The story of General Marulaz is closely linked to the history of light cavalry. He was born in 1769 as the son of a non-commissioned officer in the Esterhazy Regiment, where he himself, like his younger brother Jacob Francois Marulaz, was a soldier as a child. It was there that he began his career as a hussar in 1785. After his promotion to officer in the 8th Hussar Regiment when it was founded in 1792, he rose to the rank of colonel and commanded the regiment throughout the entire period of the Directory and the Consulate, particularly during the campaigns of 1799 in Switzerland and 1800 in Germany. His services, but also his serious injuries, earned him the Cross of Commander of the Legion of Honour in 1804 and the rank of Brigadier General with command of the Haute-Saône department in 1805. He was called to Haguenau to organise the reserve cavalry of the Grande Armée, took command of the Haute-Saône again in June 1806, and four months later, at his own request, was recalled to the Grande Armée at the start of the Prussian campaign... This report on General Marulaz's campaigns in Poland (1806-1807) and Austria (1809) was transcribed from two manuscripts from the general's personal archive.
