t
ARTES
18 17.
TURUNANNUA
SCIENTIA
VERITAS
LIBRARY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
TUEKOR
SIQUARIS PENINSULAMAMETNAM
CIRCUMSPICE
THIS BOOK
FORMS PART OF THE
ORIGINAL LIBRARY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
BOUGHT IN EUROPE
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BY
ASA GRAY
2882
2-571
THE
MEMOIRS
OF THE
Viſcount de TURENNE:
Written by HIMSEL F.
TOGETHER WITH THOSE OF
The DUKE of YORK.
To which is prefixed an Abridgment of
The Life of Maréchal TURENNE:
Written by Chevalier RAM SAY.
Printed for J. DODSLEY, in Pall - Mall, and G.
HAWKINS, at Temple-Bar. 1765.
$
THE
LIFE
O F
Maréchal TURENNE
H
ABRIDGED.
ENRI, VISCOUNT DE TURENNE, was An. 1611.
born at Sedan, in Champagne, the eleventh-
of September 1611, and was ſon of Henri de
la Tour d'Auvergne, Duc de Bouillon, (So-
vereign of Sedan) by Elizabeth of Naffau, daughter of
William of Naffau, the firft of that name (Prince of
Orange) and Charlotte de Bourbon Montpenfier.
The Duke of Bouillon learnt the art of War in the
tempeftuous Reigns of Charles IX. and Henry III; and,
through his diſtinguiſhed Merit, both as a Soldier and as
a Stateſman, and his early attachment to the perſon of
Henry IV. became at length the Lieutenant, Friend, and
Companion of that Hero.*
Having been educated under the care of the Confta-
ble of Montmorency, his mother's father, in an igno-
rance, but too common, at that time, among the prime
Nobles of France, he, of his own accord, applied him-
ſelf to the ſtudy of all the Sciences that might beſt
qualify him for counſel and for execution. His profi-
ciency in thoſe Sciences, and his founding an Academy
at Sedan (which acquired him the title of Father and
Protector of Learning) contributed, perhaps, as much
as his birth and courage, towards placing him at the
head of the Calviniſt party.
The words of Henry IV.
B
The
2
The LIFE of
An. 1611.
* The Duke had two fons, Frederic Maurice Prince
of Sedan, and the Viſcount Turenne, who was five.
years younger than the Prince. They were both edu-
cated at Sedan in the Proteftant Religion; the Prince
under the tuition of the famous Du Moulin, a rigid
Calvinift; the Viſcount under that of Daniel Tilenus,
a Calviniſt too, but of the tolerating principle.
At his first entrance on his ftudies, the Viſcount learnt
with difficulty; and his flowness of parts being miſtaken
for want of application, brought upon him corrections,
which ferved only to create in him an averfion both to
his inftructors and to their inftructions. His father
therefore finding it neceffary to take a different courſe
with him, piqued him in point of honour, and made
him fenfible how unworthy it was of a Man, and ef-
pecially of one who afpired to be a Warrior and a Con-
queror, not to be able to conquer himſelf. From this
time the young Viſcount, out of a mere principle of
magnanimity, exerted all his ftrength, in a diligent ap-
plication to ftudy; and, by degrees, reconciled his af-
fections to it fo happily, that he could repeat, even in
an advanced age, fome of the moſt beautiful paffages of
the Latin and French poets.
His very tender conftitution, during his childhood,
made his father often fay, he would never be able to
fupport the fatigues of war. To convince the Duke
of the contrary, the Doy, when but ten years old, paf-
fed a whole winter's night on the rampart of Sedan.
His Governor, the Chevalier de Vaffignac, after fome
time spent in queft of him, found him afleep on the
carriage of a cannon: And, from that time, the Pupil
gave frequent indications of an extreme paffion for mi-
litary glory. Among theſe was the delight he had in
perufing the accounts given us of thofe great men of an-
cient times, who diftinguiſhed themſelves by their ex-
ploits in war. Struck in particular with the character of
Alexander the Great, he took a fingular pleaſure in
reading, and relating to others, the heroic actions of
the
*The hiftorical facts of this book are taken from the manu-
feipt Memoirs of Fremont d'Ablancourt, the Memoirs of Langlade,
Vittorio Siri, and Monglas, and from Puffendorff, de Rebus Suecicis.
1 This paffage is taken from the manufcript Memoirs of M. de
Fremont d'Ablancourt.
Maréchal TURENNE.
3
the Macedonian, as he found them recorded in Quin-An. 1611.
tus Curtius. On thefe occafions, his whole gefture be-
came more than ufually animated, his eyes fparkled, and
his heated imagination got the better of a natural impe-
diment he had in fpeaking. An Officer one day taking
the liberty to tell him, that his favourite hiftorian was.
no better than a writer of romance, it touched him to
the quick. The Duchefs of Bouillon made a fign to
the Officer to perfift; the difpute grew warm, the Boy
fell into a paffion, left the company in an abrupt man-
ner, and fent a challenge, privately, to the Officer; who,
to divert the Duchefs, (highly pleafed with thefe early
marks of courage in her fon) accepted it. Next day
the Viſcount, under pretence of hunting, went out of
town, to the place of rendezvous. There, to his great
furprize, he found a table ſpread for a repaft. While
he was wondering what this could mean, the Duchefs
of Bouillon, accompanied by the Officer, appeared.
She told her ſon ſhe was come to be Second to the gen-
tleman who was to fight: The ſportſmen came up,
breakfaſt was brought, peace concluded, and the duel
changed into a hunting match.
The Viſcount not being twelve years old when his fa-
ther died, his private education was continued a whole
year, under the care of his mother; and during this time
he learnt his exerciſes; in which he fucceeded better
than in his ftudies: In leſs than a year he became able to
manage the moſt ungovernable horfes. The Count de
Rouffy (who was afterwards his brother in law) brought
to Sedan a horfe, fo mettlefome and vicious, that no
body would venture to mount him. Young Turenne,
animated by the example of Alexander the Great, (who
about the fame age broke his Bucephalus) could not, by
all the remonftrances of his feryants, be diffuaded from
attempting an imitation of that exploit. He mounted
the unruly beaft, managed him with addrefs, and broke
him.
But courage was not the only noble quality, nor the
principal of many with which the Vifcount appeared,
even in his early youth, to be endowed. He had a pre-
dominant love of truth, an abhorrence of lying, cun-
ning, and diffimulation, an invariable tafte for what-
ever was reaſonable. Though naturally vivacious, and
eafily
B 2
4
The LIFE of
է
An. 1624.eafily moved, he had the command of his paffions; a
mildnefs and moderation, that fcemed to be the refult
of reflection, rather than the effect of conftitution. But
what, more than all his other amiable qualities, fhined
confpicuous in his chaaacter, was, a bountiful humanity.
With the money allowed him for his pocket expences,
he relieved feveral poor families in Sedan; and that he
might be in a better condition to affift diftreffed perfons,
who wanted neceffaries, he refufed himſelf all fuper-
fluities.
An. 1625. He was fcarce fourteen years of age, when his mother
fent him into Holland, to her brother Prince Maurice,*
to whom the Prince of Sedan, the Viſcount's elder bro-
ther, had been fent fome years before. For the Du-
chefs having learnt that Cardinal Richelieu had formed
a defign to complete the deftruction of the Proteftants
in France, would not fuffer her fon to ferve in a war
againſt thoſe of her own Religion.
The affairs of the Dutch were, at this time, in a
much more flouriſhing condition than they had been in
the time of Turenne's grandfather, the Great Prince
William; under whofe conduct the United Provinces,
driven to defpair by the inhumanity of the Duke of Alva,
made their first attempt to ſhake off the yoke of the Spa-
nifh Domination. Their ftruggles for the acquifition
and prefervation of Liberty had now lafted near fixty
years, and all Europe was in aſtoniſhment to ſee the
mighty Monarchy of Spain unable, even at the expence
of near a million of men, and of immenſe treaſures
from the Indies, to reduce a petty Republic to obedi-
Republic fo weak in its beginnings, that, to
exprefs its piteous condition, the States, upon the firft
medal they ſtruck, ftampt the figure of a fhip without
fails and without rudder, and toft by the waves of a tem-
peftuous fea, the motto Incertum quo fata ferant.
The
*Second fon of William, Prince of Orange, who was traite-
rouſly murdered at Delft, the 30th of June 1584. Prince Maurice
was called Count Maurice, when conflituted Captain General, and
during the life of his elder brother.
Reckoning from the Compromife figned by 400 Gentlemen, and
prefented to the Governefs of the Low Countries in April 1566.
The Union of Utrecht, which may properly be called the foundation
of the Republic of Holland, was not till the 22d of January 1579:
nor was the fabric really finiſhed till the Truce of 1609.
Maréchal TURENNE.
5
The ſurpriſing exploits of Prince Maurice, the Vif-An. 1625.
count's uncle, had given freſh courage to the Dutch,
and had repaired their ftrength. Though very young
when firſt called to the command of the army, he then
fhewed great ability, and had by this time eftabliſhed
the Commonwealth upon a foot that made her reſpected
by her neighbours, and feared by her enemies. He had
forced the Spaniards in 1609, not indeed to declare the
Republic a free *State, but, in making a truce with her for
twelve years, to treat with her as with a free State.
This truce expiring in 1621, hoftilities were then
renewed.
Prince Maurice received his nephew with great kind-
nefs, and difcourfed often with him in private, in order
to acquaint himſelf thoroughly with his character. The
Viſcount had no natural eloquence, nor any brilliancy in
his outward appearance: Nevertheleſs the uncle quickly
difcerned the excellent characteriſtic qualities of his ne-
phew, and refolved to contribute all he could to their
improvement. Being perfuaded that there are many
parts of uſeful knowledge which cannot be acquired but
by deſcending to the loweſt military employments, and
that the fuccefs of the greateſt enterpriſes depends often
upon fuch minuteneffes as are known to thoſe only who
enter into all the detail of war, he thought it proper
that the Viſcount, previouſly to his having any command,
ſhould for fome time carry a muſket.
Prince Maurice died in three months after the Vif-
count's arrival in Holland, and was fucceeded in the go-
vernment of the Provinces and the command of the
Army, by his brother Henry Frederic.
Prince Henry gave his nephew a Company of Foot; An. 1626.
and this Company in a ſhort time, through the Viſcount's
care to diſcharge with exactnefs all the duties of an Of-
ficer, made the fineſt appearance, and was the beſt diſ-
ciplined of any in the Army. Young as he was he did
not rely upon the care of a Lieutenant, but exerciſed
the Soldiers himſelf, forming them with patience and
correcting them with mildness, engaging them to obe-
dience and a ſtrict regularity of manners by kindneſs,
and by letting them fee that he refufed himſelf ſometimes
B 3
even
* The Spaniards did not recogniſe Holland for a free and inds.
pendent State before the Peace of Muniter, 1648.
x
6
The LIFE of
1
An. 1626.even neceffaries, merely for the fake of being liberal to
-them: And as he treated the other Soldiers likewife
with the fame goodneſs, he gained the affections of all.
An. 1627.
Turenne ferved in the rank of Captain at the fieges
of Klundert, Williamftadt and Groll, and in most of
Prince Henry's expeditions againſt the famous Spanish
General Spinola; and, during this ſervice, neglected no
opportunity of getting inftruction. With a meaſuring
rod or a pencil in his hand, he carefully examined and
confidered the various works, and made remarks upon
the anſwers he received from the Officers, Engineers,
Pioneers, and even the meaneft of the Soldiers. Being
An, 1628.wholly intent upon his object, and for the fake of improve-
ment, defpifing all dangers, he was very foon in a con-
dition to give an exact account of every thing that paſt.
Nevertheleſs, far from affecting to diſplay his talents,
and appear knowing, he fought inftructions from his
feniors, putting questions to them with politenefs, liften-
ing to their anſwers with a vifible pleaſure, and en-
gaging them by his docility to communicate to him
what they knew: And, when any queftion was afked
him, he confined himſelf wholly to the anſwer, fpeak-
ing always with modefty and diffidence,
After three years thus ſpent in the ftudy of the mi-
litary art, the fiege of Bois-le-Duc furnifhed him with
opportunities of thewing, more convincingly, the pro-
grefs he had made at eighteen years of age.
An. 1629. The Prince of Orange having invefted the place,
committed to the Viſcount the care of erecting a battery
of fix twenty-four pounders, the firft that played againft
the Town. He was afterwards charged with the di-
rection of ſeveral other works, and was ordered to force
certain pofts. Scarce had he performed thefe commif-
fions when he went to view the other attacks; where he
obferved how the faps and the reft of the operations
were carried on, and made himſelf acquainted with the
defign of cach of them. His Governor endeavoured to
diffuade him from expofing his perfon when not obliged
to it: But the Pupil, though, on all other occafions, he
refpected his Governor as a father, was deaf to every
remonftrance from him on this head. The Prince of
Orange, who likewiſe reproved his nephew for the too
great forwardness of his courage, could not, however,
I
for-
Maréchal TURENNE.
7
forbear to let his joy appear at the fame time. ForAn. 1629.
turning to the Officers that attended him, he ſaid, “I
*C
am much mistaken, or this young man will one day
"equal the greateſt Captains."
At the end of a four months fiege, Bois-le-Duc ca-
pitulated; after which Prince Henry drove the Imperi-
alifts and Spaniards entirely out of the United Provinces,
and then feized all the places they poffeffed upon the
Lower Rhine.
The Viſcount ſerved five years in Holland; but the
war in that country being wholly confined to fieges, and
therefore not opening a field vaſt enough to his ambi-
tion of perfecting himſelf in the military art, he wiſhed
earneſtly to go back into France; and it was not long
before his return thither became even neceffary.
Cardinal Richelieu had formed the defign of
compelling the Duchefs Dowager of Bouillon to re-
ceive a French Garriſon into Sedan, but afterwards con-
tented himſelf with engaging her to fign a treaty,
whereby ſhe promiſed to continue firm to the intereſt of
France; the King by the fame treaty promifing to pro-
tect the Houfe of Bouillon. On this occafion fhe recalled
her fon, the Viſcount, from Holland, and fent him
into France as a hoftage. He was received by the King
and by the Cardinal with all the marks of diftinction
due to his birth and the reputation he had acquired; and
though but nineteen years old, was immediately placed
at the head of a Regiment of Foot.
Neither in the printed Memoirs, nor in the Manu-
ſcripts preferved by the family of Bouillon, is there any
particular account of him till the fiege of La Motte in
1634. At this fiege the Viſcount ferved; but, before
any mention of his fervices in France, it
may be pro-
per to give a general view of the ftate of affairs in that
Kingdom.
Louis XIII was then upon the throne. His chief
Minifter, Cardinal Richelieu, had, from the time of
his being first placed at the helm of affairs, turned his
thoughts to reduce the power of the Houfe of Auſtria,
both in the Empire and in Spain, enlarge the bounds of
the French Monarchy, and make Arts and Commerce
flourish. Such was his plan, but he would engage in no
B 4
enter-
8
The LIFE of
1
}
An. 1629.enterpriſe abroad till he had quieted the troubles and
commotions at home."
When he entered upon the Adminiftration, he found
the Royal Authority divided, and confequently weakened.
The Queen Mother (Marie de Medicis) the Duke of
Orleans (brother of the King) the Princes of the
Blood, and the principal Nobles of the Kingdom, all
thought themſelves entitled to fome part in the Govern-
ment. The Parliament likewife was ambitious of a
fhare in the direction of ftate affairs: And the Protef-
tants are faid to have been contriving how to form an
independent Com:nonwealth in the heart of France.
All the Malcontents held correfpondences with the
neighbouring Princes, particularly with the Dukes of
Savoy, Lorraine, and Bouillon, who, by the means of
Piguerol, Nancy, and Sedan, afforded them ready and
fecure retreats.
The Cardinal judged, that to put an end to the many
diforders prevailing in the State, it was, above all
things, neceffary to gain due refpect to Authority, and
that this could be effected by no other means than by
making all Authority to center in the perfon of the King.
