Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban (May 15, 1633 - March 30, 1707), Marshal of France[?], was the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for both his ability to design fortifications and to break through them.
He was born in Saint-Léger-de-Foucheret (renamed Saint Léger Vauban[?] in his honor), in the departement of Yonne, in Burgundy, France, into a family of minor nobility.
Between 1667 to 1707, Vauban upgraded the fortifications of around 300 cities, including:
He built 37 new fortresses, and fortified military harbors, including:
He died in Paris, of an inflammation of the lungs.
De l'attaque et de la défense des places ("On Siege and Fortification") (1737, many reprints since).
A Manual of Siegecraft and Fortification, transl. George A. Rothrock, (Ann Arbor, 1968).
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