Joseph Marie, Count Dessaix

Joseph Marie, Count Dessaix (September 24, 1764, Thonon-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie – October 26, 1834) was a French general.

He was born at Thonon in Savoy. He studied medicine, took his degree at Turin, and then went to Paris, where in 1789 he joined the National Guard.

In 1791 he tried without success to begin an uprising in Savoy, in 1792 he organized the Légion des Allobroges, and in the following years he served at the siege of Toulon, in the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees, and in the Army of Italy. He was captured at Rivoli, but was soon exchanged.

In the spring of 1798 Dessaix was elected a member of the Council of Five Hundred. He was one of the few in that body who opposed the coup d'etat of the 18th Brumaire (November 9, 1799). In 1803 he was promoted general of brigade, and soon afterwards Commander of the Légion d'honneur. He distinguished himself greatly at the battle of Wagram (1809), and was about this time promoted general of division and named Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur, and in 1810 was made a count. He took part in Napoleon's invasion of Russia, and was twice wounded. For several months he was commandant of Berlin, and afterwards delivered the department of Mont Blanc from the Austrians. After the first restoration Dessaix held a command under the Bourbons. He nevertheless joined Napoleon in the Hundred Days, and in 1816 he was imprisoned for five months. The rest of his life was spent in retirement.