Antoine Adolphe Marcelin Marbot was born into a family of military nobility in Altillac, in the ancient province of Quercy in southwestern France.

General Bernadotte was suspected of being at the head of this plot and his aide-de-camp, the young Lieutenant Marbot, was interrogated at the Temple Prison in Paris, with the aim of obtaining a confession from him which he would not provide.

His brilliant conduct earned him a promotion to the rank of chef d'escadron (squadron leader) and he became attached to the staff of Marshal Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Prince of Neuchâtel.

[4] After the capture of Madrid and the evacuation of the British forces at the Battle of Corunna, he left Astorga to carry letters from Emperor Napoleon I to his brother Joseph Bonaparte, who had become the King of Spain.

He reached the coast of Africa through many dangers, and finally joined Marshal Claude Victor-Perrin's corps during the Siege of Cádiz by the French forces.

[3] During the reign of King Louis Philippe I, he attained the rank of maréchal de camp (brigadier general) on 31 December 1831, and was appointed commander of the Aisne department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France.