Louis BarthasW
Louis Barthas

Louis Barthas was a French infantry corporal who served on the Western Front of World War I for nearly the entire duration of conflict, stationed on the front lines for a significant amount of time. He was a politically active socialist and professional barrelmaker.

André BeaufreW
André Beaufre

André Beaufre was a French Army officer and military strategist who attained the rank of Général d'Armée before his retirement in 1961.

Marcel BigeardW
Marcel Bigeard

Marcel "Bruno" Bigeard was a French military officer who fought in World War II, Indochina and Algeria. He was one of the commanders in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and is thought by many to have been a dominating influence on French 'unconventional' warfare thinking from that time onwards. He was one of the most decorated soldiers in France, and is particularly noteworthy because of his rise from being a regular soldier in 1936 to ultimately finishing his career in 1976 as a Lieutenant General. A former member of the French Resistance, he is associated mainly with the wars in Indochina and Algeria.

Pierre-Joseph BourcetW
Pierre-Joseph Bourcet

Pierre-Joseph Bourcet was a French tactician, general, chief of staff, mapmaker and military educator. He was the son of Daniel-André Bourcet and of Marie-Magdeleine Legier.

Pierre Choderlos de LaclosW
Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos was a French novelist, official, freemason and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses (1782).

Vincent DesportesW
Vincent Desportes

Vincent Desportes is a retired French Army general and military theorist.

Ardant du PicqW
Ardant du Picq

Charles Jean Jacques Joseph Ardant du Picq was a French Army officer and military theorist of the mid-nineteenth century whose writings, as they were later interpreted by other theorists, had a great effect on French military theory and doctrine.

Guillaume Philibert DuhesmeW
Guillaume Philibert Duhesme

Guillaume Philibert, 1st Count Duhesme was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars.

Ferdinand FochW
Ferdinand Foch

Ferdinand Foch was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Artois campaigns of 1914–1916, Foch became the Allied Commander-in-Chief in late March 1918 in the face of the all-out German spring offensive, which pushed the Allies back using fresh soldiers and new tactics that trenches could not contain. He successfully coordinated the French, British and American efforts into a coherent whole, deftly handling his strategic reserves. He stopped the German offensive and launched a war-winning counterattack. In November 1918, Marshal Foch accepted the German cessation of hostilities and was present at the Armistice of 11 November 1918.

Jean Charles, Chevalier FolardW
Jean Charles, Chevalier Folard

Jean Charles, Chevalier Folard, French soldier and military author, was born at Avignon.

David GalulaW
David Galula

David Galula (1919–1967) was a French military officer and scholar who was influential in developing the theory and practice of counterinsurgency warfare.

Charles de GaulleW
Charles de Gaulle

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 in order to reestablish democracy in France. In 1958, he came out of retirement when appointed President of the Council of Ministers by President René Coty. He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the Fifth Republic after approval by referendum. He was elected President of France later that year, a position to which he was reelected in 1965 and held until his resignation in 1969. He was the dominant figure of France during the early part of the Cold War era. His memory continues to influence French politics.

Jacques Antoine Hippolyte, Comte de GuibertW
Jacques Antoine Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert

Jacques-Antoine-Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert was a French general and military writer. Born at Montauban, he accompanied his father in wars before he became a general himself. In 1770, he published an essay on tactics which was very influential in his time.

Antoine-Henri JominiW
Antoine-Henri Jomini

Antoine-Henri, Baron Jomini was a French-Swiss officer who served as a general in the French and later in the Russian service, and one of the most celebrated writers on the Napoleonic art of war. Jomini's ideas are a staple at military academies, the United States Military Academy at West Point being a prominent example; his theories were thought to have affected many officers who later served in the American Civil War. He may have coined the term logistics in his Summary of the Art of War (1838).

Jean-Gérard Lacuée, count of CessacW
Jean-Gérard Lacuée, count of Cessac

Jean-Girard Lacuée, count of Cessac, near Hautefage-la-Tour in the arrondissement of Agen, 4 November 1752 - Paris, 18 June 1841) was a French general and politician, peer of France and Minister for War under Napoleon I of France. His name is inscribed on the south side of the Arc de Triomphe.

Hippolyte LangloisW
Hippolyte Langlois

Hippolyte Langlois was a French general noted for his writings on military science.

Marcellin MarbotW
Marcellin Marbot

Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcelin Marbot, known as Marcellin Marbot, was a French general, famous for his memoirs depicting the Napoleonic age of warfare. He belongs to a family that has distinguished itself particularly in the career of arms, giving three generals to France in less than 50 years. His elder brother, Antoine Adolphe Marcelin Marbot, was also a military man of some note.

Marc René, marquis de MontalembertW
Marc René, marquis de Montalembert

Marc René, marquis de Montalembert was a French military engineer and writer, known for his work on fortifications.

Sébastien Bigot de MoroguesW
Sébastien Bigot de Morogues

Sébastien-François Bigot, vicomte de Morogues,, was a French soldier, a sailor and military naval tactician.

Charles OudinotW
Charles Oudinot

Lieutenant-General Charles Nicolas Victor Oudinot, 2nd Duc de Reggio, the eldest son of Napoleon I's marshal Nicolas Oudinot and Charlotte Derlin, also made a military career.

Albert de RochasW
Albert de Rochas

Eugène Auguste Albert de Rochas d'Aiglun was a leading French parapsychologist, historian, translator, writer, military engineer and administrator.

André RogerieW
André Rogerie

André Rogerie was a member of the French Resistance in World War II and survivor of seven Nazi concentration camps who testified after the war about what he had seen in the camps.

Maurice de SaxeW
Maurice de Saxe

Maurice, Count of Saxony was a notable soldier, officer and a famed military commander of the 18th century. The son of Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, he initially served in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire, then the Imperial Army before finally entering French service. De Saxe became a Marshal and even Marshal General of France. He is best known for his deeds in the War of the Austrian Succession and for his decisive victory at the Battle of Fontenoy especially. He is honoured by the Walhalla Memorial.

Pierre Surirey de Saint-RemyW
Pierre Surirey de Saint-Remy

Pierre Surirey de Saint-Remy (1645–1716) was a French general.

Louis de TousardW
Louis de Tousard

Louis de Tousard (1749-1817) was a French artillerist who served in the American Continental Army under La Fayette, and later was given a US commission. Tousard wrote two very influential books: one was a proposal for a school for officers that became the blueprint for West Point, and the other was a manual for artillery officers that became standard in the young army.