Antoine-Henri Jomini (Military History)

Introduction

Antoine-Henri Baron de Jomini (b. 1779–d. 1869) has become one of the most influential military theorists of the modern age. His principles, which at some point formed the basis for military education, have influenced teaching in European and North American military academies through the 19th century. A Swiss of the French extraction, Jomini received first-hand experience in the Napoleonic Wars (1805–1814) by serving in various capacities as a staff officer beginning in 1805, first as a volunteer. He was quickly promoted, and by the end of 1810 Jomini had become brigadier general and was given the title of Baron of the French Empire. At that time, he was also a renowned military theorist; his first two editions of Treatise on Grand Military Operations, published between 1805 and 1811, embraced the campaigns of Frederick the Great and Napoléon in Italy and compared 18th-century warfare with the new Revolutionary combat doctrine. In 1812–1813, Jomini served with Napoléon’s Grande Armée, where he headed various offices on the lines of communications and as a chief of staff of one of Napoléon’s corps. However, being disillusioned by the entire course of war, in the August of 1813, he joined the Allied forces organizing against France. Admitted to the Russian service, he withdrew from the active duties in early 1814 when the Allies violated Swiss neutrality. After several years of retirement and literary work, in 1823 Jomini resumed his post in the Russian army. He served as an advisor during the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829). He is also credited with the creation of the Russian Military Academy on General Staff in 1832. Jomini soon retired from the active service and settled in Belgium, where he continued his works on military writings. In 1853, Jomini was called to the Russian service to act as a military adviser to Tsar Nicholas I during the Crimean War (1853–1855). After the peace he settled in Switzerland; in 1858, however, Napoléon III requested Jomini to furnish plans for his campaign in Italy. Jomini moved to Paris, where he continued his military writing until his death.

General Overviews

Despite the fact that Jomini created a good amount of epistolary legacy, there is no single volume embracing his own life as narrated by himself. One of the first biographies was Lecomte 1860, based on long personal discussions, observation, and correspondence with Jomini. Sainte-Beuve, a French journalist, had limited Jomini’s biography only to 1813 in Sainte-Beuve 1869. Almost all works on Jomini, including the Russian publications that appeared before the Great War (1914–1918), generally followed material from Lecomte 1860, the first biographical version of Jomini’s career. Courville 1935, written by Jomini’s distant relative, became the pioneer work describing a “legendary Jomini.” The facts the author claims to be extraordinary are in many instances suspicious and unreliable; the book was full of anecdotes and unverifiable or overemphasized events. Däniker 1960, a biographical book, shows that the author was still under the serious influence of Lecomte 1860 and Courville 1935. Elting 1989 was the first who put under test Jomini’s military abilities as a French staff officer. Baqué 1994 has some footnotes and a bibliography of the general works on Jomini and the Napoleonic period. Alger 1994 (cited under From Reading to Writings) is a useful bibliographical survey. Two Russian professors, Alexey Mertzalov and Lydmila Mertzalov, direct descendants of Jomini, in Mertzalov and Mertzalov 1999 for the first time revealed Jomini’s life during his service in Russia. Recently, Langendorf 2002 used a vast spectrum of mémoires, contemporary correspondence, and eyewitness accounts to reconstruct Jomini’s daily life. The influence of Lecomte 1860, Sainte-Beuve 1869, and even Courville 1935 still appears in many modern works.

Baqué, Jean-François. L’homme qui devinait Napoléon: Jomini. Paris: Perrin, 1994.
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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.
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Courville, Xavier de. Jomini, ou devin de Napoléon. Paris: Libraire Plon, 1935.
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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.”
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Däniker, Genrich. Général Antoine-Henri Jomini. Darmstadt, West Germany: Klassiker der Kriegskunst, 1960.
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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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Elting, Col. R. John. “Jomini and Berthier.” In Proceedings 1989 to Commemorate the Bicentennial of the French Revolution. Edited by Donald D. Horward and John C. Horgan, 247–251. The Consortium of Revolutionary Europe, 1750–1850, v. 19, Tallahassee: Florida State University, 1989.
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The author correctly raises suspicions about certain inconsistencies and events surrounding Jomini’s earlier biographies, especially the relationship with his superiors, but looks at Jomini through the prism of the contemporary American system of military organization.
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Langendorf, Jean-Jacques. Faire la guerre: Antoine-Henri Jomini. Paris: Georg, 2002.
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Composed in a chronological year-by-year order, the work is noted for a careful selection of events surrounding Jomini’s long life, which disposes of obviously fabricated and outdated information. A good reference guide type of work.
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Lecomte, Ferdinand. Le général Jomini: Sa vie et ses écrits. Paris: Ch. Tanera, 1860.
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One of the first biographies, which was written in an equitable temper and dedicated to Jomini on his eightieth birthday. The manner of presentation very much reflects on ethos of the mid-19th-century biographical genre, where the major emphasis is given to a main character without paying much attention to other actors and events of the period.
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Mertzalov, Alexey, and Lydmila Mertzalov. A.-H. Jomini: Osnovatel’ naychnoi voennoi teorii. Moscow: Pandora, 1999.
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This is a pioneering biographical essay where the authors used many contemporary documents preserved in the Russian archives and provided a comprehensive analysis on Jomini’s military works, but the overall inability to comprehend specific military terminology and extremely vague familiarity with the Napoleonic period minimized the biographical quality. (Title translates as A.-H. Jomini: founder of a scientific military theory.)
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Sainte-Beuve, Charles-Augustine. Le général Jomini. Paris: M. Levy et frères, 1869.
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Analyzes Jomini’s career as a military officer in Napoléon’s army in a rather romanticized style but limits its narrative to 1813 and before.
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Selected Major Works

The original writings of Antoine-Henri Jomini had an important influence on the art of war throughout the entire 19th and the early 20th centuries in both sides of the Atlantic. However, the full meaning of his works can be recognized only when one puts all Jomini’s volumes—and their subsequent translations—in consecutive, original order. Note that most of the attention Jomini has received in France, Russia, and the United States is due to his major work Traité de grande tactique (Treatise on grand military operations); see Jomini 1804. That important work comprises five volumes, extended to eight in its second edition, printed in 1811–1816. Out of this second edition, the third and fourth were produced in 1818 and 1856, respectively; these bear slightly different or abbreviated titles and subtitles (see Jomini 1818). In addition, Jomini composed a fifteen-volume history of the French Revolutionary Wars in Historie critique et militaries des guerres de la revolution (Jomini 1820–1824) and an extensive biography of Napoléon in Vie politique et militaire de Napoléon (Life of Napoleon) (Jomini 1827, and see also Jomini 1886 and Jomini 1839), where he praised the French emperor and positioned himself in the spotlight along with other historical figures of the Napoleonic era. Jomini also produced a substantial number of articles and personally corresponded with several of his friends in 1813, when he partly explained his motive to leave the French army. Other key works include Jomini 1806, a pamphlet, and Jomini 1838, a work on the conduct of war. Scholarly researchers are best directed towards Alger 1994 (cited under From Reading to Writings) and Shy 1986, an article in the compendium Markers of Modern Strategy (cited under Nicholas I and Military Principles). Both are considered important commentators and modern interpreters of Jomini’s life and writings.

