Jean Ernest Ducos de La Hitte, Viscount, was born on 5 September 1789 in Bessières (

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's ...

), and died on 22 September 1878 in Gragnague (

). He was a French major general, Senator, Foreign Minister, and the implementer of the

La Hitte system LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

of rifled guns in 1858. He entered the Ecole Polytechnique in 1807. He fought in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

as an artillery lieutenant, in the campaigns of 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813 and 1814. He was in particular noticed at the siege of Cadiz. He became Brigadier general on 22 February 1829, at 39 years of age. One year after (1830), he commanded the artillery in Africa during the capture of

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. He was President of the Artillery committee during the

Revolution of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

. He became

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...

from November 1849 until 9 January 1851. He created the

of rifled

muzzle-loading A muzzleloader is any firearm into which the projectile and the propellant charge is loaded from the muzzle of the gun (i.e., from the forward, open end of the gun's barrel). This is distinct from the modern (higher tech and harder to make) design ...

guns in 1858:Franck Taylor
'' Rifled Field Pieces: A Short Compilation of what is Known of the New Field''
1862, p. 32

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ducos de La Hitte, Jean-Ernest 19th-century French diplomats French Army officers 1789 births 1878 deaths French Foreign Ministers 19th-century French military personnel French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars École Polytechnique alumni