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Jomini of the west

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JOMINI, Antoine Henri, Baron de

The man they called the “devin de Napoléon” (the man who guessed what Napoleon was about), because he wrote a definition of his way of making war, was born in Payerne (Switzerland), in the Vaud canton on 6 March, 1779, into a wealthy family (). His father, Benjamin, was mayor of the town and deputy on the Conseil helvétique (Helvetic council). As early as 12 years old he showed an interest for all things military. But the French Revolution prevented him from purchasing a commission as cadet in the Swiss regiment at Watteville, then in the service of France. Thereupon his family sent him, against his wishes, to Basel to train as a banker. In 1796, he was a currency exchange agent in Paris.

Three years later he returned to Switzerland to join the army. After beginning as ADC to the Helvetic minister for war, he was appointed captain, then commandant, and finally Chief of the War secretariat. Jomini was a largely self-taught enthusiast for military strategy, and he became so proficient that during a discussion with friends in Berne at the

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Antoine-Henri Jomini
by
Eman M. Vovsi
  • LAST REVIEWED: 26 February 2013
  • LAST MODIFIED: 26 February 2013
  • DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199791279-0089

  • Baqué, Jean-François. L’homme qui devinait Napoléon: Jomini. Paris: Perrin, 1994.

    More a work in the popular genre than a serious historical work, in which the author overemphasizes and idolizes Jomini while ignoring the sufficient corpus of primary sources, including archival material.

  • Courville, Xavier de. Jomini, ou devin de Napoléon. Paris: Libraire Plon, 1935.

    A clear approach on the image of a “hero” prevailing at that time in French literature and culture. The author furnishes his research with many unreliable and unverifiable citations and thus becomes the promoter of a “legendary Jomini.”

  • Däniker, Genrich. Général Antoine-Henri Jomini. Darmstadt, West Germany: Klassiker der Kriegskunst, 1960.

    Written along Lecomte’s line, the author emphasizes the importance of Jomini and other Swiss volunteers, who served in various European armies without any ideological affiliations.

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    Antoine-Henri Jomini

    French-Swiss general and writer on the art of war (1779–1869)

    Antoine-Henri Jomini (French:[ʒɔmini]; 6 March 1779 – 22 March 1869)[1] was a Swiss military officer who served as a general in French and later in Russian service, and one of the most celebrated writers on the Napoleonic art of war. Jomini was largely self-taught in military strategy,[2] and his 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).

    Early life and business career

    Jomini was born on 6 March 1779 in Payerne, Vaud, Switzerland, to Benjamin Jomini and Jeanne Marcuard.[1][3] The Jominis were an old Swiss family, and both his father and paternal grandfather served as mayor of Payerne.[4][5] In his youth, Jomini "was fascinated by soldiers and the

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