His firft enterpriſe was to deftroy totally the power of
the Proteftants of France (called there Huguenots.) He
laid fiege to Rochelle, (a place thought impregnable)
and took it from them; poffeffed himſelf of all their
other fortreffes; and put an end to thoſe religious wars
which had fhaken the very foundations of the Mo-
narchy.
The Queen Mother, who was mother-in-law to three
Sovereigns, (the King of Spain, the King of England,
and the Duke of Savoy) he conſtrained to quit the
Kingdom, and to lead an unfettled wandering life, not
one of thoſe three Potentates daring to receive her, into
his Dominions.
The Princes of the Blood he reduced to the neceffity
of either refpecting the Royal Authority, and peace-
ably confining the exercife of their proper powers with-
in their own demefnes and dependencies, or of ſharing
the fate of Marie de Medicis.
He humbled the Grandees of the Realm, who were
continually caballing againſt the Minifter, nor would
obey even the King himfelf, any longer than while he
left
Maréchal TURENNE.
9
left them in the exerciſe of an abfolute authority in their AB. 1629.
refpective Governments.
And laſtly, he confined the jurifdiction of the Parlia-
ment of Paris within, what he thought, its due bounds.
Affairs were in this pofture, when the Cardinal made
the Duchefs of Bouillon fign the treaty above-men-
tioned, to the end that Sedan might no longer be a re-
treat and a refuge for thoſe who were diffatisfied with
his adminiftration.
He afterwards obliged Victor Amadeus, Duke of Sa-
voy, to ſurrender to the King (by the treaty of Che-
rafco, in 1631) Pignerol and all its dependencies, to be
united for ever to the Crown of France.
And, to get Nancy into the King's poffeffion, the Car-
dinal fent an Army into Lorraine againſt Charles IV.
Sovereign of that State. This Prince had from nature
extraordinary talents, but his ftrange unaccountable
conduct rendered them all uſeleſs, and even hurtful to
his Subjects. He had indeed prudently married his
coufin the Princeſs Nicole, daughter of the late Duke,
and, by thus uniting all rights and pretenfions to the
Duchy of Lorraine, had prevented the difficulties that
might have been ſtarted with regard to the fucceffion :
But this match being made from political views only,
Charles's difpofition to gallantry, and his wife's jealouſy,
foon occafioned fuch quarrels between them as produced
a feparation; and the Princefs retired into France to
implore the protection of Louis XIII. which was grant-
ed. Charles, on the other hand, adhered to the Houfe
of Auftría; and this furniſhed the Cardinal with a pre-
text for his enterprife upon Nancy, and afterwards for
poffeffing himſelf of all Lorraine.
No place of any importance remained untaken but An. 1634.
La Motte, fituated on the top of a very high rock.
The French laid fiege to it in the beginning of March.
When the works were fo far advanced, as that the Be-
fiegers could attack a baftion, the Maréchal de la Force
ordered his fon the Marquis de Tonneins upon that fer-
vice, who meeting with a warm reception, was forced
to retire. The next day the Viſcount Turenne mount-
ed the trenches with his Regiment to attack the fame
baftion; and his reputation engaged the attention of
the Army to the fuccefs of that enterprife. The Be-
fieged
10
The LIFE of
'
An. 1634.fieged not only fired very brifkly, but likewiſe rolled
ftones of an enormous fize from the parapet. Turenne
marched up to the breach through all thefe dangers, and
his foldiers, encouraged by his example, feemed to have
forgot all fear; they drove the enemy from the baſtion
and made a lodgement upon it.
The place furrendered after a five months fiege, du-
ring which the Viſcount fo diftinguiſhed himſelf, that the
fuccefs of the enterprife was thought to be chiefly owing
to his valour and fkill. He received compliments from
the whole Army on this occafion, and even from the
Marquis de Tonneins, who would have been jealous of a
competitor leſs modeft: But the Viſcount had nothing in
his behaviour or difcourfe, that indicated either felf-ap-
plaufe, or a difeſteem of others: The Maréchal de la
Force, in the relation he fent to Court of the fiege of
La Motte, ſpoke of the Viſcount's ability, courage, and
modefty, in fuch terms, as engaged the Cardinal to
raife him, though but twenty-three years of age, to the
rank of Major-General; which was then the next in
dignity to that of Maréchal of France; for as yet there
were no Lieutenant Generals in the French Army.
About this time the Duke de Bouillon quitted the fer-
vice of Holland. The Prince of Orange being advan-
ced in years, and having but one fon, a child in the
cradle, caft his eyes on his nephew, to be his fucceffor
in the Government of the United Provinces; intend-
ing likewife to give him, in marriage, one of his daugh-
ters, the fame who was afterwards married to the Elector
of Brandenbourg: But love oppoſed the Duke of Bouil-
lon's fortune.
In spite of his own ambition, and notwithſtanding
his mother's remonftrances, he married Eleanor Count-
efs of Bergues, and never repented of the facrifices he
made to the beauty, wit, and virtue of this Lady. The
regularity of her conduct, her piety void of oftentation,
and free from all frivolous devotions, difpofed the Duke
to examine the doubts and difficulties which her con-
verſation had raiſed in his mind, concerning Calvinifm.
He foon perceived,* as he himſelf faid, the abfurdity
of a fect, whofe fundamental principles, by deſtroying
human liberty, do confequentially make God the author
* In a letter to his fifter,
Maréchal TURENNE.
I I
*
of evil. He declared the change of his fentiments foon An. 1634-
after the fiege of Maeftricht, and profeffed the religion
of his fair Duchefs. The Duke having, by this
change, loft his eſtabliſhment in Holland, refolved to ad-
here to France; where he had an ample Fortune. To-
wards the cloſe of this year, he arrived at the Court of
Louis XIII. and was well received by the King, the
Princes of the Blood, and eſpecially by the Count de
Soiffons, who treated him with particular diſtinction,
and expreffed a great defire of making him his friend.
The Cardinal likewife had feveral converſations with
him; but it was eafy to forefee, that the oppofition of
their characters would always prove an obſtacle to a
clofe union between them. The republican principles
which the Duke had imbibed in Holland under his uncles
the Princes of Orange, did by no means fall in with the
Cardinal's ſcheme of abfolute power.
In the year 1635, France came to an open rupture An. 1635.
with the Emperor and the King of Spain, and the Car-
dinal raiſed four Armies, in order to attack them in fo
many different places. One of thefe Armies he put un-
der the command of Cardinal de la Valette, and appointed
Turenne to be his Major General. They joined the
Duke of Weymart on this fide of the Rhine near Bing-
hen. The two Generals took that Town, marched to
the relief of Mentz, forced the Count de Mansfield to
retire,
Grandfon to Louis, Prince of Condé, younger brother to An-
tony King of Navarre, who was father to Henry IV. King of
France.
† Duke Bernard de Weymar (the youngeſt of eleven brothers)
was a Prince of the elder branch of the House of Saxony, which the
Emperor Charles V. had deprived of the Electorate, giving it to a
younger (which till poffeffes it.) And this injury had kidled, in
the minds of all the Princes of the elder branch, an implacable ha-
tred against the Houſe of Auſtria. Duke Weymar had been the
chief, and moſt able General of the Great Guftavus, who called
him his Right Hand. To the affiftance of that Hero he had led a Body
of twelve thouſand Men, gathered out of the Proteftant Circles of
Suabia, Franconia, and the Rhine. They continued in the pay
of Guſtavus till his death; ever fince which time, Weymar had
kept them together; but the Swedes being no longer in a condition
to pay them, he had recourſe to France; and the King, by a Treaty
figned, engaged to allow the Duke confiderable fums for their fup-
port. They were now well enured to War, and their Officers had
no proſpect of making their fortunes, but by their fwords.
1
1
12
The LIFE of
An. 1635. retire, furniſhed the place with provifions, and foon
after, encamping under it, remained mafters of the
country. Nevertheleſs, their fupplies of provifions be
ing cut off, the fcarcity became ſo great, that the fol-
diers were conftrained to live on roots and herbs; and
their horfes had no other food but the leaves of trees.
The two Generals therefore refolved to quit their
Camp, and thought of retiring into the three Biſhop-
ricks of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, where was plenty
of provifions. Leaving four thouſand men at Metz,
they decamped in the night and repaffed the Rhine_at
Binghen over a Bridge of Boats. At the fame time Ga-
las, the Imperial General, paffed the river at Wormes to
purſue them. The Duke of Weymar, to make his re-
treat with the utmoſt expedition, buried his cannon pri-
vately, and burnt all his ufelefs baggage. Night and
day the two Armies marched without refting, through
difficult bye-ways, between the mountains. Galas,
who followed them with his Cavalry, overtook them on
the Banks of the River Glann, between Odernheim
and Meffeinheim; where the French and Swedes, facing
about, repulfed him with a vigour, that made him fenfi-
ble their retreat was far from being a flight. This un-
expected refiftance ferved only to animate him the more ;
he put himſelf at the head of nine thousand horſe,
marched through the Duchy of Deux Ponts, paffed
the Sarre, entered Lorraine, and lay in ambufcade in
a Defile between Vaudrevange and Boulay. A warm
action enfued, in which the Imperial Cavalry was rout-
ed by the French Squadrons, and the confederate Ar-
-mies reached a fecure place, after a march of thirteen
days.
Hiftory affords but few examples of fo difficult a re-
treat. The French, deftitute of provifions, and har-
raffed with all thofe diftempers that are occafioned by
fcarcity, made their way through woods and between
mountains, purfued by the Imperialifts, who had plenty
of every thing. One part of the Army obferved no
order in the march: Such as could deceive the vigilance
of the Officers, threw themſelves among the enemy, in
hopes of finding wherewith to appease their hunger:
Others ftraggled to the right and left to pillage, and a
confiderable number, quite fpent with fatigue, could
but
Maréchal TURENNE.
13
but juft drag themſelves after the main body of the Ar- An. 1633.
my. During this painful retreat, the Viſcount de Tu--
renne ordered the lefs neceffary parts of his baggage to be
thrown out of the waggons, to make room for the poor
wretches, who were too weak to march. What pro-
vifions he could find, he fhared with the foldiers; he
comforted fome, encouraged others, compaffionated the
fufferings of all, and relieved them to the beſt of his
power, Frenchmen and ſtrangers without any diftinction.
Wherever it was neceflary to make head againſt the ene-
my, he fought with intrepid refolution; he poffeffed
himſelf of the eminences and the narrow paffes, feized
on the villages and all places where he could poft his
Infantry, whofe fire frequently ftopt the Imperialiſts;
in fhort, he fhewed an activity, a courage, and above
all, an humanity, which drew the admiration of the
Army, and the attention of the Court.
As foon as the confederate Troops were fixed in their
winter quarters in Lorraine, Weymar and la Valette
went to Paris. The Swedes had entertained a fufpicion of
Weymar, ever fince the defeat of Nordlingen; they looked
on him as the author of their misfortune, becauſe he had
given battle against the advice of the Maréchal d'Horn.
On the other hand, Weymar was diffatisfied with Sweden,
whoſe Miniſters did not treat him with fufficient reſpect;
and he liftened therefore to the offers of France. The
King granted him a penfion of fifteen hundred thouſand
Livres, and allowed him four millions a year for the
fupport of an Army of eighteen thousand men, which
the Duke obliged himfelf to furnish, and to command
under his Majefty's authority.
The bad fuccefs of the laft Campaign had fo difcou-An. 1636.
raged Cardinal de la Valette, that he would have re-
nounced the profeffion of arms, had not Cardinal Riche-
lieu, who was well acquainted with his abilities, en-
gaged him to reſume the command of the troops. When
Richelieu propoſed to him the fiege of Saverne, he re-
fuſed to charge himſelf with that enterpriſe, unleſs he
might have Turenne with him. La Valette and Weymar
reached Alface about the beginning of June,, and at-
tacked Saverne. W eymar carried the upper Town
at the fourth affault. Turenne poffeffed himfelf of the
lower Town and the Citadel before the end of June:
But
1
?
14
The LIFE of
?
An, 1636. But the laft day of the fiege received a wound in the
right arm, by a mufket fhot. The cure proving diffi-
cult and flow, the alarms caufed thereby, and the joy
expreſſed on his recovery, made it vifible how much he
was already beloved and efteemed by the troops.
An. 1637.
His wound was not quite cured, when by order of la
Valette, he led a body of troops to meet Count Galas,
who being driven out of Burgundy, had purpoſed to take
up his winter quarters in Franche Comté. Turenne
marching day and night, came up with the enemy at the
little Town of Juffey, where Galas was beginning to
entrench himſelf. The Viſcount attacked him, forced
him to return the way he came, charged his Rear-
guard ſeveral times, and took a good number of priſon-
ers. Galas, before he repaffed the Rhine, attempted
to relieve Joinville, then befieged by the Duke of Wey-
mar, but the Viſcount poſted himſelf ſo advantageouſly
between the Imperialifts and the Army of the Befiegers,
that he broke all the meaſures taken by Galas to throw
fuccours into that place. It furrendered to the Duke of
Weymar; and the Imperialists being forced to retire into
Germany, by the way of Brifac, paffed the Rhine there.
The good fuccefs of the preceding campaign, deter-
mined Richelieu to intruſt la Valette and his brother
the Duke of Condale with the command of the Army
that was to enter Flanders by the way of Picardie. La
Valette again demanded that Turenne might be one of
his Major Generals. They began the campaign with
inveſting Landrecies, a Town in Hainault, fortified with
five strong bastions, and with wet ditches. This fiege
proved extremely fatiguing, by reaſon of the bad wea-
ther. The heavy rains fo filled the trenches, that the
foldiers were up to the middle in water. The Viſcount
ftaid with them, and never left them, but to give the
Cardinal an account of the progress of the works.
Thus animating his men, by his own example, and re-
lieving them at the fame time by his liberality, he fur-
mounted all obftacles, and the town ſurrendered.
The Viſcount being afterwards commiffioned to take
Solre, the ſtrongeſt Caſtle in all Hainault, and provided
with a garrifon of two thouſand men, he attacked it fo
brifkly, that in a few hours the garrifon furrendered at
difcretion. Some of his foldiers having found a woman
of
Maréchal TURENNE.
15
of exquifite beauty in the place, brought her to their An. 1637-
commander, as the most valuable part of the prey.
The Viſcount was then but twenty-fix, and far from
being infenfible: Feigning, however, not to underſtand
what his foldiers meant, he highly commended their dif
creet conduct, as if their only deſign in bringing her to
him, had been to fecure her from the brutality of their
comrades. He fent for her huſband, and delivering her
into his hands, told him, he owed the prefervation of his
Wife's honour to the difcretion of the Soldiers.
Cardinal de la Valette having refolved to make Mau-
beuge a ftrong place of Arms, which fhould keep the
whole Country in awe; left there his brother, the Duke
of Candale, and the Viſcount de Turenne, with a large
body of troops, intrenched under the cannon of the
Town; while he himſelf went to befiege la Capelle.
The Cardinal Infant,* who commanded in the Low
Countries, being apprifed of the feparation of the French
troops, advanced towards Maubeuge, and attacked it,
with a view of obliging la Valette to come to the Duke
of Candale's affiftance, and to raife the fiege of la Ca-
pelle. In this exigence, the Duke, taking with him a
party of horſe, went to his brother, to prefs him to go
and join the French troops; which he had left under the
command of Turenne. The Cardinal Infant, in the
mean time, not to loſe the favourable opportunity, rai-
fed, with all diligence, a battery of thirty pieces of
cannon, which thundered againſt the Town two whole
days, without intermiffion. Being informed the next
day that la Capelle was taken, and that Cardinal de la
Valette was on his march to Maubeuge, he made a gene-
ral affault, but, being repulfed on all fides by the Vit-
count, he raiſed the ſiege, and thought only how to poſt
himſelf ſo as to hinder the junction of the two French
Armies, but this enterprife likewife mifcarried, and he
was obliged to retire. Turenne, who had orders to fol-
low him, forced part of the Spaniſh Army to repaſs the
Sambre, and thus he glorioufly finiſhed the campaign.
