 As a primary inspiration to du Picq, fellow Périgueux native Marshal Thomas Bugeaud was responsible for supporting him in his calculating and objective view of military operations.Bugeaud's experiences with Marshal Suchet, a highly regarded former general of Napoleon's, left an indelible impression upon the Marshal that were handed down to du Picq.Marshal Bugeaud's aide de camp, Louis Jules Trochu, provided another inspiration with his work "L'Armée Française en 1867", in which Trochu emphasized psychological difficulties in warfare.