Jomini, Antoine-Henri. Traité de grande tactique ou relation de la guerre de sept ans, extraite de Templhof commentée et comparée aux principles opérations de la dernière guerre; avec un recueil des maximes les plus importantes de l’art militaire, justifiées par ces différents événements. 2 vols. Paris: Giguet et Michaud, Magimel, 1804.
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Volume 3 of the same work (in seven parts) was published under the new title Traité des grande opérations militaries . . . (1807). Volume 5 of Traité des grande opérations was published in 1806 and volume 4 in 1809. This work embodies the main principles of the military art supplemented by many illustrations and maps drawn from the campaigns of 1756–1762, as analyzed by Georg F. Templhof, a colonel of the Prussian army. Jomini extended his views of a “positional war” of the Enlightenment to show innovative changes being brought by French Revolutionary (1792–1799) and early Napoleonic (1800) warfare.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. L’art de la guerre. Posen, Prussia: n.p., 1806.
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In this small, thirty-five-page pamphlet, the author outlined the major principles of the military art, which in his opinion consists of directing the mass of one’s forces successively onto the enemy’s decisive points in the theater of war.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. Historie critique et militaire des guerres de Frédéric II comparées au système moderne, avec un recueil des principes les plus importans de l’art de la guerre. 3d ed. 3 vols. Paris: Magimel, Anselin et Pochard, 1818.
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This was part of the third edition of the Traité de grande tactique (Jomini 1804), originally published in 1805–1809, which specifically compares the military history of Frederick II of Prussia (1740–1786) during the Seven Years’ War (1765–1762) with modern, “Napoleonic” principles, as witnessed by the author himself.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. Historie critique et militaries des guerres de la revolution. 15 vols. Paris: Anselin et Pochard, 1820–1824.
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This work includes the four volumes of the second edition of the Traité des grande opérations militaries (see Jomini 1804) dealing with the wars of the French Revolution; these four volumes were withheld from the third edition of the Traité des grande opérations militaries (Jomini 1818), and thus this new edition is an expanded version. This set covers the Dutch and Belgian campaigns, 1792–1794, of the War of the First Coalition; campaigns on the Rhine and in Italy, 1795–1798; General Masséna’s campaign in Switzerland against the Second Coalition in 1799; Napoléon’s Marengo campaign of 1800; and the postwar settlement.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. Vie politique et militaire de Napoléon, racontée par lui-même, au tribunal de César, d’Alexandre et de Frédéric. 4 vols. and atlas. Paris: Anselin, 1827.
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The work was written by Jomini disguised as Napoléon and presented as if narrated from the French emperor’s own mouth. Jomini—being a great admirer of Napoléon from day one—tried not only to complete the history of the European wars from 1805 to 1815, but also to put some of the military principles he developed in his earlier works to the test. Finally, Jomini aimed to emphasize his own importance by speaking of himself in the third person—whether as the staff officer, governor in Vilna, or chief architect of Napoléon’s victory at Bautzen, 22 May 1813.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. Précis de l’art de la guerre, ou nouveau tableau analytique des principales combinaisons de la stratégie, de la grande tactique et de la politique militaire. Brussels: Meline Cans, 1838.
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Another similar set in two volumes appeared in 1841. Written while the author was tutoring the Russian prince, the future Tsar Alexander II, this work became one of the most widely known and influential works on the conduct of war. It deals with the relation of diplomacy to war, military policy, principles of war, grand tactics, logistics, and general deployment of troops in battle.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. Précis politique et militaire de la campagne de 1815, pour server de supplément et de rectification à la vie politique et militaire de Napoléon racontée par lui-même. Paris: Anselin et Laguyonie, 1839.
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This piece of Jomini’s historical writing augmented the fourth volume of his Vie politique et militaire de Napoléon (Jomini 1827), which was not included in the original publication due to the loss in transportation. This book deals with the Belgian campaign of 1815 and the dramatic events of the Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815, and Napoléon’s following exile. Also published in Brussels: Meline Cans, 1848.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. Précis politique et militaire des campagnes de 1812 à 1814. 2 vols. Edited by Ferdinand Lecomte. Lausanne, Switzerland: n.p., 1886.
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This book, composed postmortem by Jomini’s longtime friend, pupil, and first biographer, Ferdinand Lecomte, included sections of the Vie politique et militaire de Napoléon (Jomini 1827) and describes, in great detail, the Russian campaign of 1812 (battles of Borodino and the Berezina crossing) and the campaign in Germany and France in 1813–1814, when Jomini had already changed his allegiance by joining the Allies in August 1813.
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English Translations

All the translations of Jomini’s major works into English were done in the United States and consist of almost-verbatim translations. As Alger 1994 (cited under From Reading to Writings) researched, A Concise Summary of the Art of War was translated by Major Oscar F. Winship and Lieutenant Eugene E. McLean and published in New York in 1854 (Jomini 1854). It served as the official textbook of a newly developed course, the “Theory and Practice of Strategy and Grand Tactics,” introduced at West Point in 1860. The first English translation of Jomini’s Treatise on Grand Military Operations was completed at West Point by Col. Samuel B. Holabird during the American Civil War (Jomini 1865). A new English translation of The Art of War was published in Philadelphia in 1862 (Jomini 1862). The Life of Napoléon, by Henry Wager Halleck, General-in-Chief of the Union armies during the American Civil War, was completed during a voyage around the Cape of Good Hope and published in New York and London in 1864 (Jomini 1864). The Waterloo campaign had also interested the English-speaking world—as victors over the French—and it was translated accordingly (Jomini 1853). With few exceptions, Jomini’s works—once translated—have never been reedited and republished in modern time and, therefore, are known for using the vivid language characteristic of 19th-century American military culture. Note that the several Russian translations (not listed here) do bear similar anachronisms.

