Hippolyte Langlois (; 3 August 1839 – 12 February 1912) was a French

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

noted for his writings on

military science Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mi ...

Biography

He was born at

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.École polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

, was appointed to the artillery as sub-lieutenant in 1858, attaining the rank of captain in 1866. He served in the army of

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. Eight years later he became major, in 1887 lieutenant-colonel and in 1888 colonel. At this time he was appointed professor of artillery at the École de Guerre, and in this post he devoted himself to working out the tactical principles of the employment of

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the ear ...

under the new conditions of armament of which he foresaw the advent. Examples included the then developing quick-firing artillery for which he recommended tactics such as the

rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range ...

Gaberiel Rouquered (tr. P. de B. Radcliffe) The Tactical Employment of Quick-firing Field Artillery pub: Hugh Rees London 190

/ref> The public result of his work was the great treatise ''L’Artillerie de campagne'' (1891–1902), which may still he regarded as the classic of the arm. In 1894 he became general of brigade, and in 1898

general of division Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French Revolutionary System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...

. For two years after this he was the commandant of the École de guerre at the time that the modern French strategic and tactical doctrine was being developed and taught. He was, however, regarded as a leader as well as a theorist, and in 1901 he was selected to command the XX Corps on the German frontier, popularly called the Iron Corps. In 1902 he became a member of the

Conseil supérieur de la Guerre The Conseil supérieur de la guerre (, ''Superior War Council'', abbr. CSG) was the highest military body in France under the Third French Republic, Third Republic. It was under the presidency of the Minister of War (France), Minister of War, althou ...

, consisting of senior generals marked out for the higher commands in war. He retired from the active list in 1904 on reaching the age limit, and devoted himself with the greatest energy to critical military literature. In 1907 he began the publication of a monthly journal of military art and history, the '' Revue militaire generale''. In 1911 he was elected to seat 32 in the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. The most important of his other works are ''Enseignements de deux guerres récentes'' and ''Conséquences tactiques du progrès de l’armement''.

Notes

External links

Académie page for Langlois
* French Wikipedia entry for Hippolyte Langlois * http://www.ecole-superieure-de-guerre.fr/langlois.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Langlois, Hippolyte 1839 births 1912 deaths Military personnel from Besançon French generals French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War French military writers École Polytechnique alumni Members of the Académie Française Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour French male non-fiction writers Senators of Meurthe-et-Moselle