Pierre-Joseph Bourcet
Encyclopedia
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.
, in what is now Piedmont
, northern Italy
.
At 18 years old, he began serving under his father, a captain in the French armies in the Alps. He completed his training, studying maths, and became a gunner before entering the infantry and finally the engineers. With the support of M. d'Asfeld, he joined the engineers corps in 1729. A long military career followed, ending at the rank of lieutenant-général des armées du roi, in 1762, the highest rank in the ancien régime military. At the start of his career, he was a protégé of the maréchal de Maillebois
, accompanying him on a secret reconnaissance mission to France's Alpine frontier. He was chief engineer at Mont-Dauphin, from c. 1742, succeeding M. de Pène, whose daughter Marie-Anne de Pène he married.
He acted as a French chief of staff
during the War of the Austrian Succession
and the Seven Years' War
. In 1752, he accompanied M. de Paulmy in his tour of inspection of the Alps He was director of the fortifications at Dauphiné from 1756 (appointed 1 June 1756) to 1777.
At the end of 1759, he was made king's chief commissioner and charged with fixing the borders between France and Piedmont, a mission concluded by treaty on 24 March 1760. Under the direction of the minister of war, Choiseul
, in 1764 he established a staff-officer training school at Grenoble (it disappeared in 1771), where he taught on mountain warfare.
An expert in mountain warfare, military engineering and fortifications, he devised the French invasion of Piedmont
that led up to the Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo
. He advocated officer training http://www.napolun.com/mirror/web2.airmail.net/napoleon/Napoleon_tactics.htm, a permanent staff corps and organised dispersion (having a large army march in separate columns along parallel roads, thus allowing them to be rapidly concentrated for attack or defence and to form three columns within each column and thus deploy onto the battlefield faster http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qiyp-Mft2zEC&pg=PR15&lpg=PR15&dq=%22Pierre-Joseph+Bourcet%22&source=web&ots=W7i5fFI6wP&sig=trchchBfXnkrfbyMbIwC-OZXxVY&hl=en). He devised the strategic concept of "a plan with branches" (keeping the enemy confused as to your destination, so he had to split his forces to defend more than one place at once).http://www.mayyoubehappy.com/stappt17.html
He died at Meylan
without issue in 1780 - his heart is buried at the church of Notre-Dame du Laus.
Life
Bourcet was born at UsseauxUsseaux
Usseaux is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 50 km west of Turin. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 190 and an area of 38.5 km²....
, in what is now Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
, northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
At 18 years old, he began serving under his father, a captain in the French armies in the Alps. He completed his training, studying maths, and became a gunner before entering the infantry and finally the engineers. With the support of M. d'Asfeld, he joined the engineers corps in 1729. A long military career followed, ending at the rank of lieutenant-général des armées du roi, in 1762, the highest rank in the ancien régime military. At the start of his career, he was a protégé of the maréchal de Maillebois
Jean-Baptiste Francois des Marets, marquis de Maillebois
Jean-Baptiste François Desmarets , marquis of Maillebois, was a Marshal of France.He was the son of Nicolas Desmarets, Marquis De Maillebois Controller-General of Finances during the reign of Louis XIV of France and nephew of Jean-Baptiste Colbert.He learned the art of war from Claude Louis Hector...
, accompanying him on a secret reconnaissance mission to France's Alpine frontier. He was chief engineer at Mont-Dauphin, from c. 1742, succeeding M. de Pène, whose daughter Marie-Anne de Pène he married.
He acted as a French chief of staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
during the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
and the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
. In 1752, he accompanied M. de Paulmy in his tour of inspection of the Alps He was director of the fortifications at Dauphiné from 1756 (appointed 1 June 1756) to 1777.
At the end of 1759, he was made king's chief commissioner and charged with fixing the borders between France and Piedmont, a mission concluded by treaty on 24 March 1760. Under the direction of the minister of war, Choiseul
Étienne François, duc de Choiseul
Étienne-François, comte de Stainville, duc de Choiseul was a French military officer, diplomat and statesman. Between 1758 and 1761, and 1766 and 1770, he was Foreign Minister of France and had a strong influence on France's global strategy throughout the period...
, in 1764 he established a staff-officer training school at Grenoble (it disappeared in 1771), where he taught on mountain warfare.
An expert in mountain warfare, military engineering and fortifications, he devised the French invasion of Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
that led up to the Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo
Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo
The Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo or Battle of Cuneo was fought on the outskirts of Cuneo on September 30, 1744, in the War of the Austrian Succession...
. He advocated officer training http://www.napolun.com/mirror/web2.airmail.net/napoleon/Napoleon_tactics.htm, a permanent staff corps and organised dispersion (having a large army march in separate columns along parallel roads, thus allowing them to be rapidly concentrated for attack or defence and to form three columns within each column and thus deploy onto the battlefield faster http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qiyp-Mft2zEC&pg=PR15&lpg=PR15&dq=%22Pierre-Joseph+Bourcet%22&source=web&ots=W7i5fFI6wP&sig=trchchBfXnkrfbyMbIwC-OZXxVY&hl=en). He devised the strategic concept of "a plan with branches" (keeping the enemy confused as to your destination, so he had to split his forces to defend more than one place at once).http://www.mayyoubehappy.com/stappt17.html
He died at Meylan
Meylan
Meylan is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.-Twin towns: Didcot, United Kingdom, since 1985 Gonzales, USA, since 1985 Planegg, Germany, since 1985...
without issue in 1780 - his heart is buried at the church of Notre-Dame du Laus.
Works
- Principes de la guerre de montagne, only published in 1888.
- Mémoires militaires sur les frontières de la France, du Piémont et de la Savoie depuis l'embouchure du Var jusqu'au lac de Genève, Berlin, 1802, in-8° et Paris et Strasbourg, Levrault frères, An X, in-8°