicolas Joseph Maison

Nicolas Joseph Maison, 1er Marquis Maison (19 December 1771 – 13 February 1840) was a Marshal of France and Minister of War.

Maison was born in Épinay-sur-Seine, near Paris.

He enlisted in the French Revolutionary army in 1792 and served in the early French Revolutionary Wars. He served as aide-de-camp to Minister of War Bernadotte in 1799. During the campaign of 1806 he served as a general de brigade in the corps of Marshal Bernadotte and took part in the chase of the Prussian army to Lübeck after their defeat at Jena. In 1808 he was sent to Spain where he served under Marshal Victor and was wounded at the capture of Madrid. In 1812 he joined Napoléon in the invasion of Russia. At the Beresina he was promoted to general de division and made a baron. After the wounding of Marshal Oudinot, he took over command of the II Corps and led it during the retreat to the Weischel. He served in the campaign of 1813 and after Marshal Jacques MacDonald's defeat at the Battle of Katzbach was once again tasked with leading the retreat. After the Battle of Leipzig, where he was wounded, he was given the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur and was made a count of the empire.

In 1814 he was tasked with defending what is now Belgium and the port of Antwerp. With inadequate forces, he managed to hold his own against greatly superior Allied forces and defeated Johann von Thielmann's Saxons at the Battle of Courtrai.

...
Wikipedia