Jourdan, Jean-Baptiste, 1762-1833

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ batist ʒuʁdɑ̃]; 29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I in 1804. He was also a Jacobin politician during the Directory phase of the French Revolution, serving as member of the Council of Five Hundred between 1797 and 1799. One of the most successful commanders of the French Revolutionary Army, Jourdan is best remembered in the Revolution for leading the French to a decisive victory over the First Coalition at the Battle of Fleurus, during the Flanders campaign. Under the Empire he was rewarded by Napoleon with the title of Marshal and continued to hold military assignments, but suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Vitoria, which resulted in the Empire's permanent loss of Spain. In 1815 he became reconciled with the Bourbon Restoration, and later supported the July Revolution and served in his last years as governor of the Hôtel des Invalides.