Jomini, Antoine-Henri. The Political and Military History of the Campaign of Waterloo. Translated by Stephen V. Benet. New York: Redfield, 1853.
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This work, produced as part of the original Précis politique et militaire de la campagne de 1815, emphasized the Waterloo campaign and the role of Marshal Michel Ney, Jomini’s former direct superior. A second edition was published in New York by D. Van Nostrand in 1862, and the third edition, by the same publisher, appeared in 1864.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. A Concise Summary of the Art of War. Translated by Major Oscar F. Winship and Lieut. Eugene E. McLean. New York: G. P. Putnam, 1854.
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This is a first attempt to translate Précis de l’art de la guerre, which was originally published in Paris in 1837–1838 in two volumes. This work includes Jomini’s major ideas on the principles of strategy and was at that time standard reading for servicemen across Europe. The first English translation was produced almost literally.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. The Art of War. Translated by Capt. G. H. Mendell and Lieut. W. P. Graighill. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1862.
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Originally published as Précis de l’art de la guerre (vols. 1–2, Brussels: Meline Cans, 1838–1841), it was republished in 1840 and 1841 together with other Jomini’s theoretical works. The first English translation of the Brussels republication appeared in New York in 1854 under the title A Concise Summary of the Art of War (Jomini 1854), but the complete work from the original 1838 publication was published by Mendell-Graighill. This edition was also selected for reprint in 1971 and again in 1975 as a part of the West Point Military Library series of military masterpieces. The full text can be found online.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. Life of Napoléon. Translated by Henry W. Halleck. 4 vols. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1864.
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This translation was republished in two volumes by Hudson-Kimberly in 1897. This classic English translation of Jomini’s Vie politique et militaire de Napoléon, Volumes 1–4, offers a short sketch on Jomini’s life and writing. Halleck analyzes Jomini’s major works, such as Treatise on Grand Military Operations and Critical and Military History of the Wars of the Revolution (not translated into English). As the translator suggests, “Jomini originally intended to make [Napoléon’s biography] a more complete History of the Wars of the Empire, as continuation of his History of the Revolution” (p. 25).
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. Treatise on Grand Military Operations, or a Critical and Military History of the Wars of Frederick the Great, as Contrasted with the Modern System; Together with a Few of the Most Important Principles of the Art of War. Translated by Col. Samuel B. Holabird. 2 vols. and atlas. New York and London: D. Van Nostrand, 1865.
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Originally published as the third edition of Jomini’s Traité de grande tactique, Volumes 1–5, which appeared in Paris, 1818, the English translation explains major principles of the military art which, for a long time, served as a pivot in the study of the wars of Frederick the Great and Napoleon.
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Selected Personal Correspondence

Jomini’s correspondence, selectively cited here as Jomini 1815, Jomini 1819, and Jomini 1841, clearly shows his inquiring mind and ability to defend, to a certain extent, his thoughts and beliefs, which he expressed in his major publications. Whether it includes correspondence with his personal friends, fellow officers, or former superiors, Jomini’s epistolary legacy does show that he always acted as a professional military man.

Jomini, Antoine-Henri. Correspondance entre le général Jomini et le général Sarrazin sur la campagne de 1813. Paris: F. Didot, 1815.
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The author, while being admitted to the Russian service in August 1813, corresponds with another French émigré in the British service, General Jean Sarrazin, and explains the overall operations during the Leipzig campaign in October 1813 from the point of view of the Russian staff officer.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. Correspondance du général Jomini avec M. le baron Monnier. Paris: n.p., 1819.
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In the several letters written to his personal friend Monnier, Jomini explains his reasons for leaving the French army when he was denied a long-awaited promotion for his combat at the Battle of Bautzen, 22 May 1813. Reprinted in 1821.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. Campagne de 1815: Correspondance entre M. le lieutenant général baron de Jomini et M. duc d’Elchingen. Paris: Bourgogne et Martinet, 1841.
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Several letters of Jomini to his former superior, Marshal Michel Ney, concerning the latter’s role in the Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815.
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Selected Articles

This section includes selected articles by Jomini, including Jomini 1800a, Jomini 1800b, Jomini 1851, and Jomini 1907. These articles appeared at various times in journals, newspapers, or specialized military presses and indicate another aspect of Jomini’s interest in recent politics and general reminiscences and recollections from his own military experience.

Jomini, Antoine-Henri. “Peut-on espérer la paix?” Bulletin helvétique 17 (September 1800a): 131–134.
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One of the earliest known writings, explaining the pros and cons of waging war against the Second Coalition and the place of Switzerland in her alliance with France. Published in Berne, Switzerland.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. “Des formes d’un bon government.” Bulletin helvétique 35 (October 1800b): 275–278.
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The author discusses ideas on the forms of good government, which shows his earlier interest in politics. Published in Berne, Switzerland.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. “Observation sur l’histoire militaire depuis Louis XIV jusqu’à nos jours.” Journal de l’armée belge, requel d’art, d’histoire et de sciences militaries 2 (1851): 3–32; 97–123.
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A brief analysis of military history from the era of Louis XIV until 1850 appeared as a contribution to the Belgian Army Journal.
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Jomini, Antoine-Henri. “De Pultusk à Eylau, extrait des souvenirs inédits du général Jomini.” Revue militaire suisse 1 (January 1907): 2–15.
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The article explains the maneuvers of the Napoléon’s Grande Armée during the 1806–1807 winter campaign and decisive battles at Pultusk (25 December 1806) and Eylau (7–8 February 1807), in which Jomini took part as a staff officer attached to Napoléon’s headquarters.
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From Banking to Military

Jomini was born on 6 March 1779, in Payerne, in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, in a family of the middling nobility. Langendorf 2002 (cited under General Overviews) traces, based on the variety of archival sources, the earlier career of Jomini: origins of his family, attempts for the admission to the military school, work at the brokerage houses of Mosselmann in Paris, and appointment to the provisional rank of a lieutenant in the Helvetic militia on 24 November 1798. Grab 2003 provides an overview of Switzerland for the period from the French Revolution in 1789 to establishment of the Helvetic Republic on 12 April 1798. From 1799 to 1801, Jomini was attached to the Swiss War Ministry under General Keller. On 23 April 1800, Jomini was promoted to the rank of the chef de bataillon. Coppens 2001 gives details on recruitment, organization, and general participation of the Swiss troops when, in 1799, Switzerland became a theater of the War of the Second Coalition. The First and Second Battles of Zurich, 4–7 June and 25–26 September 1799, respectively, as explained by Hennequin 1911, did much to induce the Russians to clear Switzerland and eventually leave the Second Coalition in 1800. After the Peace of Lunéville, 1801, Jomini quit service and accepted a position at the Delpont firm, a manufacturer specializing in military equipment.

