Jean-Baptiste, Count Jourdan
French military commander
Jean-Baptiste, Count Jourdan (born April 29, 1762, Limoges, Fr.—died Nov. 23, 1833, Paris) was a military commander remembered as the sponsor of conscription during the French Revolutionary regime and as one of Napoleon’s marshals of the empire. After being a soldier in King Louis XVI’s army and serving in the West Indies (1778–84), Jourdan retired and became a draper in Limoges. He supported the Revolution, however; and, having been elected lieutenant colonel of volunteers in...