Menno, Baron van Coehoorn was a Dutch soldier and engineer, regarded as one of the most significant figures in Dutch military history. In an era when siege warfare dominated military campaigns, he and his French counterpart Vauban were the acknowledged experts in designing, taking and defending fortifications.

Sébastien Le Prestre, seigneur de Vauban, later styling himself as the marquis de Vauban, commonly referred to as Vauban, was a French military engineer and Marshal of France who worked under Louis XIV. He is generally considered the greatest engineer of his time, and one of the most important in European military history.