Like most of his ancestors, Frederique from his earliest infancy was designed for the army. In his fifteenth year he entered it as sub-lieutenant in a regiment of infantry; but convinced that promotion would be more rapid in the artillery, he soon abandoned the former service for the latter. At Toulon he attracted the notice of Buonaparte; and when that general was invested with the command of the army of the interior, Marmont hastened to Paris, and was appointed his aide-de-camp.

Throughout the campaigns of Italy, Egypt, and Syria, Marmont was at the side of Napoleon, and was one of the few selected to return with him to France.

In the arduous passage of Mount St. Bernard, and in the affair of Fort St. Bard, Marmont greatly distinguished himself. He commanded the artillery at Marengo; and at the close of the campaign became general of division.

In the wars of 1805-6-7 Marmont served with equal honour; and in the course of the German campaign of 1809 he obtained a marshal's truncheon, and the title of Duke of Ragusa. After this he was ordered to replace Massena in the command of the army of Portugal; but this was a situation above his abilities.

Soon after his arrival in Spain, Marmont effected a junction with the army of Soult, and their combined forces marched to relieve Badajoz, then besieged by Wellington. The English general was not sufficiently strong to oppose them, and retreated towards Salamanca, our marshal following him. For a time they watched each other, neither being willing to strike the first blow; but a blunder of Marmont at length threw the initiative into the hands of Wellington. He was at dinner in his tent when information was brought him that the French were extending their wing, probably to out-flank him. "Marmont's good genius has forsaken him!" said Wellington, and instantly mounted his horse. The French could not withstand the impetuous onset of our troops: they .were driven from their positions, and the disorder of their flight was much increased in consequence of a wound which deprived them of Marmont's services early in the action. For the details of the great battle of Salamanca we must refer to the history of Napoleon*.
 

* Seven thousand prisoners, eleven guns, and two eagles, were taken. One of the eagles was sold by a Connaught regiment for a bottle of rum!
 

The wound of Marmont was so severe, (his arm was obliged at length to be amputated), that he could not follow his master next year into Russia. He was not even recovered when Napoleon precipitately returned from that disastrous campaign; but he insisted on sharing in the dangers of the one about to open. Marmont held a command at Lutzen, Bautzen, Leipsic; and afterwards defended, step by step, the territory of France against the formidable masses of the enemy which swept over it from the Rhine to the capital. 'We arrive at the most important period in the life of this marshal.

Napoleon had charged Marmont and Mortier with the defence of Paris; but how could such an object be attained by a few thousands of troops against the combined hosts of the allies? Both marshals resisted however, until Joseph Buonaparte abandoned the capital, desiring the Duke of Ragusa to conclude a convention for its surrender, and to make what terms he could. Accordingly he and Mortier agreed to evacuate the city, and save it from the horrors of an assault.

The Duke of Ragusa took post; after the capitulation, at Essonne , with about 12,000 men. Here he received the declaration of the allies, and the decree of the conservative senate, proclaiming that Napoleon no longer reigned. On this he entered into a negotiation both with the provisional government, and with Prince Schwartzenberg; and at length agreed to march within the cantonments of the allies; thereby renouncing all idea of continuing the war. For his troops he stipulated that they should be allowed a safe retreat into Normandy; and he obtained a guarantee for the freedom and honourable treatment of Napoleon's person, should the emperor fall into the hands of the allies.

Before, however, the corps which the marshal commanded could be marched away, Macdonald, Caulaincourt, and Ney visited him at his head-quarters on their way to Paris. They were the bearers of Napoleon's act of abdication, and were authorized to add his name to the commission of which they were members. Their object was to procure the best terms they could, both for France in general, and for the marshals in particular (of whom Ney was the acknowledged representative); and, above all, to obtain the assent of the allies to the proclamation of young Napoleon, under the regency of the empress. Marmont's situation was delicate: he complained of his having received no summons to attend with his brother-officers at Fontainebleau when the emperor signed the instrument of abdication; and mentioned the separate convention into which he had already entered. The Duke of Tarentum remonstrated with him on the impolicy of disunion among the great officers of the army at so critical a time; intreated him to suspend the execution of his convention; and to hasten to Paris with the three commissioners present for the purpose of assisting at the important conference about to be held. He consented, and as he stepped into Ney's carriage, ordered Count Souham, who, like all the Other generals of his corps (two excepted), was privy to the convention, to remain stationary with the troops until further directions. But he had scarcely reached the capital, before an unexpected circumstance hastened the execution of the treaty. The emperor summoned Souham to his presence. Had he heard of the secret convention? was the question which naturally suggested itself to the general's mind. In some alarm he hastily assembled all who were privy to the transaction; and it was instantly resolved to fulfil the condition of marching the troops within the lines. These brave men, ignorant of the nature of the movement they were commanded to make, suspected that some flank attack on the allies was meditated; and proceeded with alacrity. Their rage at finding themselves suddenly surrounded by the enormous hosts of the allies appeared in a violent commotion, which, however, was soon appeased.

By Louis XVIII. the Duke of Ragusa was made a Peer of France, and Captain of the Garde-du-Corps. When Napoleon landed from Elba, he was denounced as a traitor for the part he had acted in the drama of the abdication. He accompanied the king to Ghent, and thence, for the benefit of his health, he resorted to the waters of Aix-la-Chapelle, where he remained until the second restoration.

In 1817 the Duke of Ragusa, as the king's lieutenant, was despatched on an extraordinary mission to Lyons. Three months before an insurrection had broken out both in that city and in Grenoble, and had not been quelled without difficulty; considerable discontent still subsisted among the people. By his lenity towards the mistaken instruments of the insurrection, and his rigour towards the local authorities by whom it had been violently suppressed and savagely revenged, he succeeded in restoring tranquillity. Since that time he has attended alternately to his duties in the Chamber of Peers, and to agricultural pursuits, of which he is very fond. He is particularly distinguished for his success in the improvement of wool.

The reputation of Marmont as a general is not of the first order; though he is on all hands acknowledged to be an admirable officer of artillery. In private life he is said to be haughty, and fond of vain shew, but his character bears no stain either of rapine or of cruelty.