(
In 1638, the Viſcount ferved under the Duke of Wey-An. 1638,
mar, at the fiege of Brifac, in quality of Lieutenant Ge-
neral, (a rank till that time not known in France) and
diſtinguiſhed himſelf in a battle where Weymar gained
a com-
• Ferdinand of Auftria, fon to Philip III. King of Spain.
16
The LIFE of
!
An. 1638.a complete victory over the Imperialifts under the com-
mand of General Goeutz, who came to throw fuccours
into the Town.
After this the Duke of Lorraine advanced with a body
of troops to the relief of Brifac; but he likewife was
entirely routed by Weymar.
General Goeutz, and Lamboy, the Spaniſh General, be-
ing appriſed of the defeat of the Lorrainers, got fome troops
together, came to the very banks of the Rhine, through
bye-ways, and reached the Duke of Weymar's quarters
before their march was perceived. They took a view
of his lines, attacked them vigorously, and carried two
redoubts. All was giving way before them, when the
Viſcount de Turenne, and the Count de Guebriant (at
this time Lieutenant General, afterwards Maréchal of
France) came up, and drove them out of the lines;
and though the Imperialifts returned to the charge íe-
veral times, they were as often repelled with lofs. Paf-
fing the Rhine they laid fiege to Enfifheim.
From this place, the ancient capital of the Upper Al-
face, on the River Ill, in the neighbourhood of Brifac,
they might have incommoded Weymar's Army; but
Turenne did not allow them time to make themſelves
mafters of that Town: With part of the French
Troops he attacked and beat them in their very camp,
obliged them to raiſe the ſiege, and diſperſed them in
fuch a manner that they dropt all thoughts of relieving
Brifac.
During the fiege of this Town, which lafted near
eight months, there were fix engagements, three of
which might properly be called battles. The befieged
fuffered all the calamities attending a long fiege, before
Reynac, who commanded in the place, would furrender;
proviſions became fo exceffively fearce, that he was
obliged to poft fome of his foldiers in the church-yards,
to prevent digging up the bodies of the dead. Of all
the out-works, the befieged had only one fort left, called
Reynac's ravelin; but as by this they continued ma-
fters of the chief branch of the Rhine, they had hopes
of receiving fuccours on that fide, which hindered them
from propofing or liftening to any terms. Weymar ha-
ving obferved that Turenne had been fuccefsful in all
his undertakings during the fiege, ordered him to the
attack
Maréchal TURENNE.
17
attack of that fort. Turenne advanced to it, at the An. 1638.
head of four hundred men, who cut down the palli-
fades with hatchets, entered it at three places at once,
and put all who defended it to the ſword.
The Governor of Brifac, after the lofs of that fort,
deſpairing of relief, capitulated, and furrendered on the
feventeenth of December. During the whole time of
the fiege, the Viſcount had a quartan ague; yet he con-
tinued to fhew, by his actions, that he was infenfible
to every thing but glory.
Not long after the reduction of Brifac, Richelieu and An. 1639.
Weymar conceived a mutual jealoufy of each other.
The latter, difgufted with his dependance on a French
Miniſter, to whom he thought no great deference due
from him, as being a foreign Prince, laid a fcheme to
retain Briſac, and out of fo much of the adjacent
country as he could conquer, to form a Principality for
himſelf. The Cardinal fufpected the defign, and was
confirmed in his fufpicion by Weymar's refufing to
come to court when invited thither. In the month of
July following, this Prince's death (at the age of 36)
put an end to the Miniſter's uneafinefs. There was a
great competition among feveral Princes of Europe for
the Troops of the deceafed General: but Richelieu had
the art to gain them to his mafter, who put them under
the command of the Count de Guébriant.
Turenne, on his return to Court, was loaded with
commendations by the Cardinal, who not only asked
his friendſhip, but to engage him more ftrongly to his
intereft, offered him one of his neareft relations in mar-
riage. The Vifcount, apprehending that the difference
of religion might prove an obftacle to that intimate uni-
on which fuch engagements require, made no fcru-
ple ingenuouſly to declare his thoughts. Richelieu ap-
proved the reaſons of his refufal, admired the probity
and truth which reigned in all his proceedings; and far
from being offended with him, gave him fresh proofs
of his eſteem, by continuing to employ him in the moſt
difficult affairs. It was then that the Cardinal refolved
to fend him into Italy, where the war was renewed on
account of the Duchefs of Savoy, fifter to Louis XIII.
and widow of Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, who
died the fqventh of October, 1637. From the begin-
October
ning
18
The LIFE of
An. 1639. ning of the rupture between the two crowns, he had
declared for France, and had continued fteady in that
intereſt to his death. Upon fome attempts by the Spa-
niards to wreft out of the hands of the widow, both
the Regency and the Guardianship of the young Duke
her fon, fhe was conftrained to have recourſe to her
brother; and Richelieu made her believe, that ſhe could
not be fecure of any of her Towns without providing
them with French Garrifons and Governors. The Du-
chefs confented, and, hereupon, at the folicitation of
the Spaniards, the Emperor publifhed an ordinance, by
which he declared the Duchefs deprived of the Guar-
dianſhip of her children, and her fubjects difengaged
from their oath of allegiance, and they were enjoined
to acknowledge Prince Thomas and the Cardinal of Sa-
voy, the young Duke's two uncles, as his Guardians.
All Piedmont, excepting Suza, Carignan, Chivas, and
the Citadel of Turin, fubmitted to her brothers-in-law.
To prevent her total ruin, Richelieu, well acquainted
with Turenne's capacity, fent him into Lombardy.
Though the Viſcount did not command in chief, his
prefence foon changed the face of affairs; and the Du-
chefs of Savoy received great affiftance from his cou-
rage and counfels. Cardinal de la Valette, General
of the French Troops in Italy, dying in the month of
October, it was expected that the Viſcount de Turenne
would be appointed to fucceed him; but the circum-
cumftanees of affairs were not favourable to him. The
Duke of Bouillon had lately received, at Sedan, Louis
de Bourbon, Count de Soiffons, who was Richelieu's
profeffed enemy. This Minifter fearing left the Viſ-
count might be feduced by the Duke his brother,
would not truft him with the command in chief, but
gave it to the Count d'Harcourt, * who had married a
relation of his Eminence. In the battle of Clueri,
commonly called in France, La Route de Quiers, the
victory was chiefly afcribed to the Viſcount Turenne,
who, nevertheless, in a particular account he gave of
that action in a letter he fent to Paris, fpoke fo little of
himſelf that one of his friends wrote to him, That Fame
1
was
*Henry de Lorraine, Count d'Harcourt, d'Armagnac, & de
Brionne, Maſter of the Horfe to the King.
Maréchal TURENNE.
19
was miſtaken, fince the every where publiſhed that he
had the principal part in the victory.
The next year the Count d'Harcourt begun the cam- An. 1640.
paign with an attempt to relieve Cafal, which belonged
to the young Duke of Mantua, who was in alliance
with France. The Spaniards befieged it with an army
of twenty thousand men, fecured, as they imagined,
from all attacks, by wide and deep intrenchments,
ftrengthened by forts and redoubts. The French Army,
amounting only to ſeven thouſand foot, and three thou-
fand horſe, the Count divided into three bodies, in
order to attack the Spaniards in three different places.
The Viſcount de Turenne was at the head of one of
theſe divifions, and diftinguiſhed himſelf greatly in the
action, which ended in a total defeat of the enemy,
who had three thouſand men killed, and eighteen hun-
dred made prifoners. They loft twelve pieces of can-
non, fix mortars, twenty-four ftandards, all their am-
munition, and the greateſt part of their baggage.
Cafal being thus relieved, the Count d'Harcourt, wil-
ling to make the best advantage of the ardour of the
French Troops, encouraged by this fuccefs, called a
Council of War, in order to refolve on fome new en-
terpriſe. The Viſcount was of opinion they fhould be-
fiege Turin; but the other General Officers maintained
it would be raſhneſs, with only ten thouſand men, to
lay fiege to a town provided with a garriſon of twelve
thoufand, and which might be relieved by Leganès,*
the Spaniſh General, who had ftill an Army of fifteen
thouſand well difciplined foldiers. The Vifcount, ne-
vertheless, perfifted fteadily in his opinion, reprefent-
ing that the King's affairs in Piedmont would be abfo-
lutely ruined, notwithſtanding the late advantages gained,
if Prince Thomas made himſelf mafter of the Citadel
of Turin, which could not be prevented but by laying
fiege to the Town. The Count d'Harcourt yielded to
his reafons. Lines of Circumvallation and Contrayal-
lation were drawn, and the befiegers hoped to ftarve.
the place in a little time.
C 2
Le-
* Don Diego Philip Davila de Gufinan, Grandee of Spain, and
Governor of the Milanefe.
2
A:
20
The LIFE of
An. 1640. Leganès, looking on this enterpriſe of the French,
as affording him a favourable opportunity of revenging
the affront he had received before Cafal, augmented his
Army to eighteen thousand men, and came, full of con-
fidence that he ſhould be able to paſs the Po over the
bridge of Turin. He found himſelf miſtaken, the bridge
being too well guarded. After his retreat, the Count
d'Harcourt fufpecting that he deſigned to paſs that river
at Moncalier, above Turin, fent the Vifcount thither
with a detachment to oppofe his paffage. Though
the Viſcount used all the expedition he could, he found,
when he came to Moncalier, that four or five thouſand
of the enemy had already croffed, and were beginning
to entrench themſelves on this fide the river. Without
lofing a moment, Turenne advanced to attack them,
and becauſe his foldiers made a difficulty of paffing a
brook, which, being fwelled by the rains, overflowed
its banks, he paffed it firft himfelf. The enemy, driven
from their entrenchments, were many of them killed,
and the reſt forced into the Po. In a ſubſequent action of
lefs importance, the Viſcount received a mufket ſhot in
his fhoulder, and was carried to Pignerol to be cured.
Leganès foon returned to Moncalier, paffed the Po, in
fpite of the refiftance made by the French, fhut up the
Count d'Harcourt in his camp, and cut off his fupplies
of provifions. The famine grew fo preffing, that not
one of the General Officers was. for remaining any
longer before Turin.
The Viſcount, fcarce recovered of his wounds, ar-
rived when they were in this condition, and brought
from Pignerol to the Army a large convoy of provifi-
ons and ammunition, eſcorted by fome troops, affem-
bled from Guienne, Languedoc, Provence, and Franche-
Comté. Leganès had taken meafures to oppoſe their
paffage; but the Viſcount furmounted all obftacles, and
brought the convoy fafe to the camp on the 12th of July.
In the mean time, Prince Thomas in Turin was in
greater diftrefs for want of provifions than the French.
After ſeveral fruitlefs fallies from the town, and unfuc-
cefsful attempts by Leganès, in the field, to force the
French lines, Prince Thomas demanded a capitulation,
furrendered the place on the 17th of September, march-
ed
1
}
Maréchal TURENNE.
21
ed out with eight thouſand men, and was conducted to An. 1640.
Yvrée. Leganès, with his Army, repaffed the Po.
The Count d'Harcourt, full of glory from the fuc-
cefs of a campaign which he had opened by relieving
Cafal, and clofed with the taking Turin, returned to
France by Orders of the Court, and left the Army un-
der the command of the Viſcount. As the Troops had
fuffered extremely at the fiege of Turin, he allowed
them time to refreſh themſelves, but toward the end of
February led them to the fiege of Montecalvo, of which
he made himſelf mafter in ten days. He then paffed the
Po, and laid fiege to Yvrée, where Prince Thomas kept
his magazines. The Prince hoped to divert the Vif-
count from his enterprife, by laying fiege to Chivas,
but this had no effect.
In the mean time, on the news that the Viſcount had
taken Montecalvo in fo few days, and was befieging
Yvrée, the Count d'Harcourt's emulation was roufed
amidſt the pleaſures and encomiums of the Court: He
fet out for Piedmont, and haftened to the camp before
Yvrée. While he was continuing the fiege of that
place, with the greateſt vigour, the murmurs of the peo-
ple of Chivas forced him to the fuccour of that Town,
which lies but four leagues from Turin. Prince Tho-
mas, whoſe only view was to fave Yvrée, raiſed the fiege
of Chivas before the Count d'Harcourt arrived; and
returned to the other fide of the Po. The Count might
have returned and renewed the fiege of Yvrée; but
abandoning all the Viſcount's ſchemes, he paffed the Po,
and went to take Ceva, Mendovi and Coni. Turenne,
who had the intereft of his Country more at heart, than
thoſe of his own felf-love, laboured for his General's
glory, with the fame zeal as before, at the fiege of thoſe
three places. Cardinal Richelieu, who knew all the
merit of thoſe two princes, from that time judged, that
in order to render them more uſeful to the State, he
ought to ſeparate them.
While the Viſcount was fignalifing himſelf in the ſervice
of France, the Duke of Bouillon, his brother, was
unhappily engaged in the Spanish intereft, by his union
with the Count de Soiffons. The Count had retired to
Sedan four Years before to ſcreen himſelf from the ill-
will of the Cardinal. As Richelieu had formed the am-
bitious
C 3
22
The LIFE of
t
An. 1640.bitious project of an alliance of his own family with
that of his Sovereign, he fent a perfon to the Count to
propofe a match between him and the Countefs de Com-
balet. The propoſal put the Count into fuch a paffion,
as to make him exprefs by his behaviour the extremity
of his hatred to the Miniſtry. On the other hand, the
Cardinal was incenfed at fo infulting a refufal, and to
revenge himſelf put in practice his ordinary maxim of
humbling all who oppofed his will. The Count natu-
rally high spirited, kept no meaſures in his contempt,
courted the friendſhip of all the great men of the King-
dom who hated Richelieu, and in order to counter-
balance the Minifter's exceffive authority, entered into a
cloſe union with the Duke of Orleans, Richelieu in the
mean time laboured inceffantly for the Count's deftruc-
tion, and at length found means to ruin him in the King's
favour; the Count, being forced to leave the Court, re-
tired to Sedan. As foon as he arrived there, the Duke
of Bouillon gave the Cardinal notice of it, and begged
the King not to be diſpleaſed with his offering a retreat
to a Prince of his Blood, who was perfuaded he had done
nothing which could offend his Majefty. The King
and the Cardinal approved of the Duke's conduct, and
gave the Count leave to stay at Sedan.
During his refidenee at that place, he entered into a
clofe union with the Duke of Bouillon. The former
was very capable of infpiring all the fentiments of a warm
friendship; and the latter very fufceptible of a tender
and conftant affection. The Count did not paſs for a
man of great talents; but was endowed with almoſt all
the virtucs: He was intrepid, liberal, diftintereſted,
faithful, fincere, in one word, a man of honour and
probity. The Duke was in poffeffion of the fame vir-
tues, with a fupcrior genius. He promifed he would be
infeparably attached to the Count's intereft, and that the
city of Sedan fhould always be his afylum againſt the
injuftice of the Cardinal.
Some time after, the Minifter renewed his negotia-
tion for effecting the marriage of his niece with the
Count de Soiffons, and being exaſperated by a freſh re-
fufal, infifted on the Duke of Bouillon's obliging the
Count to leave Sedan: The Duke replied, that the
King
Maréchal TURENNE.
23
King having approved of his receiving that Prince, he An. 1640.
had then given him his word never to force him from
thence; after fuch an engagement, he was obliged in
honour, not to violate laws of hofpitality with regard to
a Prince of the Blood, who was guilty of no breach of
duty to his Sovereign. The Duke foon felt the effects
of the Minifter's refentment.
