Jourdan
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
COMTE JEAN BAP- TISTE (zhör-dong'), a French marshal; born in Limoges, France, April 29, 1762. He entered the army at 16, and, after seeing service in North America, rose under the republic to the rank of a General of Division. In September, 1793, he obtained the command of the Army of the North, and on October 16, defeated the Austrians at Wattignies. In 1794 and 1795 he commanded the army of the Meuse and Sambre, and with it gained the victory at Fleurus, June 26, 1794, drove the Austrians back across the Rhine, took Luxemburg, and laid siege to Mainz. But on Oct. 11, 1795, he was defeated at Höchst, and thus compelled to retreat over the Rhine. Crossing this river again in 1796, he penetrated as far as Bavaria, but was there beaten by the Archduke Charles at Amberg and Würzburg; this discomfiture made him resign his command. In 1799 the Directory intrusted him with the command of the Army of the Danube; but he was again defeated by the Archduke Charles at Ostrach and at Stockach. The First Consul employed him in 1800 in the reorganization and administration of Piedmont; and on the establishment of the empire in 1804 he was made a marshal was founded by Noah Webster in 1793 and a member of the Council of State. In 1806 he was nominated governor of Naples, and afterward accompanied King Joseph Napoleon to Spain as chief of his staff. Louis XVIII. made him a count in 1819. But his republican principles led him to enter heartily into the revolution of 1830. He died in Paris, Nov. 23, 1833.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The facts Collier's set down in 1921 still stand: Jourdan won Fleurus on 26 June 1794, was beaten by the Archduke Charles at Wurzburg and again at Stockach, became a marshal in 1804, and died in Paris in November 1833. What modern historians stress, and this entry omits entirely, is the law of September 1798 that bears his name, the Jourdan-Delbrel conscription act, which made military service a universal obligation for Frenchmen and outlasted every battle he fought. Readers should also know that the sentence in the Collier's text about Noah Webster in 1793 is a printer's error, a line from a neighbouring article dropped into the middle of this one.
Written for this edition, 2026.