Louis de Cormontaigne

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Louis de Cormontaigne (* 1695 in Strasbourg , † October 20, 1752 in Metz ) was a French fortress builder Louis XV. and Field Marshal.

Life

Pont de Cormontaigne, Pont-écluse Sud, one of the two historical defensible bridges over the Canal des fortifications in Thionville ; Moselle, France
Porte de Sarrelouis (Thionville)

Louis de Cormontaigne is an important representative of the baroque fortress construction in the Holy Roman Empire . He also made a name for himself with the construction of military administration buildings. He improved the fortress geometry of Vauban by changing the position of the flanks , a larger opening of the bulwark angle and enlarging the ravelin .

Louis de Cormontaigne began his military career as a lieutenant in the infantry and engineer volunteer at the age of 18 during the siege of Landau (1713) and Freiburg as part of the War of the Spanish Succession . He was then admitted to the Military Engineering School. In 1715 he was assigned to Fort Barraux . In 1726 his name appears in Sélestat . Louis de Cormontaigne was appointed lieutenant in 1728 and captain in the Régiment de Navarre in 1729.

In 1728 he arrived in Metz. Marquis Claude François Bidal, 1st marquis d'Asfeld , general director of the fortifications of the empire, entrusted him with the further strengthening of the fortress of Metz through the advance works Double Couronne du Fort Moselle and Belle Croix in the east and north-west. In 1733 he was appointed chief military engineer at Metz. As chief engineer, he led the siege of Philippsburg (1734) and Mont Royal, Trarbach in the War of the Polish Succession . On the site of the ancient amphitheater, in 1737, according to Vauban's plans, he not only built a redoubt on the Seille , a strong bastion in front of the south fortress of Metz, but also the Place Saint-Thiébault, including the cannon foundry and the seat of the artillery headquarters . The redoubt on the Seille in front of the Saint-Thiébault Wall was destroyed in the course of the expansion by the Germans during the establishment of the new Metz train station , built between 1905 and 1908.

The War of the Austrian Succession led him against the Austrian Netherlands in 1744. In 1744 he was appointed Genius Director of Metz (Fort Bellecroix), Thionville and Bitche , whose fortifications he reinforced. In 1745 he was entrusted with the genius direction of the Trois-Évêchés . Between 1746 and 1752 the Ponts-écluse over the Canal des fortifications , two lock bridges in Thionville, one of which is classified as a monument historique, were built on the basis of his designs. The bridge still bears his name today. To further fortify the city, he built the Couronné de Yutz .

He was appointed field marshal on May 10, 1748.

Works

  • Architecture militaire or l'art de fortifier
  • Uvres posthumes de Cormontaigne, ou mémorial pour la fortification, l'attaque et la défense des places , enrichi d'addition, tirées des autres manuscrits de l'auteur, à Paris, nouv. édition 1815, 1822, 1835.
    • Tome 1, Mémorial pour la fortification permanente et passagère.
    • Tome 2, Mémorial pour l'attaque des places.
    • Tome 3, Mémorial pour la defense des places.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ General German Real Encyclopedia for the educated classes. Conversations-Lexikon, 9th original edition, Leipzig, Bibliographisches Institut & FA Brockhaus 1843-48S, 656
  2. ↑ Otto von Czarnowski, Karl Bodmer: The Moselle and its immediate surroundings from Metz to Coblenz Hölscher, 1841, p. 15
  3. ↑ Memorial page ( Memento of the original from July 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of the City of Thionville, accessed July 24, 2016 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thionville.fr
  4. ^ Architecture militaire or l'art de fortifier
  5. ^ Heinrich Adolf von Zastrow, History of the constant fortification
  6. ↑ Gallica: Mémorial de Cormontaingne pour l'attaque des places, ou Recueil fait par ce célèbre ingénieur des préceptes et des méthodes qu'il suivait dans la conduite des sièges, utile à tout militaire employé à l'attaque d'une place. Ouvrage posthume, C. Quien (Berlin), 1803
  7. ^ Gallica: Mémorial pour la défense des places, faisant suite au Mémorial pour l'attaque, ouvrage posthume de Cormontaingne, Barrois l'aîné et fils (Paris), 1806

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Cormontaigne, Louis de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French Baroque architect and fortress builder
DATE OF BIRTH 1695
PLACE OF BIRTH Strasbourg
DATE OF DEATH October 20, 1752
Place of death Metz