Henry IV. and Lewis XIII. had, by feveral agree-
ments with the Dukes of Bouillon, engaged to main-
tain the Garriſon of Sedan, and pay the Troops belong-
ing to it. The Cardinal prevailed with the King to
diſcontinue that payment, in order to force the preſent
Duke to fell that Sovereignty to his Majefty. The Car-
dinal, who had not yet fhewn to what a degree his an-
ger was raiſed, being apprifed that the Archbishop of
Rheims, afterwards known by the name of Duke of
Guife, had likewife retired to Sedan, could contain him-
felf no longer, and faid publickly before the King, that
Sedan was become the retreat of all the factious, and a
fecond Rochelle, which ought to be levelled with the
ground.
Thefe civil broils in France revived the courage of the
Spaniards, who applied themfelves with ardour to gain
the Duke of Bouillon, and the Princes that were with
him. Cardinal Richelieu, on his fide, employed all
the means he could think of to force them to join with
Spain, that he might deprive the Count de Soiffons of
his places and employments, the Archbiſhop of Rheims
of his benefices, and the Duke de Bouillon of his domi-
nions. By his fecret intrigues, the hard terms he re-
quired of them, and the preparations he made for be-
fieging Sedan, he reduced them to fign a treaty with the
Cardinal Infant, who acted in the name of the King of
Spain, and with the Archduke, who acted in the name
of the Emperor. Each of them promifed feven thou-
fand men; and thoſe two bodies united were to repair
to the neighbourhood of Sedan. The Spaniards like-
wife obliged themſelves to fend two hundred thouſand
crowns for raifing foldiers: but they paid only part of
the money; and entirely failed in that article of the
treaty which related to the Troops. The Emperor was
more faithful in his engagements, and fent General Lam-
boy with the feven thousand men he was to furniſh.
C4
Soon
24
The LIFE of
An. 1640.
Soon after the figning of this treaty, the Count de
Soiffons, the Duke of Guiſe, and the Duke of Bouil-
lon, to juftify their conduct, diſperſed a manifefto through
all France, in which they ftiled themſelves Princes of
Peace. They there drew the Cardinal's picture in the
moft odious colours, reviving the remembrance of his
ingratitude to the Queen-mother, his benefactreſs; and
his cruelty to the rivals of his power; and exaggerating
his complaifance for his creatures, the violence of his
adminiſtration, and all the faults in his character.
The Maréchal de Chatillon was directed to advance
towards Sedan with ten thousand men, while the Ma-
réchal de la Meillerayé, at the head of a powerful Army,
had orders to march into the very heart of Flanders with
a view of drawing all the forces of the Low Countries
thither, and hindering the Cardinal Infant from fending
fuccours to Sedan. While Chatillon lay encamp'd a
league from Sedan, near the Village of Marphée, Ge-
neral Lamboy joined the Imperial Army to that of the
Princes of Peace, and after this junction, which was in
the beginning of June, marched with them directly
againſt the French, the Count de Soiffons commanding
a Body of Referve, and the Duke of Bouillon heading
the Cavalry. (The Duke of Guiſe was not yet return-
ed from Bruffels, whither he had gone to negotiate a
treaty.) In the action which enſued, the Royal Army
was routed, Chatillon loft all his Infantry, and moft of
his principal Officers were killed or made Priſoners;
the Duke of Bouillon, finding himſelf near the place
where he had left the Count de Soiffons with his Body of
Referve, thought to give him notice of the victory, but
found him dead in the midft of his guards, without having
fought, nor was it ever known by whom or in what man-
ner he was killed. The Duke of Bouillon fent the news of
the Count's death to the Cardinal Infant, and begged
him to put the Articles of the treaty in execution, but
he received no other anfwer than encomiums and com-
pliments: Nay Lamboy had orders to repafs the Meufe
and join the Cardinal Infant, who was marching to the
relief of Aire.
In the mean time, Richelieu directed the Maréchal
de Brezé to join his Army to that of Chatillon; they
amounted
}
i
Maréchal TURENNE.
25
amounted together to twenty-five thousand men, and An. 1640.
the King appeared in perfon on the frontier. The Duke
of Bouillon, though deftitute of affiftance, (the Empe-
ror having drawn off his Troops, and Spain having
broke her word to him) nevertheleſs, courageoufly pre-
pared himſelf for a vigorous defence in Sedan. It hap-
pened luckily for him, that it was dangerous to under-
take the fiege of Sedan, while the fuccefs of that of
Aire was fo dubious; and this danger proved the Duke's
prefervation. The King being arrived at Mezieres,
moft of the Lords fpoke in the Duke's favour; fome out
of hatred to the Cardinal, others out of generofity.
Cinqmars, Maſter of the Horſe to the King, diſtin-
guiſhed himſelf above all the reft, by his zeal for the
Duke: He ſtrongly repreſented to the King, the inju-
ftices and cruelties committed by the Cardinal, who had
driven the Princes of Peace to the greateft extremities: He
palliated the Duke's fuppofed faults, and at laft obtained
for him a complete pardon, on very honourable terms.
The town of Sedan was allowed to obferve the fame
neutrality as before the troubles, and the Duke of Bouil-
lon was restored to the full poffeffion of all his eftates in
France, he promifing to releaſe the prifoners made at
the battle of Marphée, and to reftore the baggage, can-
non, and ſtandards taken in that action.
As ſoon as theſe conditions were fettled, the Duke of
Bouillon, accompanied by a great number of Gentle-
men and Officers, waited on the King at Mezieres,
and promifed his Majefty an inviolable fidelity for
the time to come: But at the fame time earneftly en-
treated him to give orders that the memory of the Count
de Soiffons, who had been arraigned by the Parliament
of Paris, might be reſtored, and his body conveyed into
France, there to be buried in the tomb of his anceſtors,
and that thoſe Perfons who had efpoufed his quarrel
might be re-eſtabliſhed in the poffeffion of their eftates.
The King granted all he aſked. The troubles being
quieted, Cardinal Richelieu formed the defign of con-
quering Rouffillon. It was now three years fince the
Catalans, natural enemies of the Caftillans, complain-
ing that the Court of Spain violated all their privileges,
had applied themſelves to France for protection againſt
the
26
The LIFE of
An. 1640. the perfecutions of the Duke d'Olivarez, his Catholick
Majeſty's Minifter. As Rouffillon interrupted the com-
munication of Languedoc with Catalonia, Richelieu
judged the conqueft of that Province would be neceſſary
for facilitating the paffage of the fuccours to be fent to
the Catalans. At his folicitation, the King went thither
in perfon. The Maréchal de Meillereye had the com-
mand of the Army, and the Viſcount de Turenne was
named his Lieutenant General. After the taking of
Collioure, the King, who was then at Narbonne, went
and invefted Perpignan, but on account of the ill ſtate of
his health, returned very foon to Narbonne, by the ad-
vice of his phyficians. He took Turenne with him,
leaving the care of the fiege to the Maréchals de
Schomberg and de la Meilleraye, who took the Town by
ftarving it.
During the fiege of Perpignan, which lafted near five
months, the Duke of Bouillon entered into a new en-
gagement against the Minifter.
Young Cinqmars, Maſter of the Horfe, and the
King's Favourite, owed his fortune to Richelieu, who
had brought him to Court: Yet, proud of the favour
he was in, he refolved to ſhake off his dependance on his
benefactor, and fet up for himſelf. The Minifter per-
ceiving his defign, did all he could to ruin him
in the King's opinion. Cinqmars, on his part, thought
himfelf difengaged thereby from all ties of gratitude,
and therefore laboured to fet the King againſt the Car-
dinal, making it his bufinefs to draw off his creatures
from his intereft, and entering into a clofe union with
his enemies, by the affiſtance of the Preſident de Thou,*
who had all the capacity, talents, and reputation, ne-
ceffary for gaining thofe in whom Cinqmars's youth might
create a diffidence.
The Duke of Bouillon was one of thoſe who were
moft warmly folicited: De Thou employed the moſt in-
finuating and pathetic difcourfes on this occafion, re-
monftrating to him, that he owed the preſervation of
Sedan to the Mafter of the Horfe, who had prevented
the
* Son of the famous hiftorian, whofe name is latinized into
Thuanus.
1
1
Maréchal TURENNE.
27
the fatal effects of the Cardinal's revenge. The Duke An. 1643.
of Bouillon could not refufe to fee Cinqmars: The
meeting was at St. Germain en Laye, fome time before
the King's departure for Perpignan. Cinqmars declared
his difpofitions, and laid open his projects to the Duke,
having firft, in the moft lively colours, reprefented to
him the danger there would be in allowing Cardinal
Richelieu to poffefs himſelf of the Regency, if the King,
whoſe health declined daily, fhould die. He made him
fenfible, that then he would have every thing to fear
from a Minifter, who had always fhewn fo great a defire
of divefting him of his Sovereignty; and concluded
with affuring him, that the Duke of Orleans had put
himfelf at the head of the party, and defigned to
ftrengthen it with the affiftance of the Spaniards. The
Duke of Bouillon replied, that he was ready to enter
into all the projects neceffary for hindering the Cardi-
nal from tyrannizing over the Kingdom, after the King's
death, but could never approve of holding any corre-
fpondence with the Spaniards; that he had lately got
out of their hands, and would never come into them
again. The Duke of Bouillon, who afterwards faw
the Duke of Orleans, ſpoke in the fame terms to him
that he had done to Cinqmars, and ftrongly repreſented
to him, that a Prince of his merit, and fo near the
Throne, ought, in cafe of the King's death, to ground
his hopes rather on the ſubjects of the Kingdom, than
on foreigners: He promiſed him, however, that if the Car-
dinal, after the King's deceaſe, fhould fail in the re-
ſpect due to the Royal Family, Sedan fhould be a re-
treat for the Queen, the Sons of France, and his Royal
Highnefs. The Queen received the fame affurances from
him. Thus out of gratitude to Cinqmars, friendſhip for
de Thou, and a juft jealouſy of the Cardinal, the Duke of
Bouillon fuffered himfelf to be drawn into this confpi-
racy, and made himſelf fufpected of having had a fhare
in the treaty with Spain, though he had always advifed
againft it, and had, with unfhaken reſolution, reſiſted
all the folicitations employed to engage him in that
affair.
The Duke of Orleans and the Mafter of the Horfe,
in fpite of the remonftrances of the Duke of Bouillon
and
28
The LIFE of
1
}
1
f
An 1640-and the advice of the Prefident de Thou, treated with
Spain. Fontrailles, an intimate friend of Cinq-
mars, and a man of diftinction, good underſtanding,
and courage, was chofen for that negotiation. He went
to Madrid, concluded a treaty with the Duke d'Oliva-
rez, and managed the affair with fo much addreſs and
fecrecy, that he returned to Paris, without any one's
knowing of his abfence, or having the leaft fufpicion of
his journey.
Soon after this, the Duke of Bouillon was named Ge-
neral of the Army in Piedmont, and fet out for Italy at
the fame time that the King fet out for Perpignan. The
Miniſter would not quit the King, hoping by his pre-
fence to maintain that authority which the Favourite
was every day endeavouring to ruin. But during this
journey, Cinqmars gained a yet greater afcendant over
the mind of his Mafter than ever; his credit with the
King increaſed to fuch a degree, that the Cardinal,
alarmed more than ever, addreffed himſelf to Prince
Henry Frederic, Turenne's uncle, begging he would
write to Louis XIII. in his favour; but the Prince of
Orange's letter to the King had very little effect; and
Cinqmars's cabals ftill prevailed. The Cardinal arriv-
ing at Narbonne, fell fick there, and the King conti-
nued his journey towards Perpignan. Richelieu, much
afflicted with his diſeaſe, was ftill more fo with the con-
ftant apprehenfion he had, that Cinqmars would take
advantage of his abfence to finifh his ruin with the
King. In this uneafinefs of mind, he made himſelf be
carried, though in an extremely weak and languiſhing
condition, from Narbonne to Tarafcon, a Town, the
Governor of which was devoted to him. There, de-
voured by anxieties, and plunged into the blackeſt me-
lancholy, he loft that prefence of mind, and that refo-
lution which had always fupported him. This
haughty Minifter, who had obliged the Queen to re-
tire out of France, humbled the Grandees, ´redu-
ced the power of Spain, checked the conquefts of the
Emperor, and engaged the attention of all the Princes
of Europe, fell into the condition of a man, weak,
helpleſs, and fearful, who has no expedient left to pre-
vent approaching ruin, nor courage to look it in the
face.
1
He
Maréchal TURENNE.
29
He was finking under his weakness, when an unfore-An. 1640.
feen accident fuddenly raiſed him again: In this critical
moment, he difcovered the fecret treaty with Spain.
It was never well known who did the Minifter this im-
portant fervice, but it is certain that he received a copy
of that treaty when he had not the leaft thought of it.
He read it with tranfport, and found in it the following
articles: "That, in order to put an end to a long and
"bloody war, equally fatal to France, Spain, the Em-
"pire, and all Chriftendom, and to oblige the Moſt
"Chriftian King to make a peace, advantageous to the
"two Crowns, his Catholic Majefty fhould furnish
"his Royal Highneſs the Duke of Orleans, and two of
"his friends, with twelve thouſand foot and five thoufand
"horſe That as foon as his Royal Highneſs ſhould be
"retired into a fortified place, on which he had fixed by
"agreement with his two friends, his Catholic Majefty
"ſhould furnish him with four hundred thouſand crowns,
"to make all the preparations for the war, and with
one hundred florins monthly for maintaining the ne-
ceflary Troops. That his Royal Highneſs fhould
"command that Army; and his two friends be named
Major Generals by the Emperor, with a penſion of
"eight thouſand florins a month: That the Imperial
Army in Flanders, and that of the Spaniards, com-
"manded by the Duke of Orleans, fhould join for the
"mutual affiſtance of each other: That the King of
Spain, and the Duke of Orleans, fhould neither of
"them make Peace with France without the confent
"of the other; and laftly, that the place of retreat
" and the two Lords fhould be named after the ratifi-
❝cation of the above articles." At the end of this
treaty was found a poftfcript, in which it was declared,
That the place intended was Sedan, and that the two
perfons united with the Duke of Orleans, were the
Duke of Bouillon and the Mafter of the Horſe.
66
66
66
CC
}
•
The Cardinal diſpatched Chavigni, Secretary of State,
to the King, to deliver him a copy of the treaty, fhew
him all the fatal confequences of this dangerous con-
fpiracy, and exaggerate the bafenefs of Cinqmars's in-
gratitude. The King, who having fallen fick before
Perpignan, had been carried to Narbonne, was begin-
ning
1
༣༠
The LIFE of
1
An. 1640.ning to recover his ftrength, when Chavigni arrived.
This confpiracy made fuch an impreffion on the mind of
Louis XIII. that he immediately changed his affection for
Cinqmars into hatred, and his averfion for the Cardinal
into kindneſs, being deeply fenfible of the need he had of
the latter, and of the perfidioufnefs of the former. The
King gave orders for feizing Cinqmars, and at the fame
time de Thou, whom his intimate connection with the
Mafter of the Horfe rendered fufpected. His Majefty
commanded they fhould be conducted to Pierrc-encife,
and he himſelf, notwithſtanding his weakneſs, removed
to Taraſcon.
The Duke of Orleans, upon receiving intelligence of
all this, to avoid expofing himſelf to the King's refent-
ment, and the Minifter's revenge, revealed the whole
fecret. He excufed his not being able to produce the
original of the treaty, by faying, he had burnt it; but
delivered a copy of it, figned with his own hand, and
counter-figned by the Secretary of his difpatches. The
Cardinal, furniſhed with a piece fo decifive for the total
ruin of his enemies, gave directions for proceeding
againſt them.
The moment Cinqmars was arrested, and before the
matter made any noife, the Court had fent orders into
Piedmont to fecure the perſon of the Duke of Bouillon.
Thoſe who received thefe orders, durft not fignify their
commiffion to him at the head of an army where he was
much loved; but he going to Cafal the next day, was
there arreſted, and from thence carried to Pierre-enciſe.
