The son of a surgeon at Limoges, Jean-Baptiste Jourdan enlisted as a private at sixteen and served with the Régiment d’Auxerrois during the American War of Independence. Discharged in 1784, he returned to Limoges, where he established himself as a mercer before resuming military service during the Revolution. He rose rapidly and was appointed commander of the Army of the North in September 1793. The following month his victory at Wattignies forced the Coalition army to abandon the siege of Maubeuge.
In the winter of 1793–94, Jourdan opposed demands from the Committee of Public Safety for an immediate offensive, arguing that his army lacked adequate clothing, horses and supplies. Summoned to Paris in January, he faced the possibility of arrest but was instead removed from command and placed on the retired list. He returned briefly to his business at Limoges before being recalled in March to command the Army of the Moselle.
Jourdan subsequently commanded the forces that defeated the Austrians at Fleurus on 26 June 1794. The victory helped force the Coalition to abandon the Austrian Netherlands and opened the way for the French conquest of Belgium and the subsequent advance towards the Rhine. His later campaigns in Germany were less successful, and in 1796 he was defeated by Archduke Charles at Amberg and Würzburg.
Elected to the Council of Five Hundred in 1797, Jourdan turned increasingly to politics. He was one of the principal authors of the Jourdan-Delbrel law of 5 September 1798, which established compulsory military service in France. Returning briefly to military command in 1799, he was again defeated by Archduke Charles before resuming his seat in the legislature. He opposed Bonaparte’s coup of 18 Brumaire and was consequently excluded from the Council, although he soon reconciled with the new regime and later served under the Consulate and Empire, becoming a Marshal of the Empire in 1804. He died in Paris in 1833.