Coppens, Bernard. “Les demi-brigades auxiliaries helvétiques, 1798–1805.” Tradition Magazine 170 (September 2001): 11–13.
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Explains the organization, structure, and culture of command of the Swiss troops in the service of the French Revolution.
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Grab, Alexander. Napoléon and the Transformation of Europe. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
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Analyzes, along with those of other major European countries, the political, administrative, and military status of Swiss cantons and French influence. Very useful material for undergraduate studies in European history.
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Hennequin, Louis. Zurich: Masséna en Suisse, Messidor an VII–Brumaire an VII (juillet–octobre 1799). Paris: Librarie Militaire Berger-Levrault, 1911.
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Explains in detail the campaign of the French General Andre Masséna against combined Austro-Russian forces in 1799 and two decisive battles in Zurich. Available online by subscription.
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From Reading to Writings

According to Alger 1994, in 1802–1803 Jomini began reading extensively the works of the major military thinkers of the period of the Enlightenment, such as Puységur 1714 and Guilbert 1772. However, after reading Bülow 1797, where the latter approached military science with a mathematical formalism, Jomini abandoned studies based on pure mathematical calculations. Analyzing Bülow 1797, which first influenced Jomini, Howard 1965 concluded that Bülow, a German theorist, belonged to the “classical school of military theorists who sought in the chaos of war for clear, consistent, interdependent principles as to guide to understanding and action.” (p. 9) Jomini then decided to substantiate his didactic essay by retelling the campaigns of the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) and by contrasting them with the early campaigns of the French Revolution. By the end of 1804 Jomini had finished his first two volumes of the Treatise on Grand Military Operations (see Selected Major Works), and by mid-1805, one of Napoléon’s marshals, Michel Ney, helped him to publish this work. Later on, as per Ney’s request, Jomini was appointed his aide-de-camp for the upcoming campaign against forces of the Third Coalition, 1805.

Alger, A. John. A.-H. Jomini: A Bibliographical Survey. Rev. ed. Washington, DC: National Defense University, 1994.
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This small, privately published pamphlet presents a one-of-a-kind chronological bibliographical survey of all available works of Jomini published in French, English, German, Spanish, and Polish over a period of two hundred years. The Russian titles are omitted but mentioned in the bibliography.
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Bülow, Heinrich von. Geist des neueren Kriegssystems. Berlin: n.p., 1797.
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The author composed his essay by reducing military art to mathematical rules for the practice of war conducted by great generals of the 18th century, ignoring friction, the “human factor,” and maneuvering of their armies.
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Guilbert, Jacques-Antoine Hippolite de. Essai de tactique générale. Paris: n.p., 1772.
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Discusses the tactical capabilities of the French army, with an emphasis on the army’s place within the society, and proposes further reforms.
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Howard, Michael, ed. The Theory and Practice of War. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1965.
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First emphasized the influence of Enlightenment military thinkers on Jomini’s theoretical writing. An excellent work to study military history to begin with.
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Puységur, Jacques. Art de la Guerre. Paris: n.p., 1714.
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An essay based on the personal experience, which summarizes the warfare and the military art during the late wars of Louis XIV.
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The Napoleonic Wars, Campaigns 1805–1807

Jomini was appointed volunteer aide-de-camp on 3 September 1805, and he accompanied Marshal Michel Ney’s 6th Corps at the battles of Elchingen and Ulm in October 1805. There, Jomini experienced a unique opportunity to observe the modern warfare that he had studied. On 27 December 1805, Jomini was promoted to the adjudant-commandant rank (Colonel on Staff duty). As per Quintin and Quintin 1996, Jomini became one of fourteen officers under the age of thirty who attained this rank (held by 246 officers in total) during the First Empire. Next, Jomini took part in the campaign against Prussia in 1806, during which he composed a small brochure, L’art de la guerre (Jomini 1806, cited under Selected Major Works). Petre 1901 and Petre 1907 deny his direct participation in battles. Jomini also took part in the 1807 campaign against the Russians, for which he was decorated with the Legion of Honor. Blaming his health, Jomini temporarily retired from the active service. Chardonnens 2007 compares the battles at Iéna and Eylau from the strategic point of view. Paret 2009 addresses the impact of 1806 on Jomini and Carl von Clausewitz, who both sought a new theoretical understanding of war.

Chardonnens, Alain. Les batailles de Iéna (1806) et d’Eylau (1807) racontées par le général Antoine-Henri Jomini. Geneva, Switzerland: Société suisse d’Études napoléonniennes, 2007.
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Campaigns and tactical operations against Prussia in 1806 and the Russians in 1807, as later on would be explained in Jomini’s classic works.
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Paret, Peter. The Cognitive Challenge of War: Prussia 1806. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009.
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The author analyzes the impact of Napoléon’s 1806 campaign and explains how Jomini developed his theoretical understanding of war. Good supplementary reading on military history and the culture of war for graduate seminars.
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Petre, Loraine. Napoléon’s Campaign in Poland, 1806–7: A Military History of Napoléon’s First War with Russia, Verified from Unpublished Official Documents. London: Low, Marston, 1901.
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An operational history of the major battles against the combined Russo-Prussian forces, including two pitched battles at Eylau and Friedland.
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Petre, Loraine. Napoléon’s Conquest of Prussia, 1806. New York: John Lane, 1907.
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A classical operational history narrative on the war of Napoléon against Prussia.
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Quintin, Danielle, and Bernard Quintin. Dictionnaire des colonels de Napoléon. Paris: S.P.M., 1996.
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A biographical compendium of all high officers who attained the rank of colonel during the Napoleonic Wars.
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Campaign in Spain, 1808–1809

At the beginning of September 1808, Marshal Ney’s 6th Corps was summoned to join the Army of Spain. Jomini, as Ney’s chief of staff, was present at all major maneuvers and engagements on 5–25 November at Vitoria, Burgos, and Soria. At this time, the first tensions between the Marshal Ney and his chief of staff began to develop. As discussed in Lecomte 1860 (cited under General Overviews), intrigues around Ney persuaded the marshal that Jomini in fact was “manipulating” him instead of being grateful for his patronage. Bonnal 1910–1914 denies these allegations and states that the relationship of Marshal Ney and his aide-de-camp Jomini were strictly professional. Although they continued serving together, Ney delicately got rid of Jomini. As revealed by Chuquet 1911, in June 1809, Ney sent Jomini to Napoléon in Vienna with reports on the internal situation in northwest Spain. Shortly after his departure, Ney sent another messenger from Spain with the request for Jomini’s reassignment to another duties After the Battle of Wagram, 5–6 July 1809, Jomini returned with Napoléon’s headquarters to Paris. On 27 July 1808, Jomini was awarded the Baron’s title of the French Empire. In November 1809, Jomini was sent to serve at the French War Ministry.