The very day he arrived at this priſon, his friends pri-
vately conveyed a letter to him, informing him of all
that had happened. He was moved with extreme indig-
nation, to find that not only Fontrailles had promifed
the King of Spain, on the part of Gafton, that the
Duke of Bouillon fhould enter into the treaty, and let
them have Sedan for a place of ſafety, but that, with-
out his knowledge, they had obtained a penfion for him
from Philip IV. Fontrailles, to juſtify himſelf as to this
fraud, had afterwards the affurance to infift upon it, that
the Duke of Bouillon had been the firft projector in the
treaty with Spain: But the proceedings againſt the Duke,
in which we find him perfectly cleared from that accu-
fation,
に
​Maréchal TURENNE.
31
fation, as alſo the letters he wrote to the Queen, and to An. 1640.
Gafton, after death of the King and the Cardinal, fully
demonftrate the contrary.
In the mean time, the Chancellor Seguier prepared
with all diligence for the profecution of the priſoners.
Cinqmars and de Thou were condemned to loſe their
heads, the one as author of the treaty with Spain, the
other for having been privy to it without revealing it.
They died with great intrepidity, and fentiments of
real piety.
The Duke of Bouillon remained in great tranquility
of mind, through a falſe perfuafion that he had done
nothing but what became a man of honour; that it
would have been inconfiftent with that character to have
diſcovered the fecret of his friends; and that the not
having figned any thing relating to the treaty with Spain,
or impowered any other to treat for him, was fufficient
to acquit him of all guilt: But when he learnt that the
Prefident de Thou was condemned, and that the laws
âre not lefs fevere againſt miſprifion of treaſon than
againſt treaſon itfelf, he no longer doubted of his
ruin, and thought only of dying with the fame heroic
fentiments he had fhewn during his life. The proceed-
ings againſt him however came to nothing: The pref-
fing inftances of his uncles, the Prince of Orange, and
the Landgrave of Heffe, in his favour, joined with thoſe
of the Viſcount de Turenne, with whofe merit the Car-
dinal was thoroughly acquainted, foftened the Miniſter.
But that which moft efficacioufly contributed to the fa-
ving of this illuftrious criminal, was the refolute con-
duct of the Duchefs of Bouillon, who threatened to de-
liver up Sedan to the Spaniards in cafe her huſband was
put to death. As the Cardinal had not ſo much a deſign
against the perfon of the Duke of Bouillon, as upon
his Sovereignty, he foon came to an accommodation
with him, by which it was agreed that the King's troops
fhould be admitted into Sedan, that his Majefty fhould
give in exchange for that city, feveral confiderable eftates
in France, and while things were preparing for the execu-
tion of this exchange, the Duke fhould be releafed from
priſon and retire to Turenne.
The
A
32
The LIFE of
!
An. 1640.
The acquifition of Sedan, which has ever fince re-
mained united to the Crown, was one of the laft ad-
vantages procured to France by Cardinal Richelieu.
This great Minifter dyed after an eighteen years admi-
niftration, in which he was lefs loved than feared, but
admired by all, even by thoſe who had reafon to hate
him. Before his death, he had chofen Cardinal Maza-
rin to fucceed him in the Miniftry; and this choice was
approved. The King died five months after Richelieu,
leaving Queen Anne of Auftria, his wife, Regent of
the Kingdom during the minority of Louis XIV. who
was then but four years and a half old.
The Queen, in the very beginning of her adminiftra-
tion, gave the Viſcount de Turenne a proof of the
higheſt eſteem. The face of affairs in Italy was entirely
changed; the Spaniards having been obliged to carry the
principal part of their forces on the fide of Catalonia,
and being no longer able to fuccour Prince Thomas as
formerly, had bent their thoughts wholly to fecure to
themſelves the places conquered in Piedmont, by gar-
rifoning them with their own Troops, contrary to the
faith of treaties. Prince Thomas feeing himſelf thus
abandoned and expofed every day to fuffer new infults,
had lent an ear to the remonstrances of his fifter-in-law;
and openly breaking with Spain, had come to an ac-
commodation with France. The Queen Regent foon
fent him Letters Patent, conftituting him General of
the King's Armies in Italy; but as no great ſtreſs could
yet be laid upon his attachment, it was thought proper
to have near him a man that could be depended upon,
and the Viſcount Turenne was the perfon chofen for this
poſt of confidence. Prince Thomas, fenfible of Tu-
renne's fuperiority in the art of war, left the conduct
of the Army entirely to him. This he did the rather,
as his own bad ſtate of health put him out of a condi-
tion of acting.
The Viſcount, to oblige the Spaniards to quit Pied-
mont, made a feint as if he would carry the war into
the Milaneſe, marching directly to Alexandria. He in-
vefted this place, but yet fo as that the enemy might
throw fuccours into it, by the large intervals he left on
purpoſe between the feveral quarters of his Troops.
The Spaniards fell into the fnare, they drew out almoſt
half
Maréchal TURENN E.
33
half the garrison of Trin, to ſtrengthen that of Alex- An. 1640.
andria, and then the Viſcount marched to Trin, be--
fieged it in form, and took it in fix weeks. While he
was preparing to re-conquer all the other Towns that
were then poffeffed by the Spaniards in Piedmont, the
Queen fent him a Maréchal of France's Staff. He was
at that time but thirty-two years of age.
Such was Turenne's apprenticeſhip to the profeffion
of Arms. He ferved under different Generals feventeen
years, before he commanded in chief. Twelve months
he carried a mufket as a volunteer, was four years a
Captain, four years a Colonel, three years a Major Ge-
neral, and five years a Lieutenant General.
He learnt (as he often declared) from his uncle, Hen-
ry Prince of Orange, how to chuſe a Camp to advan-
tage; to attack a Town regularly, remotely to form a
project, revolve it a long time in his thoughts, and let
nothing of it appear till the very momentof execution ;
to avoid oftentation, fill his mind with elevated fenti-
ments, and have a more ardent zeal for the intereft of
his country, than for his own glory.
Of the Duke of Weymar, he was wont to ſay, that
he was a General, who with nothing did every thing,
yet was never vain of his fuccefs: that when he had
fallen into a misfortune, he did not loſe time in com-
plaining, but wholly applied his thoughts how to get
out of it; that he chofe rather to be unjustly blamed,
than to excufe himſelf at the expence of his friends,
who had not performed well in the action; that he was
more intent upon repairing his faults, than making ufe-
lefs apologies; and laftly, that he was much more defi-
rous of being loved than feared by the foldiers.
He had obferved under Cardinal De la Valette, that a
General, who would be agreeable to his Army, muft,
upon going into the field, renounce the falfe delicacies of
a court life, gallantry, the amuſements of wit and ima-
ginations, and live with the Officers after their faſhion,
without ceremony and without affectation.
By feeing the conduct of the Count d'Harcourt, he
was confirmed in Cæfar's grand maxim, that of all the
military virtues, diligence and expedition are the moſt
effential, and feldom fail to carry fuccefs along with
D
them,
34
The LIFE of
them, when they are accompanied with prudence and
circumfpection.
An. 1643. After the death of Louis XIII. the Duke of Bouil-
lon left his retreat, and went to Court, where he was
ſo favourably received by the Queen Regent, that it
was concluded he would fill the firft pofts in the State:
Nevertheleſs, he afterwards found not only the Queen,
but even the Duke of Orleans, to whoſe intereſts he had
facrificed himfelf, grow more and more cool towards
him. Cardinal Mazarin, jealous of his abilities, en-
deavoured to tire him out with the difficulties he indu-
ftriouſly ſtarted concerning the exchange of Sedan, and
the preſervation of the Duke's rank as a Sovereign Prince,
after the loſs of his dominions. The Duke could not
conceal his reſentments, ſo that Mazarin, fearing left he
ſhould ſeek revenge, propofed, in open Council, to feize
his perfon; but the Duke, having notice of the Mi-
niſter's deſign, returned in hafte to Turenne, and re-
folved to leave the Kingdom without delay. While he
was confidering into what country he ſhould retire,
Pope Urban VIII. offered him the poft of Generaliffimo
of the Troops of the Church, in the Barberine* War :
he accepted the offer, and went to Rome, where he was
ftill followed by the jealoufy and injuftice of the Cardi-
nal. The French Ambaffador was ordered to do his
utmoſt to hinder the Duke's being treated as a Sovereign
Prince; but it was found, upon an examination into the
archives of the Vatican, that the Princes of Sedan had
always been treated as fuch by the Emperor, and the
Kings of France and Spain. The Duke therefore had
all
• This war took its name from the chief promoters of it, two ne-
phews of Pope Urban VIII. viz. the Cardinals Anthony and Fran-
cis Barberini, who having propofed to the Duke of Parma to fell
them fome lands in the Duchy of Caftro, which lay near to theirs,
and meeting with a refufal, to revenge themſelves, perfuaded their un-
cle to revoke the grant to the whole Duchy, which, they faid, was a
fief of the Holy See, and had formerly been granted as fuch by
Pope Paul III. to his baſtard-fon Peter Lewis Farnefe, from whom
the prefent Duke of Parma was defcended. The Duke, enraged at
this, took up arms, declared war against the Pope, and entered.
into a league with the Venetians, and the Dukes of Modena and
Tuſcany, against him. The Pope, on his fide, raiſed Troops, and
defired the Duke of Bouillon to command them. But a peace was
foon made, and Caftro continued in the poffeffion of the Family of
Farnefe.
Maréchal TURENNE.
35
all the honours due to that rank paid him in all public An. 1643-
ceremonies, as well as in private; and the Pope even al-
lowed him an arm-chair in his own prefence.
The fplendor with which the Duke of Bouillon ap-
peared at Rome, made Cardinal Mazarin, who was not
acquainted with the character of the Viſcount de Tu-
renne, apprehenfive that it might not be fafe to leave
this General longer in Italy; fo near a brother who was
diffatisfied and provoked. He therefore fent him to ga-
ther up the fcattered remains of the Weymarian Army
in Germany, and to take the command of it. The Ma-
réchal de Guébriant, who fucceeded the Duke of Wey-
mar in the command of thefe Troops, was lately dead
of a wound he had received at the fiege of Rotweil, a
Town in Swabia, fituated near the fource of the Neckar;
and the Count de Rantzan, his fucceffor, had been de-
feated near Dutlingen, on the Danube, and made pri-
foner by Count Merci. Of this Army, once fo formi-
dable, there remained only between five and fix thou-
fand horfe, which had eſcaped to the weſtern ſide of the
Rhine. With theſe Remains of the rout, the banks of
that river were to be defended againſt the Armies of the
Emperor, and the Dukes of Bavaria and Lorraine, who
had united in hopes of making their advantage of the
defeat of the French. In this melancholy ftate of af-
fairs, the Viſcount had orders to repair into Germany.
The Cardinal' forced him to leave the triumphant Army
in Italy, to go and collect Troops which were defeated,
difperfed, and without either leader, arms, or money.
The Viſcount was by this fully convinced of the Minif-
ter's ill difpofitions towards him and his Houſe; yet he
hewed no refentment, but feemed content with his new
employment, confidering it as an opportunity of ac-
quiring fresh glory, by furmounting fo many difficul-
ties. He fet out for Alface, and arrived at Colmar in
December 1643. He found the Army in a general
want of every thing; and in order to fupply their ne-
ceffities more fpeedily, he borrowed confiderable fums
upon his own credit, before he had any remittances from
Court; and at a time when the other great men of the
Kingdom were felling the ſmalleſt ſervices they did the
Crown, at a very high price, he remounted five thouſand
troopers,
D 2
36
The LIFE of
1
}
troopers, and clothed four thouſand foot, (which madę
the whole of the King's Army) at his own expence.
An. 1644. At this period of his taking upon him the command
of the Army in Germany, the Viſcount begins his own
Memoirs; in which, with all the fimplicity and modeſ-
ty
ge-
of Cæfar, he gives us his own military hiſtory from
the year 1644, down to the peace of the Pyrenees in
1659. His exploits, during this period, are leſs cele-
brated than thoſe of the great heroes of antiquity. He
did not command thoſe numerous Armies, which engage
the curiofity of mankind to be attentive to all their mo-
tions: His victories were not attended with that flaugh-
ter and deſolation to which many conquerors are indebted
for a great part of their fame: Nor were they followed by
thoſe ſurpriſing revolutions in the fate of nations which
nerally imply a great inferiority, both in courage and con-
duct on the vanquished fide. But he had to oppoſe the
greateſt Captains and the beft Troops of an age when
the military ſcience was carried to its utmoſt perfection ;
and the advantages he gained were entirely owing to his
fuperior abilities, to his extenfive knowledge in the art
of War, his indefatigable diligence, his wary and cir-
cumfpect prudence, and his cool and intrepid courage.
For this reaſon, his Memoirs, where the exertion of
theſe great qualities is difplayed, feem to merit the utmoſt
attention. There are alfo many interefting particulars,
fuch as either did not belong to M. de Turenne's fub-
ject, or his modeſty hindered him from relating, which
may be gathered from the Marquis de la Mouffaye's rela-
tion of the campaign of 1644, and the Duke of York's
account of what happened while he ſerved in the French
and Spaniſh Armies, from 1652 to 1658. Here then we
refer the reader to thefe accounts; and during this whole
period of fifteen years, fhall only infert a few facts of a
private nature, and a fhort explanation of fome remark-
able public tranfactions, which may ferve to render
thoſe accounts more intelligible.
An. 1648. In 1648, the courfe of the Vifcount's fucceffes in
Germany was ſtopped by the celebrated peace of Weſt-
phalia, by which France acquired the Sovereignty of
Alface, with Brifac, and Philipfburgh, in confidera-
tion of a fum of money; a new Electorate was created
in favour of the Houfe of Bavaria, and the ejected Pa-
latine
Maréchal TURENNE.
37
latine Family reſtored. The rights of all the Princes An. 1648.
and Imperial Towns of Germany were confirmed: The
Emperor's power was confined within narrower bounds,
the liberties of the whole Germanic body, and particu-
larly of the Proteftant States, were fettled upon a firm
bafis. Sweden got a great part of Pomerania, Bremen
and Verden, the Ifle of Rugen, the Town of Wiſmar,
and a confiderable fum of money. In fhort, the French,
by their union with the Swedes, became the Legiſlators
of Germany, and completed one confiderable part of
Richelieu's great plan, in humbling the German Branch
of the Houſe of Auſtria.
Spain was not included in this peace, becauſe the
Spaniſh Miniſter hoped to reap advantages from the di-
vifions in France, where thofe factions were already
formed, which foon broke out into a civil war, and for
more than three years diftreffed the Kingdom.
The real fource of theſe troubles was envy of Maza-
rin's power, and a defire of fucceeding to his poft; but
the pretence was the increaſe of taxes, the creation of
new offices in order to raiſe money by the fale of them,
and the ſeizure of the_falaries ufually paid to the mem-
bers of fome of the Courts of Juftice. The fedition
roſe to a greater height, becauſe no one ſtood in awe of
the King, who was only a child, or of his mother, the
Queen Regent, a Spaniſh Princefs, with whofe family
the Kingdom was then at war, Amidst the chaos of
factions which fprung up on this occafion, it is obvious
to diſtinguiſh two, effentially oppofed to each other,
which were perpetually gaining and lofing ſtrength by
the fluctuation of their principal members. The firit
was that of the Cardinal, always fupported by the Queen,
and in the beginning by the Duke of Orleans, brother
to the late King, and the great Prince of Condé. The
fecond was that of the Frondeurs, or Slingers, fo called,
becauſe their object was to demoliſh the Cardinal, as
David did Goliah, with a fling. The perfon that
chiefly animated this faction, was the Cardinal de Retz,
Coadjutor * of the See of Paris, a man of the moſt
D 3
reft-
*It is a common practice, in Roman Catholic Countries, when
a Biſhop, through age or infirmities, is incapable of performing the
functions of his office, to appoint him a Coadjutor, or Affiftant
Bishop, who has a part of the revenues allotted him, and fucceeds
to the See when it becomes vacant.
