Hans Herzog was a Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 army officer, and was elected Switzerland's General

General (Switzerland)

The General is an office and rank in the armed forces of Switzerland. It is held by the commander-in-chief of the Army in time of war only. Under the Swiss Constitution, he must be elected by the Federal Assembly, assembled as the United Federal Assembly, specifically for the purpose of taking...

 during the Franco-Prussian War

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...

.

Born in Aarau

Aarau

Aarau is the capital of the northern Swiss canton of Aargau. The city is also the capital of the district of Aarau. It is German-speaking and predominantly Protestant. Aarau is situated on the Swiss plateau, in the valley of the Aar, on the river's right bank, and at the southern foot of the Jura...

, he became an artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 lieutenant in 1840, and then spent six years in travelling (visiting England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 among other countries), before he became a partner in his father's business in 1846. In 1847 he saw his first active service (as artillery captain) in the short Swiss Sonderbund

Sonderbund

The Sonderbund War of November 1847 was a civil war in Switzerland. It ensued after seven Catholic cantons formed the Sonderbund in 1845 in order to protect their interests against a centralization of power...

 war.

In 1860 he abandoned mercantile pursuits for a purely military career, becoming colonel and inspector-general of the Swiss artillery. In 1870 he was commander-in-chief of the Swiss army, which guarded the Swiss border, in the Jura

Jura mountains

The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...

, during the Franco-German War, and in February 1871, as such, concluded the Convention of Verrières with General Clinchant

Justin Clinchant

Justin Clinchant was a French Army general, entered the army from St Cyr in 1841.From 1847 to 1852 he was employed in the Algerian campaigns, and in 1854 and 1855 in the Crimea. At the assault on the Malakoff he greatly distinguished himself at the head of a battalion...

 for the disarming and the interning

Armée de l'Est

The Armée de l'Est was a French army which took part in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71...

 of the remains of Bourbaki

Charles Denis Bourbaki

Charles Denis Sauter Bourbaki was a French general.He was born at Pau, the son of Greek colonel Constantin Denis Bourbaki, who died in the War of Independence in 1827...

's army, when it took refuge in Switzerland.

In 1875 he became the commander-in-chief of the Swiss artillery, which he did much to reorganize, helping also in the reorganization of the other branches of the Swiss army. He died in 1894 in his native town of Aarau.