Jourdan, Jean Baptiste

Jourdan, Jean Baptiste (zhäN bätēst' zhOOrdäN') [key], 1762–1833, marshal of France. He fought in the American Revolution, and in the French Revolutionary Wars he commanded the Army of the North to Wattignies (1793), won a decisive victory at Fleurus (1794), and led the army of Sambre-et-Meuse into Cologne (1794). He sponsored the law of general conscription (1798) that bore his name. Although initially opposed to the coup of 18 Brumaire (1799), he served Napoleon as ambassador to the Cisalpine Republic (1801) and was made councilor of state (1802) and marshal of France (1804). After Napoleon's fall, he rallied to the Bourbons, who later made him a peer.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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