Bonnal, Henri. La vie militaire du maréchal Ney, duc d’Elchingen, prince de la Moscowa. 3 vols. Paris: Chapelot, 1910–1914.
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The author provides the extensive biography of the French marshal Michel Ney, along with his personal life, career, and relationships with his fellow officers. Further, he briefly touches on relationships between Ney and Jomini, while obviously not in favor of the latter.
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Chuquet, Arthur. Ordres et apostiles de Napoléon, 1799–1815. Paris: H. Champion, 1911.
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This compendium contains rare documents, most of which were not included in the 32 volumes of Napoléon’s correspondence published in Paris between 1858 and 1870.
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The General Staff and Marshal Berthier, 1810–1812

Jomini married Adélaïde Charlotte Rose (b. 1786–d. 1871); the couple produced five children. As Mertzalov and Mertzalov 1999 (cited under General Overviews) reveals, in the spring of 1810 the Russians officially approached Jomini with a proposal of his transfer to the tsar’s service with a general officer’s rank. Thrilled by Napoléon’s attention, however, Jomini declined. At that time, Jomini assumed his service on the General Staff and on 7 December 1810 was promoted to brigadier general. As defined by Thiébault 1801, “Staff is the aggregate of officers who pursuant to the nature of their respective functions are appointed to transmit the orders addressed to them by the Commander-in-chief” (p. 11). Philip 1912 claims that by the end of 1811, Napoléon’s chief of staff, Marshal Berthier, established a staff that was responsive to the management of the vast Grande Armée while retaining the flexibility necessary to meet changing situations in the course of the upcoming campaign. Paul 1946 provides general characteristic of staff work and the importance of a war archives (depot). Rothenberg 1978 claims that the French staff was superior to that of its opponents until 1812. As narrated by Pigeard 1993, the administrative section of the staff was divided into three subdivisions, responsible for daily orders, for lodging and substance, and for government laws and decrees. This last subdivision, the administrative section of the staff, was led by Brigadier General Bailly de Monthyon. It was this exact general officer under whose orders Jomini continued his military career. According to Margueron 1897, on 29 January 1812, Napoléon approved the composition and nomination for the General Staff proposed to him by Marshal Berthier. By the new provision, the French emperor put Brigadier General Jomini in charge of history. Lecomte 1860 and Courville 1935 (both cited under General Overviews) as well as Hittle 1961 claimed that Marshal Berthier clearly blocked access for Jomini to the important information due to his jealousy of the talented Swiss. Elting 1989 (also cited under General Overviews), however, dethroned this myth, stating that the Jomini-Berthier relationship was just professional by its nature and did not extend to any personal aversion of one toward another. This was also confirmed by several memoirs of Napoléon’s contemporaries. By March 1812, Jomini was compelled to drop his historical studies and join the marching columns of the Grande Armée, which was marching east, toward the Russian border, to a war.

Hittle, D. James. The Military Staff: Its History and Development. Harrisburg, PA: Praeger, 1975.
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Gives a short overview on the history of the French staff system, but unjustifiably calls Jomini a professional staff officer.
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Margueron, Louis. Campagne en Russie. 4 vols. Paris: Charles-Lavouzlle, 1897.
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The title says it all. This set provides primary archival sources related to the detailed formation of Napoléon’s Grande Armée, including its staff and administrative service, before the Russian campaign of 1812.
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Paul, Pierer. “La bibliothèque du Ministère de la Guerre.” Revue historique de l’armée 2 (1946): 118–126.
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Describes the role of the French military archives and library for the use of the officers of Napoléon’s General Staff.
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Philip, Col. Raymond-Marie-Alphonse de. Étude sur le service d’État-major pendant les guerres du Premier Empire. Paris: Chapelot, 1912.
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Explains the internal and external development, hierarchy, and chain of command within the French staff on the army, corps, and divisional levels from the Old Regime to the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras.
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Pigeard, Alain. L’armée napoléonniene. Paris: Tallandier, 1993.
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The best modern French source on the Napoléon’s army available, but lacks critical analysis. The volume contains carefully selected pictorial material from world-renowned museums.
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Rothenberg, Gunther E. The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoléon. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1978.
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A good assemblage of memories and English-language sources on Napoleonic warfare. Completely underestimates the Russian army’s military achievements that crushed Napoléon in 1812. Overall, good for general undergraduate-level reading.
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Thiébault, Paul. Manuel des adjudans-généraux et des adjoints employés dans les etats-majors-divisionnaires des armées. Paris: Chez Magimel, 1801.
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A contemporary manual on staff and administrative work, based on the author’s personal experience in 1797–1800.
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Napoléon’s Russian Campaign, 1812

At the beginning of the Russian campaign, Napoléon appointed Jomini the head of the historical research section of the army, but on 5 July 1812 reappointed him to an administrative post as the military governor of Vilna, as explained in Dundulis 1940. The primary concerns of the new Lithuanian government and Jomini, as Vilna’s appointed governor, were military and administrative issues. But as Jurgêla 1948 explains, the local population, which first enthusiastically met the French army, soon grew disappointed, for they saw the increasing number of demanding requisitions for money and provisions while not always having appropriate means. However, Jomini lacked the administrative skills necessary to effectively manage the city and vicinity. According to Kydrinsky 1912, Vilna at that time was a small provisional town with very limited resources. As per Fain 1827, Jomini had also complained to Napoléon that he was not suitable for such a position. Furthermore, the position of Jomini was soon challenged by the arrival of Dirk van Hogendorp, who was appointed by Napoléon as the general governor of Lithuania (see van Hogendorp 1887). Based on Lecomte 1860 and Courville 1935 (both cited under General Overviews), Jomini and van Hogendorp equally disliked one another, and to preserve a status quo, Napoléon transferred Jomini to a new post, military commandant of the city of Smolensk. As Popov 2002 analyzes, Jomini continued his efforts to collect provisions and send various marching columns and trains with food supplies to Moscow. The Grande Armée left the ancient Russian capital in the early morning of 19 October 1812. During the retreat, Jomini was, once again, assigned to Napoléon’s General Staff. He took part in the reconnaissance and discovered several fords across through the Berezina River, which compelled Napoléon, according to Ségur 1826, finally to choose the Studianka stream as the place for the crossing. Information provided by Jomini earlier about possible roads in that area also served as an important motivation for this decision. This saved the remnants of the Grande Armée. After much ado, Jomini returned to Paris in the middle of January 1813.

