Jomini, General Antoine‐Henri, Baron de (1779–1869)

Abstract Antoine‐Henri Jomini was born on March 6, 1779, in the town of Payerne in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. He was educated for a career in business and began as a clerk in a banking house in Basle, but soon moved to Paris in 1796, where he was employed in banking. However, the young Jomini had no interest in the business profession. From an early age he wished for a career in the military. In 1798 he entered the Swiss army as a staff officer and within a few years was given command of a battalion. When the War of the Second Coalition ended in 1801, Jomini returned to civilian life in the banking profession in Paris. In 1803 he published a Traité des grandes operations militaires that was widely read by French officers. He came to the attention of Marshal Michel Ney who gave him a position as a volunteer aide‐de‐camp on his staff. In this capacity Jomini served with Ney's 6th Corps during the Austerlitz campaign of 1805. Napoleon was impressed by the talents of the young man, and in December of the same year gave him a commission as colonel in the French army. Thus began Jomini's career in the service of France.