38
The LIFE of
An.1548.reſtleſs and turbulent ſpirit, and proud of being called
the little Catiline, who had the art of always providing
his party with ſome illuftrious leader, and of engaging
the Parliament of Paris in its interefts. The other per-
ſons of diſtinction who joined in this cabal, were the
Prince of Conti, Condé's brother, the Duke of Lon-
gueville, his brother-in-law; the Duke of Beaufort,
the Duke of Elbeuf, the Duke of Bouillon, the Vif-
count de Turenne, and ſeveral others of lefs note. The
Fronde had alfo its heroines, fuch as the Ducheſſes of
Longueville, Chevrenge, and Montbaſon, who, to keep
up the fpirit of the Party, diftributed their favours with
great art and policy.
The Parliament of Paris, which had a right to con-
firm all taxes, ftrongly oppoſed the new Edicts of the
Court, and thereby gained the confidence of the peo-
An. 1649 ple, who broke out into open fedition, when Brouffel, a
member of that body, and one of the moſt active oppo-
fers of the Court, was feized by the Queen's order.
Upon this, the Court left Paris, and the Prince of Con-
dé, at the head of a ſmall Army, befieged that City :
But a peace was foon made at Ruel, where moſt of the
principal perfons of the Fronde took care to ſecure their
own interefts. The Duke of Bouillon, in particular,
infifted upon an equivalent for his Principality of Sedan,
and a confirmation of the rank of Sovereign Princes for
himſelf and his brother, with all their defcendants.
But notwithſtanding theſe conceffions, it was not long
before the quarrel broke out afreſh; and the Prince of
Condé reconciled himſelf to the heads of the Fronde,
and particularly to the Prince of Conti, and the Duke of
Longueville. The Cardinal now took a deſperate ſtep, and
An. 1650. ordered all the three Princes to be taken into cuftody: But
this increaſed the difturbances of the Kingdom, and indu-
ced Turenne to treat with the Spaniards, in order to pro-
cure their liberty. He now became Lieutenant to Don
Eftevan de Gamara, the Spaniſh General, and was de-
feated with him at Rhetel, by the Royal Troops. Bour-
deaux alſo openly rebelled in favour of the Princes, but was
reduced to have recourſe to the mercy of the Court.
But the public hatred ftill increaſed againſt the Cardi-
nal, who finding that nothing could be done by open vio-
lence,
Maréchal TURENNE.
39
lence, went in perfon to releaſe the Princes, and re- An. 1651.
tired out of the Kingdom to Brule near Cologne. The-
Parliament immediately paffed a decree of perpetual ba-
niſhment againſt him; the Viſcount de Turenne broke
off all connection with the Spaniards, and peace feemed
likely to be reſtored. But on a fudden the Prince of
Condé, apprehending a fecond arreft at the inftigation
of Mazarin, who, from his retreat in Germany, ftill
governed the Court, revives the civil war, prevails upon
the inhabitants of Bourdeaux to revolt a ſecond time, and
enters into a league with the Spaniards. The Queen took
this opportunity to recal the Cardinal, who re-entered
the Kingdom in triumph at the head of a little Army
of ſeven thouſand men, commanded by the Marquis An. 1652.
d'Hocquincourt, who for this fervice was made a Ma-
réchal of France. The Parliament renewed its decrees
against him, and even fet a price upon his head, and the
Duke of Orleans raiſed Troops to oppofe his entrance.
But the Cardinal, defpifing this oppofition, was folici-
tous only to ſecure M. de Turenne in his intereſts, to
whom, in conjunction with Maréchal d'Hocquincourt,
the Queen now gave the command of the Royal Army,
which was to act against the rebels. In the action at
Gergeau, the Queen declared publicly, that the Vif-
count had faved the Kingdom: And by his behaviour at
Gien, fhe complimented him with having fet the Crown
a fecond time upon her Son's head. He alfo defeated the
Prince of Condé in the battle of the Suburbs of St. An-
thony; and took fuch meaſures to stop the progrefs of
the Spaniards, who came to fupport the rebels, that they
were forced to quit the Kingdom. But his fatisfaction
at theſe fucceffes was damped by the ſickneſs and death
of his brother, the Duke of Bouillon, a Prince of the
moſt confpicuous merit, and with whom the Viſcount
had always lived in the most intimate friendſhip and
tender affection.
Notwithstanding thefe fucceffes of the royal forces,
the Cardinal found that the hatred which the Fron-
deurs and the Parliament had conceived against him, did
not diminiſh. He declared, that he was willing to leave
the Kingdom, in order to reſtore the public quiet. His
view in fo doing, was to lay the blame of the inteſtine
divifions upon the Prince of Condé; and he fucceeded in
D 4
it.
:
:
{
40
The LIFE of
An. 1652.it. Scarce was the Cardinal out of France, when the
Parifians fubmitted to the Court, and humbly petitioned
the King to return to his Capital. The Prince of Condé
loft all his credit with the people, and retired with his
Troops into the Spaniſh Netherlands. Mazarin return-
ed to Court, and held the Adminiſtration till his death,
without any further oppofition. Not the leaft fhadow
of the Fronde now remained, the Duke of Orleans re-
tired from Court, the Cardinal de Retz was taken into
cuftody, and Bourdeaux was forced to fubmit.
An. 1653. In the beginning of the year 1653, the Viſcount de
Turenne married Charlotte de Caumont, only daughter
and heiress of the Duke de la Force, a Peer and Maré-
chal of France. This lady is faid to have had a fine un-
derſtanding, an agreeable perfon, a ftrict regard to virtue,
and great politenefs of manners; in a word, to have
been in every refpect worthy of the Vifcount de Tu-
renne.
Not long after his marriage, the Viſcount fet out for
Flanders, where he was joined in commiffion with the
Maréchal de la Ferté to command the King's Army
against the Spaniards under the Prince of Condé. His
Collegue feems to have been a perfon of a fiery impe-
tuous temper, not void of merit, but fenfible of his in-
feriority to the Viſcount, and therefore induftrioufly
thwarting his defigns, and taking all opportunities to
hinder the increafe of his glory. The fpleen and envy
which was continually preying upon La Ferte's mind,
fometimes broke out in the moſt indecent manner; but
the Vifcount always preferved the calmnefs of his tem-
per, ſo that even this peevifh rival could not help ob-
ferving, and condemning himfelf for, this difference in
their behaviour.
An. 1654. During the fiege of Arras, by the Spaniards, in the
raifing of which theſe two Generals were aflifted by
Maréchal d'Hocquincourt, and where all three had di-
ftinct commands and different quarters, la Ferté found a
foldier of the Viſcount's Guards without the Camp, and
aſked him how he durft go out of the lines; but with-
out waiting for an anſwer, went up to him and beat
him feverely. The Soldier, covered with blood, went
immediately and prefented himſelf in that condition to
his
}
*
Maréchal TURENNE.
41
his General, who faid to him, You must certainly have been Aa. 1654.
extremely in fault, to have provoked the Maréchal to treat-
you in this manner; and inftantly ordered the Lieutenant
of his Guards to conduct him back to la Ferté, with
this compliment, "That he was very much concerned
"at the man's having behaved difrefpectfully to him,
"and that he delivered him up into his hands to be pu-
"niſhed as he thought proper. The whole Army was
aftoniſhed at this condefcenfion; and the Maréchal him-
felf being ſurpriſed, cried out, What! is this man to be al-
ways a wife man, and I always a madman ?
>>
The glory of raifing the fiege of Arras, and defeating
the Spaniards, was entirely attributed to Turenne, and
excited the admiration of all who heard it. Several of
the Princes of Germany, and the moſt eminent Gene-
rals in Europe, wrote to him letters of congratulation;
and the Court of France feems, from this time, to have
been fully convinced of his fuperior merit. His two
Collegues now left the Army, and the Viſcount remain-
ed alone at the head of it.
When the campaign was over, the Viſcount went to
Paris, where his prefence contributed greatly to hinder
the re-kindling the civil feuds. The Cardinal de Retz,
having found means to efcape out of his prifon, in the
Caftle of Nantes, took poft immediately for Paris, in
order to fhew himſelf to the people, and raiſe freſh com-
motions; but as he was galloping along the Suburbs of
Nantes, having cocked his piftol to fire at a foldier that
purſued him, his horfe ftarted, fell and threw him, and
his fhoulder being diflocated by the fall, he could not
purfue his journey, and hid himſelf in a hay-ftack. The
alarm being given, he would have been taken and re-
committed to prifon, if fome Gentlemen of the neigh-
bourhood had not favoured his eſcape to Bell-ifle, on the
Coaſt of Bretagne, from whence he went to Rome,
where Pope Innocent X. out of hatred to Mazarin, re-
ceived him with great marks of diftinction.
It was happy for the Court, that this turbulent Prelate
was hindered from executing his defign; for the Parlia-
ment of Paris feemed in a proper temper to be wrought-
upon by fo able a fomenter of diſcord. The King having
illued an Edict for a new coinage, came in perfon to the
Į
Par-
42
The LIFE of
An. 1655 Parliament, and ordered it to be * regiſtered; but foon
after the ſeveral Courts affembled to examine into this
very Edict, and deliberate about the receiving of it,
pretending, that the King's prefence had deprived them
of the freedom of fuffrage. The King came a fecond
time, and poſitively forbad their meddling with public af-
fairs; but the Parliament ftill continued to affemble, and
the minds of the Members grew daily more and more
fowered. In this exigence, the Minifter had recourſe
to the Viſcount, who went to the First Prefident, and laid
before him, in an affecting manner, all the horrors of
civil war, and the danger of rekindling the leaſt ſpark,
while the former fire was not yet extinguiſhed. His
repreſentation was liftened to with all the regard due to
his rank and perfonal merit: The rifing animofities were
calmed, and the diffention ftifled in its birth.
During the campaign of this year, a miſunderſtand-
ing happened between the Viſcount and the Prince of
Condé, who had hitherto treated one another with all
the reſpect due to their exalted ftations and diftinguiſhed
merit. The Viſcount relates the occafion of it in his own
Memoirs, p. 138, 139, and 140, in the tendereſt man-
ner, both for the Prince and M. de Caftelnau, whoſe
miſconduct gave rife to it; but the Duke of York, p.
455, 466, 468, 469, has fupplied what the Viſcount's
uncommon delicacy engaged him to omit.
An. 1656. In the year 1656, the Viſcount and Maréchal la Ferté
laid fiege to Valenciennes, a ftrong Town in Spaniſh
Flanders; but the Spaniards, commanded by the Prince.
of Condé, and Don John of Auftria, natural fon to the
King of Spain, advanced to its relief, and advice was
received that their principal attack would be on la Ferté's
quarter. Turenne put him in mind two or three times
to be upon the watch, but the Maréchal looked upon
advice only as an affront, and flighted it. The following
night, la Ferté was attacked, as the Viſcount apprehend-
his
ed,
* All Edicts iffued by the Court muſt be regiſtered or verified by
the Farliament of Paris, before they have the force of laws. The
Parliament claims a right of examining into the nature and tendency
of thefe Edicts, and of rejecting them, if prejudicial to the Subject.
The Court pretends, that the Parliament is bound to receive them.
abſolutely and implicitly; and that the ufe of their being registered
there, is only to notify to the Subjects the will of the Monarch,
which is of itſelf a law of complete and perfect obligation.
།
1
Maréchal TURENNE.
43
ed, his Army quickly routed, himſelf taken priſoner, An. 1656.
with four hundred Officers, and near four thoufand-
foldiers. An attempt was alfo made upon Turenne's
quarter; but though the enemy was vigorously repulfed,
the miſchief occafioned by la Ferté's negligence was ir-
reparable. All that remained was to retreat with as lit-
tle lofs as poffible; and this the Viſcount effected, with
the moſt aſtoniſhing intrepidity, and the moft wary cir-
cumſpection, in the prefence of a far fuperior Army.
He choſe a camp near Quênci, which for want of tools
to make ſtrong works, he was obliged to leave open;
and there waited for the enemy; who continued two
days in fight, without daring to attempt any thing, and
then retired. The Viſcount even ventured to fend away
a thouſand Troopers, each with a fack of corn behind
him, to victual Condé, perceiving that the enemy had a
deſign to beſiege that place. "There is ſcarce a General
"in the world, ſays the famous Count de Buffi Rabu-
"tin, befide Maréchal Turenne, who, in preſence of
a victorious Army, much stronger than his own,
"would have dared to ſend away fo confiderable a de-
"tachment as that was. A man muft poffefs the art
"of war to perfection to act thus; theſe are indeed
"mafter-ſtrokes."
'
When the news of this famous Encampment arrived
at Court, le Tellier, Secretary of State, wrote to the
Viſcount in these terms: "By your prudence, my Lord,
"and the vigour of your conduct, you have reftored the
(C
CC
reputation of his Majefty's Arms. Certainly nothing
"can be more glorious than your Encampment at
"Quênci, after the defeat of Valenciennes : Thus to
"have made head againſt the enemy fluſhed with fuc-
"ceſs, and even in their own country, and to have
obliged them to retire, though victorious; this is an
"exploit which is peculiar to the great mafters in the
military art." And yet, in a letter to the Viſcoun-
teſs of Turenne, dated from the camp before Quênci,
the Maréchal ſpeaks of this admired action in the fol-
lowing manner: The enemy came pretty near this place,
they flaid two days, and then marched towards Condé.
r
The fiege of Valenciennes being raiſed, the Viſcount
paffed the Scheld, and marched towards Lens, where he
encamped for twelve days. During his ftay here, he
fent
44
The LIFE of
:
น
An. 1656.fent the Count de Grandpré, afterwards Maréchal de
Joyeuſe, at the head of fome fquadrons, to Arras, to ef
cort a convoy that was coming from thence: The young
Count, having made an engagement with a Lady in that
City, left the Major of his Regiment to guard the con-
voy from thence to the camp. A Spanish party that was
marauding, attacked the efcort, but was repulfed and
defeated by the Major, who happily brought the convoy
fafe to Lens. M. de Turenne was informed of Grand-
pré's folly, and knowing it would have ruined him at
Court, faid to the Officers who were about him; The
Count de Grandbré will be very angry with me for giving
him a private Commiffion, which kept him at Arras at a
time when he would have had an opportunity of fhewing his
bravery. The Count at his return being told what his
General had faid, ran to his tent, threw himſelf at his
feet, and expreffed his gratitude and repentance with.
tears full of affection. The Viſcount then ſpoke to him
with a paternal feverity; and his reproofs had ſuch an
effect upon that young Officer, that far from falling.
again into the fame error, he fignalized himſelf by the
gallanteft actions during the reft of the campaign, and
became at length one of the ableft Captains of his age.
An. 1657. In the year 1657, the Viſcount was made Colonel
General of the Horfe, an employment of fuch great im-
portance, that the Prince of Conti, then commanding
in Catalonia, afked it; but a Prince of the Blood was
forced to yield to Maréchal Turenne; and it has been.
in his family ever fince. Some time after, his nephew,
the Duke of Bouillon, was declared Lord High Cham-
berlain. The Court now made it a point to reward the
Viſcount for his paſt ſervices, and to encourage him to
execute the great defigns he was meditating for the next
campaign.
An. 168.
Cardinal Mazarin had just entered into a league with
Cromwell against the Spaniards. The Ufurper was to fend
fix thoufand foot into Flanders, and the French were to
befiege Dunkirk, and deliver it, when taken, into his
hands. The articles were punctually executed: The
united forces of England and France laid fiege to Dun-
kirk; and the Spaniards, who advanced to fuccour it,
were totally defeated in the famous battle of the Downs.
Before the Viſcount marched to attack the enemy, he
fent
Maréchal TURENNE.
45
fent a Captain of his Regiment to General Lockhart, An. 1658.
Commander of the Engliſh forces, to impart to him the
reaſons of his conduct. Lockhart anfwered the Officer,
That he had an entire confidence in the Prince, and when the
battle was over it would be time enough to inform himself of
his reafons. Lockhart's confidence was well placed.
