General Jean Marie Noël Delisle de Falcon de Saint-Geniès

Aide-de-camp to General Menou who became a successful cavalry commander and led the 19th Dragoons

Born: December 25, 1776

Place of Birth: Montauban, Tarn-et-Garonne, France

Died: January 26, 1836

Place of Death: Vernou, France

Arc de Triomphe: ST GENIÉS on the south pillar

Joining the army in August of 1792, Jean Marie Noël Delisle de Falcon de Saint-Geniès joined the 1st Company of Foot Chasseurs of Haute-Garonne. Serving near Paris, in 1793 he was promoted to sergeant and then sent to serve against the rebels in the Vendée. Later that year Saint-Geniès joined the 22nd Chasseurs à Cheval and the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees, where he would remain for the next few years. In March of 1796 he was commissioned as a sous-lieutenant and that September he became an aide-de-camp to General Berthier. Taking part in the expedition to Egypt in 1798, Saint-Geniès was promoted to lieutenant in 1798 and then to capitaine in 1800. That October he became an aide-de-camp to General Menou and then in 1801 he was promoted to chef d'escadrons after the Battle of Canope . Saint-Geniès took command of the dromedary corps later that year and in June he was then ordered to carry the dispatches of General Belliard. While undertaking this duty he was captured and taken prisoner by the British.

Saint-Geniès returned to France in December of 1801 and he resumed a position as aide-de-camp to General Menou. In May of 1802 he joined the 19th Dragoons and then in 1803 he served in Hanover and at Walcheren. That year Saint-Geniès was also appointed a major in the 19th Dragoons and he began to serve with the Army of the Coasts of the Ocean. When the army was renamed the Grande Armée in 1805 and marched out to war, Saint-Geniès was with them. In September of 1806 he was promoted to colonel of his unit, the 19th Dragoons, serving as part of Sahuc's division. Serving against the Fourth Coalition, in January of 1807 he fought at Mohrungen .

In 1808 Saint-Geniès was named a Baron of the Empire and he was sent to serve in Spain. In January of 1809 he joined Caulaincourt's 2nd Brigade of the 4th Dragoon Division. That year Saint-Geniès served at the crossing of the Tagus and the Battle of Talavera . In 1811 he was still serving in Spain and he served at the affair of Villa del Orno in April and he was promoted to général de brigade in August. Saint-Geniès was recalled to France in preparation for the campaign against Russia of 1812. As the army was organized, he was given command of the 1st Brigade of Sébastiani's division. Saint-Geniès took part in the beginning of the campaign but he was wounded and taken prisoner at the crossing of the Drissa in July.

Released and returned to France in July of 1814, Saint-Geniès was named a Knight of Saint Louis and commander of Maubeuge. When Napoleon resumed power in 1815 for the Hundred Days, Saint-Geniès served in the III Corps of Observation of the frontier. Afterwards he was put on non-activity but he resumed a more active career in 1818.

Bibliography

Six, Georges. Dictionnaire Biographique des Généraux & Amiraux Français de la Révolution et de l'Empire (1792-1814). 2 vols. Paris: Gaston Saffroy, 2003.

Updated September 2020