Famous French military leaders
(ordered chronologically)
| Portrait |
Name |
Years |
Identity |
Notes |
 |
Brennus |
early 4th century BC |
Gallic |
Destroyed the Roman army at the Battle of the Allia in 387 BC. |
 |
Vercingetorix |
72 BC-46 BC |
Gallic |
Fought Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars. Defeated Caesar at the Battle of Gergovia but was decisively beaten by Caesar at Alesia. |
 |
Clovis |
c. 466-November 27, 511 |
Frankish |
Successful leader of the Franks who quadrupled Frankish territory. |
 |
Charles Martel |
August 23, 686-October 22, 741 |
Frankish |
Famous victor at the Battle of Tours in 732. The Christian triumph has captured the Western imagination ever since. |
 |
Charlemagne |
742 or 747-January 28, 814 |
Frankish |
Charlemagne established the strongest central administration in the Western world since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476. |
 |
William the Conqueror |
1028-September 9, 1087 |
Norman |
One of the greatest commanders of the Middle Ages, his victory at Hastings laid the foundations for a new era in English history. |
 |
Philip II Augustus |
August 21, 1165-July 14, 1223 |
French |
Under his leadership, the French triumphed at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214 and emerged as the most powerful nation in Europe. |
 |
Bertrand du Guesclin |
c. 1320-1380 |
French |
Carried out a wonderful ten-year campaign (1370-1380) during the second phase of the Hundred Years' War that saw the French recapture nearly all of the territory lost under the Treaty of Brétigny. |
 |
La Hire |
c. 1390-1443 |
French |
Most famous for leading the French vanguard in the spectacular victory at Patay. |
 |
Joan of Arc |
1412-May 30, 1431 |
French |
Turned the tide of the Hundred Years' War by leading the French to victory at the famous Siege of Orléans. |
 |
Gaston de Foix |
1489-1512 |
French |
Remembered for the great French victory at the Battle of Ravenna in 1512, where he also prematurely lost his life. |
 |
Henry IV |
December 13, 1553-May 14, 1610 |
French |
His victory at Ivry ensured the French Religious Wars would be decided in favor of the Huguenots. |
 |
Turenne |
September 11, 1611-July 27, 1675 |
French |
One of the greatest commanders of all time, Turenne dominated the battlefields of Europe for several decades throughout the seventeenth century. His death at Sasbach in 1675 was universally mourned. |
 |
The Great Condé |
September 8, 1621-November 11, 1686 |
French |
He and Turenne were the dynamic duo that carried French armies to victory after victory during the reign of Louis XIV. His victory at the Battle of Rocroi in 1643 ushered a new era in military history, with cavalry attaining an operational importance unseen since the Middle Ages. |
 |
Maréchal Luxembourg |
January 8, 1628-January 4, 1695 |
French |
Shined during the Nine Years War, leading French armies to famous triumphs at Fleurus and Landen, among others. |
 |
Vauban |
May 15, 1633-March 30, 1707 |
French |
Arguably the greatest military engineer of all time, Vauban restructured the French defensive system so thoroughly that France became almost impregnable for much of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. |
 |
Maurice de Saxe |
October 28, 1696-November 30, 1750 |
French |
Maurice de Saxe was one of the foremost commanders of the eighteenth century, especially renowned for his brilliant campaign in the War of the Austrian Succession, which led to the capture of Maastricht in 1748. |
 |
Latouche Tréville |
June 3, 1745-August 19, 1804 |
French |
Perhaps the most reliable naval commander Napoleon ever had, Tréville repeatedly proved his abilities by beating off Nelson’s attacks on the French fleet. |
 |
Lafayette |
September 6, 1757-May 20, 1834 |
French |
One of the most recognizable French personages during the American Revolutionary War, Lafayette was instrumental in convincing the French government to intervene on behalf of the colonies, providing the blueprint for ultimate victory. |
 |
André Masséna |
May 6, 1758-April 4, 1817 |
French |
Great general of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. His memorable performances at the Second Battle of Zurich in 1799, the Battle of Caldiero in 1805, and various other actions throughout his career have earned him a spot among the top dignitaries in the French military pantheon. |
 |
Moreau |
February 14, 1763-September 2, 1813 |
French |
Great general of the French Revolutionary Wars. Moreau’s decisive victory at Hohenlinden in 1801 proved pivotal in ending the War of the Second Coalition. |
 |
Michel Ney |
January 10, 1769-December 7, 1815 |
French |
Marshal of France during the Napoleonic Wars, famous for his great courage ("le brave des braves"). Won the Battle of Elchingen and distinguished himself in the Battle of Friedland. He led the rearguard during the the reatreat from Moscow, securing the withdrawl from constant Russian attacks. |
 |
Napoleon Bonaparte |
August 15, 1769-May 5, 1821 |
French |
Napoleon is often ranked among the greatest military commanders of all time. His campaigns established a new era in military history and are still studied at military academies all over the world. His victories at Rivoli, Austerlitz, Friedland, and Dresden still enthrall the popular imagination. |
 |
Davout |
May 10, 1770-June 1, 1823 |
French |
Widely regarded as Napoleon’s greatest marshal, Davout had a tenacious reputation for pulling off surprising victories. In 1806, 27,000 men of his legendary III Corps defeated 63,000 Prussians at the Battle of Auerstadt, inflicting 13,000 casualties and capturing 115 enemy guns. |
 |
Bazaine |
February 13, 1811-September 23, 1888 |
French |
The great military hero of the Second Empire who proved himself in the Crimean War and at Solferino (1859) before conducting a horrible campaign during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. |
 |
Ferdinand Foch |
October 2, 1851-March 20, 1929 |
French |
Foch was made the Supreme Allied Commander in 1918 during World War I and engineered the very successful counter-attack at the Second Battle of the Marne, a triumph that set off a series of Allied victories. |
 |
Joffre |
January 12, 1852-January 3, 1931 |
French |
Famous French commander of World War I who regrouped the retreating Allied forces to defeat the Germans at the strategically decisive First Battle of the Marne in 1914. |
 |
Philippe Pétain |
April 24, 1856-July 23, 1951 |
French |
Another great French commander of World War I, Pétain led the French to victory at Verdun and restored the army’s morale after the mutinies of 1917. In World War II, he acted as a German puppet by leading the government of Vichy France |
|
Louis Franchet d'Espèrey |
May 25, 1856-July 3, 1942 |
French |
Known as ‘Desperate Frankie’ by the British, d'Espèrey led the famous Vardar Offensive of 1918 that captured much of the Balkans and knocked Bulgaria out of the war. |
|
Maréchal Tassigny |
February 2, 1889-January 11, 1952 |
French |
Brilliant French commander during World War II. As part of Operation Dragoon in 1944, his French Army B captured over 28,000 Germans and liberated Marseilles and Toulon. He also conducted several brilliant campaigns in the First Indochina War, winning impressively at the Battle of Vinh Yen in 1951. |
 |
Charles de Gaulle |
November 22, 1890—November 9, 1970 |
French |
His theories about armored warfare were ignored by the French military establishment. Mostly noted for his stalwart leadership of the Free French Forces during World War II. |
 |
Maréchal Leclerc |
November 22, 1902—November 28, 1947 |
French |
Perhaps the greatest French military leader in the Second World War, Leclerc’s desert campaigns and his drive on Paris in 1944 are still immortalized in French history. |
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