Dundulis, Bronus. Napoléon et la Lituanie en 1812. Paris: Alcan, 1940.
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One of the rare accounts of the French presence in Lithuania in 1812, and the role of Jomini as the military governor. The author used a lot of the French and Polish documents stored in the Warsaw war archive, which, unfortunately, were all destroyed during the 1944 uprising.
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Fain, Agathon. Manuscript de 1812. Paris: Delaunay, 1827.
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The author, who at that time was Napoléon’s personal secretary and archivist, narrates, albeit not always impartially, the ill-carried Russian campaign as he saw it from his master’s headquarters.
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Jurgêla, R. Constantine. History of the Lithuanian Nation. New York: Lithuanian Cultural Institute, 1948.
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A general history of Lithuanian lands and the 1812 French and Russian occupation, as seen from the modern nationalist prospective.
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Kydrinsky, Oleg. Vilna v 1812 gody. Vilna, Lithuania: n.p., 1912.
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Gives a brief but concise account as to what the city of Vilna (modern-day Vilnius) was like during the Napoléon’s 1812 invasion. (Title translates as Vilna in 1812.)
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Popov, Andrey. Velikaya armia v Rossii: Pogonya za mirazom. Samara, Russia: Izdatel’stvo NTC, 2002.
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Explains in detail the role of the administrative service on the French lines of communications in 1812, including its difficulties and problems in high command. (Title translates as The Grande Armée in Russia: In pursuit of a mirage.)
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Ségur, Count Philippe-Paul, de. Histoire de Napoléon et de la Grande Armée en 1812. 2 vols. Paris: Baudouin frères, 1826.
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Gives close account of the author’s own experience while being part of Napoléon’s inner circle during the campaign. A thrilling read, but biased and apologetic.
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van Hogendorp, Count Dirk C. A., ed. and publisher. Mémoires du général Dirk van Hogendorp, comte de l’Empire. Paris: La Haye, 1887.
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Van Hogendorp’s own account of his Lithuanian governorship and his personal and professional relations with Jomini.
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1813 Decision

On 4 May 1813, Jomini was appointed as the new chief of staff of the 3rd Corps under Marshal Ney, his former superior in 1805–1808. He assisted Marshal Ney in a flanking maneuver during the Battle of Bautzen, 20–22 May 1813, but his role, as outlined in Courville 1935, Baqué 1994, and Mertzalov and Mertzalov 1999 (all cited under General Overviews), was not as great as it was usually presented by scholars, historians, and writers who relied mostly on Jomini’s biography first produced by Lecomte 1860 (also cited under General Overviews). Koch 1909 gives a detailed narrative of the 3rd Corps operational history in May–August 1813. Analyzing primary sources, Foucart 1897, Petre 1912, and Nafziger 1992 suggest that the direct involvement of Jomini in military planning and actual participation was limited. After the Battle of Bautzen, Jomini was suggested for a promotion to the rank of general of the division but was deprived of it based on his administrative negligence. Jomini, however, did receive the officer’s cross of the Legion of Honour, according to an existing decree signed by Napoléon on 10 August 1813. Apparently unaware of his decoration and getting more upset, especially when he was reprimanded for neglecting his duties, Jomini, during the proposed armistice, decided on a final step. On the morning of 14 August 1813, Jomini crossed the front line and asked to be directed to the headquarters of Russian Tsar Alexander I. Note that he was a Swiss in the French service and he had also carried an official letter-patent of lieutenant general in the Russian army since 1810. It was, however, neither that he had “no real sense of loyalty to anyone but Jomini,” p. 249, as suggested by Elting 1989 (cited under General Overviews), nor that “Jomini’s main purpose was always to serve military science, no matter where,” p. 30, as Mertzalov and Mertzalov 1999 (also cited under General Overviews) put it. Las Cases 1957 suggests that Jomini’s decision to defect from one army in favor of another was dictated by his personal preference and did not reflect any political color. Vovsi 2011 reexamines these notions and suggests that Jomini saw the negative outcome of the events of 1813, where Napoléon paid the price of his major political miscalculation of the 1812 war in both Russia and Spain. Bogdanovich 1863 gives, however, a very modest estimate to Jomini’s value as a staff officer while noting his arrogance. After his defection to the Allies, Jomini was given the rank of lieutenant general in the Russian service and was attached to the tsar’s personal suite. He took part in the Battle of Kulm, 30 August 1813, and the Battle of Leipzig, 15–18 October 1813. However, he decided not to continue his military service further because he considered his own participation against France unacceptable. Furthermore, after disagreement regarding the intervention in France and of the Austrian violation of Swiss neutrality, Jomini left the Russian service at the beginning of 1814.

