MenuGeneral Joseph Antoine Morio de Marienborn
Born: January 16, 1771
Place of Birth: Chantelle, Allier, France
Died: December 24, 1811
Cause of Death: Assassinated
Place of Death: Kassel, Germany
Pronunciation:
The older brother of Annet Morio de l'Isle, Joseph Antoine Morio joined the navy in August of 1789 but then on January 1st of 1791 he quit the navy. In September of 1792 he entered the artillery school of Châlons as a sous-lieutenant and then he left there as a lieutenant in June of 1793. Joining the 18th Light Artillery, Morio served in the Army of the North from 1793 to 1794. In September of 1794 he was promoted to capitaine of engineers and then he was sent to Grenoble to prepare for an expedition to the East Indies. After the expedition did not set sail, in 1795 Morio was employed at La Rochelle before joining the Army of the Rhine. The following year he accompanied General Aubert-Dubayet to Constantinople where Aubert-Dubayet was serving as ambassador.
After returning to France in April of 1797, Morio was then sent to the Army of Italy and then to Corfu to command the engineers of the Army of the Isles of the Levant. In October of 1798 the commissioner of the French government of these isles promoted Morio to chef de bataillon. Morio continued to serve at Corfu but by the start of 1800 he had returned to Italy where in March he became deputy director of fortifications at Peschiera. He went on to command the engineers of the Army of the Observation of the South and then at the end of 1801 he was promoted to chef de brigade. After working on a project of fortifications at Legnano, in December of 1802 he was named director of fortifications of Elba.
In April of 1803 Morio left Elba to serve as commander of engineers of the Army of Hanover. In October of 1805 as the Grande Armée was on the move against the Third Coalition he was named commander of the engineers of I Corps and he participated throughout the campaign. For the campaign against Prussia of 1806, Morio fought at the combat of Schleiz in October where he was wounded by a pistol shot to the leg.
In January of 1807 Morio was named an aide-de-camp to Prince Jérôme Bonaparte and he served in this position during the campaign in Silesia. When Napoleon appointed Jérôme as King of Westphalia, Morio left the service of France to enter the service of Westphalia and he continued to serve as Jérôme's aide-de-camp. Jérôme promoted Morio to général de brigade in November of 1807 and made him Minister of War in December. In 1810 Jérôme named Morio colonel general of chasseurs of the Westphalian Guard, général de division, and Count of Marienborn. On Christmas Eve of 1811 Morio was assassinated by the former farrier of the king of Westphalia's stables who Morio had just dismissed from his position.
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Updated February 2025
© Nathan D. Jensen