The Viſcount, through the whole action, fhewed a ma-
nifeſt ſuperiority to the Spaniſh Generals, and even to
the Prince of Condé himſelf. In the evening of this
glorious day, he wrote the following fhort billet to his
Lady: The enemy came to us, and God be praised, they have
been defeated: I was pretty bufy all day, which has fatigued
me; I wiſh you a good night, and am going to bed.
The battle of the Downs, and the taking of Dun-
kirk, were exploits fo great and fo worthy of admiration,
that Cardinal Mazarin, fond, it feems, of equalling in
every thing his predeceffor Richelieu, who had acquired
great glory by the taking of Rochelle, commiffioned his
favourite the Count de Moret to prevail, if poffible,
with Turenne to write a letter, in which he fhould
give the Cardinal the honour of having projected the
fiege, and formed the plan of the battle. But this agent
was to manage the matter dextroufly, and rather infinu-
ate the thing than propofe it. Moret, who knew that
diffimulation was the fure way to mifcarry in any tranf-
action with Turenne, and was himself naturally averfe
to artifice, frankly told him the Cardinal's defire, and
affured him, that whatever price he fhould afk for this.
complaifance, the Cardinal would grant it. The Vil-
count, without hefitating a moment, anfwered, that
the Cardinal might employ whatever means he thought
fit to give the world a high opinion of his military fkill,
but that he could not authorize a falfehood by a formal
atteftation. However mortifying this anfwer muft have
been, the Cardinal could not help admiring the Vif-
count's diſintereſtedneſs. A greedy politician would have
thought it a fine piece of management to have fecured the
advantages of a Minifter's favour, by making fport with
his vanity; but theſe low and mercenary arts were un-
worthy of Turenne.
The Viſcount improved to the utmoft the victory he
had gained over the Spaniards; and by his rapid con-
quefts alarmed the Catholic King, and contributed to the
bring-.
46
The LIFE of
An. 1658.bringing about a peace between the two Crowns. The
-Spaniards offered the King of France the Infanta, eldeſt
daughter of his Catholic Majefty, who might probably
become the heiress of the immenſe Dominions of that
An. 1659. Branch of the Houfe of Auftria. Mazarin and Don
Lewis de Haro, Prime Minifter to the King of Spain,
met in the Ifle of Pheaſants, upon the frontiers of France
and Spain, where their conferences continued for four
months, and the utmoſt ſtretch of their policy was exert-
ed. The Cardinal's confifted in cunning, and Don
Lewis's in circumfpection. The latter fcarce ever faid
any thing, and what the former faid was always equivo-
cal. The genius of the Italian Minifter difplayed it-
felf in deceit, and that of the Spaniard in avoiding be-
ing deceived. The latter was ftately and inflexible, but
frank and fincere: The former complaifant, fubtle, and
full of artifice. However, in a few months they did
more than the mediators of all the nations in Europe had
been able to effect in almoſt five years, at the treaty of
Weftphalia. The articles were concluded and figned
the feventh of November; and the war, which had lafted
almoſt twenty-four years, was now at an end. The
King of France was to marry the Infanta, with a dowry
of five hundred thouſand crowns. Alface, Roufillon,
Artois, and part of Flanders, became Provinces of
France. Mazarin by his negotiations, and Turenne
by his victories, thus executed another principal part of
Richelieu's plan, which was to extend the bounds of the
French Monarchy.
The Viſcount de Turenne having made fuch difpofitions
of the Troops as the Court had ordered, went to wait up-
on the King, who was making a tour through the fouthern
provinces of his Kingdom, till the feafon fhould be pro-
per for his meeting the Infanta upon the frontiers. The
young King, during his ſtay at Montpelier, had a defire
to reward Turenne, by honouring him with the first
dignity in the gift of the Crown; the Cardinal Miniſter
acquainted him that the King would willingly revive, on
his account, the Office of Conftable of France, if he
himſelf would not put a bar in the way by his adherence
to the Proteftant religion; and when the King found
that the Viſcount was not to be moved in that refpect,
he created for him a new office, which intitled him to
the
Maréchal TURENNE.
47
the fame privileges with thofe of Conftable; it was that An. 1659.
of Maréchal General of the King's Camps and Armies.
The Letters Patent bear date the fifth of April, 1660.
In a fhort time after Louis XIV. left Montpelier, and
went to St. Jean de Luz: Philip IV. fet out from Ma-
drid, and came as far as St. Sebaſtian. About the be-
ginning of June, the two Kings, attended by the chief
Nobles of France and Spain, had a conference in the
Inland of Pheaſants, and appeared in that defert place
with all the pomp that Grandeur and Luxury diſplays
in the moſt magnificent Courts, and moſt flouriſhing
Capitals. On the one fide appeared Philip IV. of a ve-
nerable afpect, and more broken with cares. than years;
on the other Louis XIV. in the flower of his age,
heightened the royal dignity by his majeſtic air. The
Queen Mother of France, and the King of Spain her
brother, who had not feen one another for five and forty
years before, embraced with great tenderneſs, and fhed
tears of joy: The two Kings likewife embraced, and
afterwards prefented to each other the principal Lords of
their Courts. The Viſcount de Turenne not being for-
ward to make his appearance, the Catholic King de-
fired to fee him; he looked upon him attentively, and
faid, There's a man who has made me pafs many bad nights.
The two Kings fwore to the Peace, and ratified all
that had been concluded by their Minifters. The next
day Philip IV. gave the Infanta to Louis XIV. The
celebration of the marriage, which had been per-
formed at Fontarabia by the Miniſtry of the Ambaſſadors.
only, was repeated with great magnificence.
Several foreign Princes wrote to the Viſcount, as they
had done after the treaty of Weftphalia, congratulating
him upon the peace of the Pyrenees, and afcribing it to
his victories.
Upon the death of the Duke of Braganza, King of
Portugal, four years before this, his widow, now Queen
Regent during the minority of his fons Don Alphonfo
and Don Pedro, found herfelf without alliances, difci-
plined Troops or able Generals. In this diſtreſs fhe offered
the King of Spain to hold her Kingdom as a fief of
Caftile, and in homage, pay annually a million of mo-
ney, furniſh annually four thoufand foot and eight ſhips of
war: But Philip IV. being perfuaded that Portugal, now
for-
3
48
The LIFE of
An. 1659. forfaken by France, could not hold a fingle campaign,
would not give ear to any accommodation, but made all
his forces march thither, under the command of Don
Louis de Haro. The Queen Regent had an heroic
mind, and, under all her difadvantages, calmly prepared
to defend the Kingdom the governed. She affumed to
herſelf the whole authority of the Councils, extended
her views to all the Courts of Europe, from whence the
might draw any affiftance, and fent Don Juan d'Acofta
Count de Soure to Paris, to treat with Cardinal Maza-
rin. !
This Minifter, unwilling to give umbrage to
Spain, applied himſelf to M. de Turenne, who became
the chicf manager in all the negotiations. He was
of opinion, that the re-union of Portugal to the Crown
of Spain would too much increaſe the power of a State
that was always to be dreaded.
ne-
Secrecy being neceffary in this negotiation, the Por-
tugueſe Ambaffador did not appear in public. The Vif-
count concealed him in a country-houſe of his
phew the Duke d'Albret, afterwards Cardinal de Bouil-
lon. There, after feveral conferences, a ſecret treaty was
concluded, by which Louis XIV. promifed to fend
troops, money, and even a General, to the affiftance
of the Portuguefé. Turenne caft his eyes upon the
Count de Schomberg to command in this expedition:
For the Count being a German by birth, and of the
Proteftant religion, might ferve the King of Portugal
without giving ground of complaint againft Fance. The
negotiation was quickly known to the Queen Mother,
who ſaid to the Viſcount, "Do you know, Monfieur
"de Turenne, that I can fee over Spain into Portu-
"gal? However, I fhall not give myfelf much trouble
"about it, for I have done what I defired to do."
Schomberg went over into England, where he waited
upon King Charles the Second, then newly reſtored to
his dominions. The Count had private orders from the
Queen Regent of Portugal, to find out whether that
Proteftant Prince would be averfe from a marriage.
with the Infanta her daughter. Spain, alarmed at
this news, offered the King of Great Britain to adopt
and give a dowry to the Princefs of Orange, daughter
of Frederick Henry, and Coufin German to the Vif-
count; but M. Turenne, more concerned for the in-
tereft
Maréchal TURENNE.
49
tereft of his country, than the glory of his family, An. 1660,
preffed the Count de Schomberg to haften his negotiation.
The Count managed matters with fo much addrefs, that
he brought the King of England to defire the Infanta in
marriage; he went afterwards into Portugal, from
whence the Queen Regent ſent the Marquis de Sande to
London, to conclude the alliance.
Schomberg carried with him to Liſbon eighty officers,
captains and fubalterns, and above four hundred troopers,
all old foldiers able to form new ones and to command
them. It was refolved in Spain to ſend againſt him Don
John of Auftria, and to recall Don Louis de Haro, who
was more a politician than a foldier. Schomberg eſta-
bliſhed an exact difcipline in the Portugueſe army, car-
ried on the war with vigour, and was fuccefsful almoſt
every where.
The Marquis de Sande laboured with fo much zeal,
for the conclufion of the marriage of the Infanta of
Portugal with the King of England, that it was foon
effected. France had the ſkill to draw a great advan-
tage from this alliance, and from another match 'which
was concluded between the Princeſs Henrietta of Eng-
land, and Philip Duke of Orleans, the King's brother.
Charles II. tenderly loved the Princeſs his fifter, and
earneſtly defired this laft marriage: but he had no money
to pay a dowry. Louis offered King Charles a very con-
fiderable fum, on condition he would give up Dunkirk
to France; and this affair being tranſacted with as
much diligence as fecrecy, was almoft as foon concluded.
as propofed by the Viſcount de Turenne, to whom the
King of Great Britain and the Duke of York his bro-
ther had great obligations, and with whom they always
lived in great intimacy. Dunkirk was fold to France
for five millions of French livres, the half of which
ſerved to pay the Princefs Henrietta's portion.
In a little time after Cardinal Mazarin died, having
for fixteen years managed the affairs of the kingdom,
and fhewed himſelf an able minifter. He had pacified
the commotions of the Fronde, almoſt without ſhedding
blood; more than once fuffered baniſhment and pro-
feription, without lofing any thing of his authority;
turned his heaviest misfortunes into means of advance-
ment, and difconceited the defigns of his enemies,
Ε
though
50
The LIFE of
1
man.
An. 1662, though they had at their head a Prince of the Blood,
formed to conquer kingdoms, and a turbulent prelate
capable of deftroying them. If the minifter had, to his
great talents, added more piety, difintereſtedneſs, and
honefty, thoſe who have allowed him the title of a good
politician, could not have refufed him that of a great
After his death Louis XIV. took into his own
hands the reins of government, and in all important
affairs at home and abroad, frequently confulted M. de
Turenne, who knew better than any man the ftrength
and political intereft of the kingdom. LeTellier, Lionne,
and Colbert were the king's counſellors, and the execu-
tors of his orders; but it is certain the Viſcount was the
chief, and ſometimes the only, confident of his deſigns.
As foon as the Cardinal was dead, Turenne repre-
fented to the King, that the promiſe which Mazarin had
made to abandon Portugal, was the effect of weakneſs,
and contrary to juftice, to the law of nations, and the
protection which is due to an injured monarch, and an
oppreffed people: he then remonftrated to him, the ne
ceffity of affifting Portugal to preferve its independence
upon Spain, which would otherwife become again too
powerful. The king gave the Viſcount full power to
'employ what money he fhould judge needful, for aiding
the Portugueſe.
The Viſcount then applied himſelf to cultivate a good
intelligence between France and the United Provinces,
by means of the credit which he had with John De Witt
Penfioner of Holland. The Penfioner concluded a treaty
of commerce with France, by which full liberty was
given to the two nations to trade in each other's ports:
By this treaty the French were guarantees to the Dutch
for their fifhing upon the Engliſh coaft, and the States
General guarantied to his Moft Chriftian Majefty the
poffeffion of Dunkirk. The Count d'Eftrades being
afterwards appointed Ambaffador to the States, Tu-
renne drew up his inftructions, which fhew the perfect
knowledge he had of the interefts of France.
To unite the Portugueſe more clofely with France,
a marriage was propofed between the Princefs de Mont-
penfier and King Alphonfo; and the Viſcount fent his
Secretary Haffet to negotiate that alliance at Liſbon.
He gave him full inftructions with a letter of credit to
the
Maréchal TURENNE.
5T
}
the Count de Schomberg, who propofed the match to the An. 1662.
Queen and obtained her confent. The Viſcount in--
formed of this, waited on the Princefs de Montpenfier
to found her inclinations. He made ufe of arguments,
promiſes, and even threatenings on the King's part, to
perfuade her to the marriage; but all in vain: For be-
fides that ſhe had no mind to leave France, ſhe had been
informed of the King of Portugal's character, who was
of a mean underſtanding, a fullen untractable temper,
and bad morals. The Queen his mother apprehending
that through his incapacity, he would deftroy the work
of many years, had thoughts of having him fhut up, and
of placing his brother Don Pedro on the throne: but
all her projects were difconcerted by the Count de
Caftel Melhor, Alphonfo's minifter. He cauſed the King
to be declared of age, took the adminiſtration out of the
Queen's hands, and poffeffed himſelf of the manage-
ment of affairs.
Schomberg found it lefs difficult to beat the Spaniards,
than to conquer the obftinacy of the Portugueſe, Gene-
ral, the Count de Villaflor; who though he owed a
victory over the Caftilians, and other fucceffes, to the
courage and prudence of Schomberg, thwarted never-
thelefs all his defigns, which fo difgufted Schomberg
that he was for leaving Portugal. Turenne prevailed
with him to continue in his poft, fending to him Fre-
mont d'Ablancourt, to promife him a fettlement in
France, and fupplies of men and money for the war.
The Court of Liſbon and Schomberg being by this
means kept ſteady in the refolution to purſue the war,
Philip IV. turned his thoughts towards England, in An. 1663.
order to draw her off from Portugal. Turenne in or-
der to keep Charles II. who was wavering and irrefo-
lute, fteady to his engagements, perfuaded Louis XIV.
to fend the Marquis de Ruvigni to London, and drew
up the proper inftructions for him. Ruvignrexecuted
his commiffion with fkill, and brought King Charles to
confent to fupply the Portugueſe with troops and fhips:
Louis XIV. furniſhed money.
In 1664 the Court of Portugal, defirous to teftify its An. 1664.
gratitude to the Viſcount de Turenne for the many
fervices it had received from him, fent the Marquis de
Sande into France, with full power to treat of a marriage
E 2
be-
52
The LIFE of
An. 1664.tween Febronie de la Tour d'Auvergne, the Viſcount's
niece, and the Infant Don Pedro the King's brother;
and this alliance was fo far advanced, that the articles
of the contract were figned. All theſe negotiations
diſpleaſed the Minifters, becauſe affairs were not tranf-
acted in the Council, but in private with the King:
They were afraid of the influence which Turenne had
over his Majesty's mind, and refolved to put an end to
his engagements and correfpondence with Portugal :
And indeed they acted with great warmth against him;
and to exaſperate and difguft him, contrived to break
off the match with the Princefs d'Evreux, who was
married fome years after to Maximilian, the Elector
of Bavaria's brother. The Viſcount fhewed no refent-
ment, and being lefs mindful of the intereft of his fa-
mily than that of the State, he continued to influence
the King to affift Portugal, in order to prevent
the re-union of that kingdom to the Crown of
Spain.
昔
​War being about this time declared betwixt England
and Holland, Louis XIV. being preffed by each party
to join with it, had recourfe to Turenne for advice,
who in a Memorial which he, on that occafion, prefented
to his Majefty, endeavoured to perſuade him to offer his
mediation between the contending powers. This ad-
vice was followed, but without fuccefs, and the war con-
tinued.