Bogdanovich, Modest. Istoria voini 1813 goda za nezavisimost’ Germanii. 2 vols. St. Petersburg, Russia: n.p., 1863.
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Analysis of the campaign of 1813 from the Russian point of view that is not free of bias but, nonetheless, gives an accurate picture of a war against Napoléon. (Title translates as History of 1813 war fought for liberation of Germany.)
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Foucart, Paul-Jean. Bautzen, 20–21 mai 1813. Paris: Berger-Levrault, 1897.
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Detailed, day-by-day narrative of the Battle of Bautzen based on the French army staff’s primary documentation and correspondence among its leading agents.
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Koch, Capt. Jean-Baptiste. Journal des opérations des 3rd and 5th corps en 1813. Paris: F. Teissedre, 1909.
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The author, who was an aide-de-camp of Jomini in 1813, gives a detailed account of the campaign in Germany at that time.
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Las Cases, Emmanuel Augustin, Comte de. Le Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène. Paris: Bibl. La Prélade, 1957.
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Provides an assessment of Jomini—and many other contemporaries—by Napoléon, when the latter was exiled at St. Helena, 1815–1821.
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Nafziger, F. George. Lutzen and Bautzen: Napoléon’s Spring Campaign of 1813. Chicago: Emperor’s Press, 1992.
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The author reinterprets and reevaluates historical narratives of the 1813 campaign, as outlined by the leading French military historians. A serious study for beginners in military history.
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Petre, Loraine. Napoléon’s Last Campaign in Germany 1813. London: J. Lane, 1912.
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One of the first modern English evaluations of the campaign and Jomini’s role in it; based primarily on French and German sources.
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Vovsi, M. Eman. General Antoine-Henri de Jomini in 1812–1813: A New Retrospective View. n.p.: Lambert Academic, 2011.
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The author reexamines anew well-known facts of Jomini’s biography that are mostly based on Jomini’s own recollections, which he narrated to his numerous admirers and biographers during his later days. Special emphasis is given to 1812 and 1813, explaining his motives of defection from French to Russian service.
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Alexander I

As Palmer 1974 first stated and Lieven 2010 concurred, it was Russian Tsar Alexander I whose empire outmatched Napoléon’s First Empire—administratively, politically, economically, and, in the end, militarily. As Nicolson 1974 narrates, Jomini accompanied Tsar Alexander I to the Congress of Vienna, 1815, where he was looking to secure the liberties of Switzerland against the rapacity of Austrian diplomacy. While in Paris with Alexander I, he opposed the execution of Marshal Ney, his former superior. However, as per Reichel 1982 and Langendorf 2002 (cited under General Overviews), toward the end of Alexander I’s reign, Jomini lived mostly in France, visiting and living in St. Petersburg on several occasions, in 1817–1819 and in 1821–1824, where he was entrusted to work, among other Russian historians, on Alexander I’s campaign against Napoléon. In 1823, Jomini was made a full general on the Russian service and received many Russian high military awards. Jomini assisted Alexander I at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818 (which decided the withdrawal of the army of occupation from France) and at the Congress of Verona in 1822. During the period from 1820 to 1824, Jomini published his Critical and Military History of the Wars of the Revolution (see English Translations) in 15 volumes.

Lieven, Dominique. Russia Against Napoléon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace. New York: Viking Adult, 2010.
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The author suggests that while Napoléon may have been a battlefield genius, Russian Tsar Alexander I showed greater diplomatic skill in bringing together the coalition that eventually defeated him. A good definitive revision of the traditional Western interpretation.
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Nicolson, Harold. The Congress of Vienna: A Study in Allied Unity, 1812–1822. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1974.
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The narrative holds throughout the negotiations in the Austrian capital, where the major European powers struggled to both restore a lost Old order and ensure a stable future.
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Palmer, Alan. Alexander I: Tsar of War and Peace. London: Weidenfield, and Nicholson, 1974.
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The classical work on the Russian tsar as a man, politician, military commander, and skillful diplomat.
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Reichel, Daniel. “La position du général Jomini en tant qu’expert militaire à la cour de Russie.” Actes du Symposium 1982 1 (1982): 59–75.
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Gives brief points of Jomini’s service in Russia, primarily based on the later letters and interviews with historians, and numerous visitors.
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Nicholas I

In 1826, Jomini went to Russia to take part in the coronation of the new Russian tsar, Nicholas I (ruled 1825–1855). On the accession of Nicholas I to the throne, Jomini was well received at the Russian court and gained the complete confidence of the new tsar. Jomini participated as an advisor to the Russian General Staff in the war between Russia and Turkey in 1828–1829 and in the Crimean War, 1853–1856. However, since 1830, because of his health, Jomini had lived mostly in Paris and in the south of Europe, being recalled, from time to time, to Russia’s service. In 1836, Jomini was appointed tutor to the Russian crown prince, the future Tsar Alexander II (1855–1881), to whom he taught the elements of strategy and tactics. As Shy 1986 and Alger 1994 (cited under From Reading to Writings) both reveal, at the suggestion of Tsar Nicholas I, Jomini combined his various works on the principles of war into Summary of the Art of War, published in English in 1854 (see English Translations), which shows that Jomini had been moved to reconsider some of his own ideas.

Shy, John. “Jomini.” In Markers of Modern Strategy: From Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age. Edited by Peter Paret with Gordon A. Craig and Felix Gilbert, 143–185. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1986.
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Examines biography and general military thoughts of Jomini through the prism of the European art of war. Good supplementary reading for both graduate and undergraduate levels.
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The Russian Academy and His Final Years

Towards the end of Alexander I’s reign, Jomini was made president of a committee for organizing the Military Academy, which was opened in 1832. It was first known as the Imperial Military Academy, but in 1855 it was renamed as Nicholas Academy on General Staff. According to Glinoyetsky 1882, Jomini offered courses on drawing, military history from Louis XIV to the present, didactic literature on military subjects, and general tactics and strategy. Jomini and his team had also prepared by-laws for the future academy. Hittle 1961 gives a very brief overview of the Russian Military Academy and emphasizes the role of Jomini as narrated by his biographers. After the opening, however, Jomini was appointed only as an honorary member. By 1840, Jomini had left Russia, and he settled first in Switzerland, and in 1848, in Brussels. He briefly visited Russia in 1854, but after the defeat of Russia in the Crimean war, left Russia for good and in 1860 settled in Paris, where he died on 22 March 1869, at the age of 90.

