Jean Baptiste Jourdan

Born Apr. 29, 1762, in Limoges; died Nov. 23, 1833, in Paris. Became a marshal of France in 1804 and a count in 1816. Fought in the American War of Independence. Jourdan commanded a battalion of volunteers from 1791 in the Great French Revolution. In 1793 he was made a general of division, commanded several armies, and was victorious over the interventionists at Fleurus. In 1797 he became a member of the Council of Five Hundred and introduced and carried through the law on conscription for military duty. At the time of the coup d’etat of 18 Brumaire, Jourdan opposed Napoleon Bonaparte; he subsequently joined him. In 1804–05 he commanded the Italian army, and in 1806–09 and 1812–13 he was military adviser and chief of staff to the Spanish king Joseph Bonaparte. In 1814 he sided with the Bourbons and was given command of a military district. In 1819, Jourdan was named a peer of France and in 1830 became governor of the Hôtel des Invalides.