Jean-Pascal Cordonnier

Jean-Pascal Cordonnier was a French general and influential military theorist

Early Life
Jean-Pascal Cordonnier was born into a noble family in Reims, the eldest of two. His father was an officer in the King's elite cavalary unit. At the age of 16, Jean-Pascal was sent to the Royal Military Academy in Paris.

Life
In the military academy, Cordonnier performed with outstanding grades. In his later years in the academy, Cordonnier started seeing flaws in old military tactics and began tinkering with tactics in his spare time.

He graduated from the Royal Military Academy in 1652 at the age of 20 and went on to be a novice military strategist for the French army. During evening hours he worked on his famous books on military tactics. He rose through the ranks quickly by giving innovative advise and when he turned 31, in 1663 was named a general and the vice-head strategist of the French army. In 1668, Cordonnier was named head strategist of the French army.

Cordonnier married French noblewoman Louise de Chaufourier in 1672. She gave birth to two daughters.

Cordonnier died in his estate outside of Paris in 1685, at the age of 53, after having several strokes.

Trivia
Cordonnier understood the combination of infantry, cavalry and artillery to strike panic and chaos into the enemy.