Henri Mordacq

Jean Jules Henri Mordacq (12. January 1868 L'Ours Naissance, Clermont-Ferrand – 14. April 1943 Paris) was a French general. He was a close aide to Clemenceau during 1918 and later during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. Prior to these political roles, general Mordacq had been a frontline divisional commander in 1916 and 1917 and was wounded twice on the battlefield. During his early years as a captain he had become the saber champion of the officer corps in the French Army.

Mordacq's early military years as lieutenant were in Algeria before joining the First Regiment of the Foreign Legion in French Indochina in 1893. Fighting off the remaining pirates in Tonkin, he became an intelligence officer during the Colonnes du Nord in 1896 where he met Galliéni and Lyautey. He came back to Algeria for a year and then studied in Paris at the Ecole de Guerre to become a staff officer. He then became known for his military writing pushing for reforms from the military schools to tactical warfare. He became chief of staff of Georges Picquart's 10th Division of Infantry. When Picquart became Secretary of War in Clemenceau's first Government in 1906, he became very influential as Picquart's right hand. He pushed for the nomination of former mentor Ferdinand Foch at the head of the Ecole de guerre before becoming an instructor there in 1910. He gave there the first strategy course in France known as the Cours des maréchaux for it was only open to the top fifteen students at the Ecole de guerre. He came back to the Office of war promoting further reforms. Then Secretary and former comrade at Saint-Cyr Adolphe Messimy nominated him Director-in-second and head of the military classes at the Saint-Cyr Military Academy in 1912. He trained the future lieutenants an captains who would lead the French units in combat at the start of Worle War I.

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