Jean Jules Henri Mordacq (12 January 1868 – 14 April 1943) was a French general. During his early years as a captain he was the sabre champion of the French Army's officer corps. In World War I, he was a frontline commander of initially the , then the 90th Brigade, and finally the , in the process being wounded twice on the battlefield. In 1918 and the Paris Peace Conference, he was a close aide to Clemenceau. Early career Mordacq's military career began as a lieutenant in French Algeria before joining the Foreign Legion's 1st Foreign Regiment 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 Joseph Gallieni and Hubert Lyautey. He returned to Algeria for a year and then studied in Paris at the École de guerre to become a staff officer. He then became known for his military writing advocating reforms from the military schools to tactical warfare. He became chief of staff of Georges Picquart's 10th Infantry Division. 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 École 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 École 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 École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1912. He trained the future lieutenants and captains who would lead the French units in combat at the start of World War I. First World War 1914 In August 1914, Mordacq was chief of staff of general Archinard's 1st Reserve Corps Group in the Eastern Army. When the Germans breached the French lines through Belgium, he asked for a frontline command and became commander of the famous . He immediately partook in the Battle of the Frontiers and his regiment participated in ending the German advance in the Vosges before the First Battle of the Marne led to the Race to the Sea. He then took command of the