Glinoyetsky, Nicholas. A Historical Notes of the Russia’s Nicholas Academy on General Staff. St. Petersburg, Russia: n.p., 1882.
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Pioneering work which explores the origin, development, successes, and failures of the Academy from its origin to the end of the 19th century and the role of Jomini as one of the principle organizers. In Russian.
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Hittle, James. The Military Staff: Its History and Development. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole, 1961.
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The author compares and contrasts various military staff systems, especially French and Russian during the post-Napoleonic time, but incorrectly assumes that Jomini was a career staff officer.
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Jomini the American

Gat 1992 states that at the Napoleonic Club, founded at West Point, NY, in 1848, officers met to discuss Napoléon’s campaigns, largely through the medium of Jomini. As Gat quotes Major-General George B. McClellan, Jomini was “the ablest of military writers and the first author in any age who gathered from the campaigns of the great generals the true principles of war” (Gat 1992, p. 20). Robert E. Lee also assembled a small private library of Jomini’s original works in French. In 1971, Jomini’s major work, The Art of War, translated by Capt. G. H. Mendell and Lieut. W. P. Graighill in 1862 (see English Translations), appeared as a selection of the West Point Military Library series of reprints. Colson 1993 explains, in general terms, the overall influence of Jomini’s military thought upon European and American armies. However, the defeat of France during the Franco-Prussian War (1870) sufficiently undermined interest in Napoléon temporarily in favor of Clausewitz. The rediscovery of Jomini in the United States could be partly attributed to Col. John R. Elting (Elting 1989, cited under General Overviews). In Jominian Principles and Civil War Strategy, Leslie J. Rodman explains the role of Jomini studies in the development of Civil War strategies as analyzed by modern historians, especially Shy 1986 (cited under Clausewitz).

Colson, Bruno. La culture stratégique américaine: L’influence de Jomini. Bibliothèque stratégique. Paris: Economica, 1993.
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Discusses American military thought and the influence of the theoretical works of Jomini.
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Gat, Azar. The Development of Military Thought: The Nineteenth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.
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While focusing on general conceptions of war, strategy, and military theory which were developed in the Western countries in the period, the author has dedicated a special chapter to Jomini’s influence on US military thought. Gives a short bibliographical list of contemporary articles related to Jomini and the American Civil War.
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Rodman, J. Leslie. Jominian Principles and Civil War Strategy.
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Discusses whether or not Jominian principles worked during the American Civil War and places the emphasis on the issues of federalism and industrial innovations.
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Clausewitz

In comparison to Jomini’s invariable military formulations, Clausewitz, who was more aware of complexity and variety, created rather an operational manual for contemporary warfare in Clausewitz 1832, in which he reinforced Jomini’s notions on the massive, offensive use of the armies. The theories in Jomini 1838 (cited under Selected Major Works) discuss war mainly as an autonomous process which occurs within a more or less fixed geographical region and, generally, as an ideal engagement of the two opposing forces without regard to the political, economic, moral, and other factors surrounding any military conflict. Shy 1986 illustrates the important characterizations in Clausewitz 1832 that war is extremely complex in reality, and theory could only illuminate its complexity; war is highly political and must be approached as such when one’s considering all factors. Both Brodie 1949 and Paret 1965 are convinced that Jomini tried to reduce warfare to a simple set of rules and mathematical proportions. As Paret 1976 further explains, Clausewitz disagreed with a number of Jomini’s historical judgments, as he found fallacies in the latter’s theory and practical knowledge of war. Bassford 1993 presents a comparative analysis of Jomini and Clausewitz and emphasizes the “return” of Jomini.

Bassford, Christopher. Jomini and Clausewitz: Their Interaction. Atlanta: Consortium on Revolutionary Europe Press, 1993.
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The author suggests that, although, Clausewitz’s works and ideas prevailed at some point, the “return” of Jomini was justified by admitting the complexity of Clausewitz’s idea, which became obsolete soon after the death of the Prussian theoretician in 1831 versus Jomini’s precision and clarity and the fact that he lived long enough to see the fruits of his own writings. Good reading for both undergraduate and graduate classes.
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Brodie, Bernard. “Strategy as a Science.” World Politics 1 (1949): 467–488.
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Discusses the development of political and state influence on military history.
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Clausewitz, Carl Philipp Gottfried, von. Vom Kriege. Berlin: n.p., 1832.
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The major purpose of this book was to argue that war is not premised on invariable principles but rather is composed of political objectives. A must-read for any social science graduate/undergraduate. (Title translates as On war.)
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Paret, Peter. Clausewitz and the State. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976.
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Still the most reliable account on Clausewitz’s biography in the English-speaking world. A must-read for any graduate and undergraduate interested in the development of military thought.
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Paret, Peter. “Clausewitz and the Nineteenth Century.” In The Theory and Practice of War. Edited by Howard, Michael, 21–41. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1965.
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The author provides a full examination against Jomini’s scientific principles and simplistic formulation of war.
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Shy, John. “Jomini.” In Markers of Modern Strategy: From Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age. Edited by Peter Paret, Gordon A. Craig, and Felix Gilbert, 143–185. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1986.
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Agrees that in the eternal dispute between Jomini and Clausewitz, by the 1870s, Jomini had already won their personal “duel.”
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Military Principles

In Wilkinson 1915, Jomini’s object was to find out—by comparison of Napoléon’s campaigns with those of Frederick the Great—the principles of action which were common to them both and might, therefore, be of universal validity. Influenced by his military experience, Jomini acknowledged that the war was a horrible and devastating scene, but then he aimed to impose system throughout the principles of strategy. The key to maneuvers was the choice of the line of operations, in particular a line designed to cover the security of an army’s base and, at the same time, to allow mass to be concentrated at the decisive point. Jomini distinguished between “interior lines”—based on the ability to occupy a central position between two converging armies and deal with each successfully; and “exterior lines,” or envelopment. He saw the former as safer and preferable. Jomini thus became the interpreter of Napoléon’s art of war for subsequent generations, the man who tried to unlock the secrets of the French emperor’s strategic genius and tactical capabilities. Shy 1986 confirms that Jomini’s “principles” of war at this time were, as they are now in their various modern versions, prescriptions for making strategic choices. As per Gat 1989, Jomini developed his military concepts in light of Napoléon’s practical strategy and tactical capabilities.

Gat, Azar. The Origins of Military Thought: From the Enlightenment to Clausewitz. Oxford: Clarendon, 1989.
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The author dedicates a separate chapter to Jomini by explaining how the latter synthesized mid-18th-century “positional warfare” legacy with the more advanced and aggressive “Napoleonic warfare” of the early 19th century.
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Shy, John. “Jomini.” In Markers of Modern Strategy: From Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age. Edited by Peter Paret with Gordon A. Craig and Felix Gilbert, 143–185. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1986.
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Explains Jomini’s general mode of thinking about the military art, which combined the new “Napoleonic” type of warfare, aimed at amassing the forces and winning a decisive battle, with the older “positional” type of warfare. Good addition to graduate reading.
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Wilkinson, Spenser. The French Army Before Napoléon. Oxford: Clarendon, 1915.
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Discusses organization, development, and military thought in the French army of the Old Regime and early years of the French Revolution. A good general read.