During this war Philip the Fourth fell fick, and the
King had recourfe again to Turenne for advice con-
cerning
the refolutions proper for him to take. In a
fhort time after, the Catholic King died, and Louis
XIV. laid before the Court of Madrid his pretenfions to
the Low Countries and leaft the union between the
English and Portugueſe fhould determine the latter to
make peace with Spain, he fent P. Romain to the Court
of Liſbon with inftructions, drawn up by the Viſcount,
which ferved to unfold the whole management and fe-
cret of the affairs of Portugal.
The engagements which the Engliſh had privately
entered into with Spain, and the efforts they uſed to
bring the Portugueſe to make peace with his Catholic
Majefty, diſpleaſing Louis XIV. and he being fenfible
that he fhould ftand in need of the friendſhip of the
Dutch,
4.
Maréchal TURENNE.
53
Dutch, if he carried the war into the Low Countries, An. 1664.
yielded at length toVan Beuning's powerful folicitations,
and declared for the Republic against England; he gave
the Duke of Beaufort, Grand Mafter and Superintendant-
General of the navigation of France, all the neceffary
orders for putting the fleet in a condition to act in the
Channel. The English fitted out feventy fhips under
the command of General Monk, Duke of Albemarle,
and put aboard of them twenty-three thouſand foldiers
and failors, and near five thousand pieces of cannon:
The Dutch fleet, confifting of more than a hundred
fail, carried twenty-two thoufand men, and four thou-
fand fix hundred pieces of cannon. Two bloody en
gagements were fought in the month of June; but the
French fleet cared not to join the Dutch before either
of the two actions. The Duke of Beaufort had ſtayed
in the river of Lifbon, waiting for the Princefs of Ne-
mours, who was to be married to the King of Portugal,
and whom the Spaniards intended to intercept: Hence
fome took occafion to fay, that Louis XIVth's defign
was to animate the two maritime Powers againſt each
other to their mutual deſtruction, that he might raiſe
himſelf upon their ruins. The uprightness of the King's
intentions may be feen in Turenne's inftructions to the
Marquis de Bellefons, who was fent into Holland to
agree with the States upon the junction of the two
fleets: And indeed the Duke of Beaufort being arrived
in the month of July near Breſt, had orders to go to
the coaft of Normandy to join the Dutch, who were
advancing toward Dunkirk, but the winds hindered his
coming up with them, and he was obliged to lay by till
the next compaign.
This year died the Vifcountefs of Turenne, ftill pro-
feffing the religion in which ſhe had been educated.
The death of the Queen Mother, Anne of Auftria,
which happened likewife this year, made the King
turn his thoughts in good earneft to a war with Spain,
and to the making effectual his pretenfions to the Low
Countries. He, from that time, confidered of the mea-
fures proper to be taken againſt the Emperor, and con-
fulted the Viſcount, who drew up a memorial, wherein
he fully laid open the ſtate of the Empire, and the po-
litical
E 3
Ի
The LIFE of
54
An. 1664.litical interefts of the Princes of Germany, and the
- means to hinder Leopold from paffing the Rhine.
The King put in execution the Vifcount's advice,
and began by threatening with his fevereft difpleaſure
the Biſhop of Munfter, who was at war with the United
Provinces, if he did not agree to a peace: The Prelate
being terrified became pliant, and treated with the
Dutch. His Majefty then fecured the alliance, or the
neutrality of other Princes of Germany, who treated
with him or his allies, during the courfe of this year.
The Count de Furftemberg was employed on the King's
part to negotiate with thofe Princes; and there are
among the Viſcount's papers feveral ſchemes for uniting
with France, the Elector of Cologne, the Elector of
Brandenburg, the Duke of Neuburg, the Duke of Lu-
nenburg, the Count de Waldeck and fome others.
Before the King declared war, he brought the Eng-
liſh and Dutch to make peace, with a view to prevent
the former from joining with Spain, and to put the lat-
ter in a condition to affift him. An alternative pro-
poſed by the Viſcount de Turenne, was the ground-
work of this peace: That was, cither that a general and
mutual reftitution fhould be made of all that had been
taken during the war, or that each party fhould keep
what they poffeffed; and that all pretenfions fhould be
given up on both fides: this laft method was agreed
upon, as the fureft and the moſt eaſy. The treaty was
concluded and figned at Breda the laft day of July.
After the eonclufion of the peace between France,
England, and Holland, the Viſcount advifed the King
to make a treaty of alliance with the Swedes, and en-
gage them to keep in the Bishoprick of Bremen twelve
thousand men ready to enter the Empire, if Leopold
ſhould declare war againſt France.
The King having thus taken all his precautions with
Sweden, England, Holland, and Portugal, againſt
Spain and the Emperor, began to put in execution the
defign he had laid of making himſelf mafter of the Low
Countries. In the month of March the troops he had
appointed for the expedition, advanced to the frontiers
of Champagne and Picardy, under pretence of having
as ufual great reviews, where the troops encamped as
regularly as in time of open war. Towards the end of
April
Maréchal TURENNE.
55
April the King prepared to take the field, named the An. 1654.
General Officers, diftributed the money for the artillery
and provifions, commanded all the Officers to get ready
their equipages, and in fhort, gave all the neceffary
orders for beginning the war. Thefe preparations put
all Europe in commotion: Louis XIV. was accuſed of
afpiring to be univerfal Monarch, of violating the peace
of the Pyrenees, and of intending to rob the King of
Spain, his brother-in-law, of the dominions which be-
longed to him. Theſe reproaches, no lefs unjuft than
infulting, obliged Louis, in the beginning of May, to
publiſh a manifefto, printed copies of which were fent
all over Europe, particularly to Madrid and Bruffels.
The King pretended that by the right of DEVOLUTION,
which takes place in the Low Countries, Cambrefis,
Burgundy, and Luxemburg, all thofe territories fell to
the Queen upon the death of King Philip IV. her fa-
ther; by virtue of which right the children of the firſt
marriage, male or female, inherit before thofe of the fe-
cond. The municipal cuftoms, and the decrees made
by the great council of Mechlin, authorize this law;
the Dukes of Brabant and Charles V. himſelf fubmitted
to it, though they had power fufficient to over-rule it.
As the Queen of France, Mary Therefa, was the only
remaining child of Philip IVth's firft marriage, the
King's pretenfions feemed to be well founded. A co-
tempory writer affures us, that this cuftom of the Low
Countries had not been remarked by any of the French
Civilians, and that the Viſcount de Turenne was the
firſt that ſpake of it to the King.
Louis XIV. before he took the field, made propofals
a fecond time to the Queen-Regent of Spain for an ac-
commodation. All his pacific meafures proving fruit-
lefs, he faid to M. de Turenne, That he would march
in perſon at the head of his army, and learn the art of
war under him. The Viſcount gave orders to the
troops to advance to the frontiers in feveral places, from
the Meufe to the Sea of Calais, yet ſo as that they could
re-unite in five or fix days.
The King having declared, that in the courſe of the
campaign he would follow no other advice than that of
the Viſcount Marſhal General, fet out from Paris and
came to Amiens. Having made the Queen Regent
E 4
during
56
The LIFE of
An. 1664. during his abfence, and appointed her a council, in
which the Chancellor Seguier and the Marſhal d'Eftrées
prefided, he determined that the main body of the army,
confifting of twenty-five thouſand foot and ten thouſand
horſe, ſhould attack Flanders in the middle, and that
there fhould be two flying camps upon the fides, the
one in Luxembourg under the Marquis de Crequi, and
the other toward the fea under Marfhal d'Aumont :
The Duke of Noailles was fent to his government of
Rouffillon with fome regiments, in order to guard that
Province. This difpofition of the troops was no fooner
made, but the main army had orders to march to Char- i
leroi on the Sambre: Ón their approach the Marquis
de Caſtel Rodrigo, Governor of the Low Countries,
made the fortifications (which were but juſt finiſhed) to
be blown up, and abandoned the place. The King,
guided by the Viſcount de Turenne, ordered them im-
mediately to be rebuilt, poffeffed himſelf of Binche and
Ath, two towns fituated between the Sambre and
Scheld, defeated feven or eight hundred men who de-
figned to throw themſelves into Tournai, befteged that
town, which held out but two days, marched to Douai
on the river Scarpe, took the town and its fort in ſeven
days, advanced towards Oudenarde on the Scheld,
which furrendered in twenty-four hours, feized upon
Aloft on the Dender, and then went and befieged
Lifle; during which time the Marfhal d'Aumont, on
his fide, made himſelf maſter of Bergues, Furnes,
Fort St. Francis, Armentieres, and Courtrai.
The fiege of Lifle appeared fo difficult, that the Mar-
quis de Louvois would have perfuaded the King from it.
The Spaniards had taken all methods to fortify that
town; it was defended by fourteen royal baſtions, fur-
rounded with double ditches; the garrifon confifted
only of three thouſand foot and one thouſand two hun-
dred horfe of regular troops, but the inhabitants able
to carry arms, amounted to twenty thouſand men.
The Governor was an Officer of great experience, and
there was abundance of ammunition and proviſion in
the town, ſo that it was in a condition to make a long
and vigorous defence. The King's army was very
much diminiſhed by the ficges, in which it had been
employed, and by leaving garrifons in the conquered
places.
Maréchal TURENNE.
57
places. The Count de Marfin, who commanded the An. 1664.
Spanish troops in Flanders, had got together a body of
fix thouſand men, in order to throw fuccours into
Lifle, which, being large, required lines of circum-
vallation of a great extent. All theſe obſtacles, though
they were continually exaggerated to the King, could
not make him defift from his intention; he had a mind
to finiſh the campaign by an enterpriſe, the difficulties
whereof would increaſe the glory of the fuccefs. Hav-
ing ordered all preparations to be made for this fiege,
he detached the Marquis d'Humieres to inveſt the
place, while the Count de Liflebonne, and the Count
de Lorges blocked up the avenues with the troops of
Lorrain.
At length the King arrived, and fet the men to work
at the lines of circumvallation. The Count de Croui,
who was Governor of the town, fent to compliment
the King, and to defire to be informed on what fide
his Majeſty encamped, that he might not fire upon that
quarter. Louis, with thanks for his complaifance, fent
for anfwer, That his quarters would be throughout all
his camp. The town furrendered the ninth day from
the opening the trenches. During the fiege, the
King made M. de Turenne accompany him into the
trenches, and explain to him the reaſons of the works.
The King returned ſoon after to Paris, and left the
command of the army to the Viſcount de Turenne,
who prepared to march to Bruffels.
The States of Holland, alarmed at the rapid progrefs
of the King's arms, affembled extraordinarily, to con-
fult about the proper means to put a stop to it, without
declaring openly againft France. They fecretly levied
troops, which they diftributed on the frontiers, gave
orders for fitting out a fleet of forty fhips, and iffued
out commiffions for arming twenty-five thoufand foot,
under pretence of guarding their country. Moreover, to
preferve the government in its republícan form, they
drew up, in a convention held at the Hague, the per-
petual edict against the Stadtholderſhip: it was fub-
fcribed and fworn to by all that were in public offices,
and even by the Prince of Orange (William III.)`; and
the States, by this oath, thought themſelves fecure of
that young Prince, who, by the great hopes that were
conceived
58
The LIFE of
}
An. 1664.conceived of him, gave uneafinefs to Penfioner de
Witt's faction, which governed the republic. In the
mean time Spain, terrified at the progrefs of the King's
arms in Flanders, fought to make peace with Portugal,
with a view to employ all their forces in the Low Coun-
tries. France, to obftruct the peace, again offered
troops to the Portuguefe; and concluded a marriage
between the Princefs d'Aumale and the King of
Portugal,
On the other hand, the King of England, alarmed
at the rapidity of Louis XIVth's conquefts, fent into
Holland Sir William Temple, the ableft Politician, and
the moſt expert in negotiations of any in Europe, in
order to rouze the attention of the States General.
Temple propofed a triple alliance between England,
Holland, and Sweden, to oblige the two crowns of
France and Spain to make peace. He drew up the plan
in one night, and the negotiation was ended in five
days. The treaty was agreed to the twenty-third of
January, figned the feventh of February, and ratified
the twenty-fifth of April. The news of this triple
alliance aftoniſhed the moſt Chriſtian King: he com-
plained of the English and Dutch, who had concealed
their proceedings from his Minifters; and this treaty
was the fource of thoſe famous wars againſt the States
General, which broke out four years after.
While this alliance was forming, Louis made his
troops file off towards Franche-comté, and gave the
Prince of Condé the command of them; this was the
firit mark of favour that the King had conferred upon
him fince the civil wars. It was believed, and that not
without reaſon, that it was at the follicitation of the
Marquis de Louvois that the Prince was employed.
The Minifters, jealous of the confidenee with which the
King honoured Turenne, had a mind to fet up Condé
against him, in order to diminiſh his credit. The Prince
felt his martial ardour return, when he faw himſelf
at the head of an army, the command of which inti-
mated an oblivion of his paft conduct. He entered
Franche-comté, made himfelf mafter of it in ten days,
and obtained the government of it for a reward. In
the mean while the English, Dutch, and Swedes, had
fent
I
Maréchal TURENNE.
59
fent their Plenipotentiaries to Aix-la-Chapelle, to re- An. 1664.
concile France and Spain.
The treaty of peace between theſe powers was figned
the fecond of May. By which treaty Spain gave up
to the King, Courtrai, Bergues, Furnes, and all the
country, fince called French Flanders, on condition
he reſtored Franche-comté.
The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was preceded by that
of the Court of Lifbon with Spain, which at laſt ac-
knowledged the independence of the crown of Por-
tugal. King Alphonfo was confined in one of the ifles
of the Terceres for his incapacity; his marriage was
declared null, under pretence of impotence; and the
Infant Don Pedro was raiſed to the throne, after mar-
rying the Queen, his fifter-in-law. Thus ended the
long wars of Portugal, which had lasted almost thirty
years. The quarrels between France and Spain, for
the Low Countries, ceafed; and every thing fecined
to promife a long and perfect tranquility.
The calm which Europe enjoyed after the peace of
Aix-la-Chapelle, allowed the Vifcount a great deal of
leifure: he employed it wholly in the ftudy of religion.
Ever fince the Peace of the Pyrences he had begun to
have doubt abouts Calvinism. But the high idea he had
of the Viſcountefs's fuperiority of understanding, and
the fear of difturbing in any meafure the harmony be-
tween them, retained him in his first engagements.
It was not till after the death of his Lady, that, having
nothing to reſtrain him, he changed his religion. Very
foon after this change, he entertained the purpoſe of
retiring from the world; but the King oppofed his de-
fign. Neverthelefs, having loft all relifh of a court-
life, he ſpent his time in the fociety of a ſmall number
of chofen friends, whom he ſcarce ever left but to pay
his duty to the King. He took delight in men of
found learning and judgment. He had a tafte for works
of imagination, where the wit was lively and natural,
loved to read uſeful books, and difcourfed of them with
pleaſure, but without affectation. He kept a conftant
table, without profufion. He loved to be gay at meals;
he then liked pleafantry, being himfelf facetious, but
ftill with prudence and politenefs. He thus lived at
Paris,
1
60
The LIFE of
An. 1664 Paris, not diftinguiſhing himſelf by outward pomp and
fplendor.
A young country gentleman, who did not know the
Viſcount, ftruck his coachman one day, when there
happened to be a ftop in the ſtreets of Paris: A tradef-
man, with a cudgel in his hand came, out of his ſhop,
crying, How now! what, treat Moufieur Turenne's
people in this manner? At that name the young gentle-
man, quite out of countenance, came to the door of
the coach, to make his excufe to the Viſcount, who
faid to him, ſmiling, You understand very well, Sir, how
to correct fervants; allow me to fend mine to you, when they
do amifs. He went frequently on foot to church,
and then took a turn alone upon the rampart of
Paris, without his fervants, or any exterior mark to
diftinguifh him. One day in his walk, he paffed near
a crowd of tradefmen, who were playing at bowls;
and who, not knowing him, called upon him to judge
of a caft; he took his cane, and, having meaſured the
diſtances, gave his opinion. The man, whom he had de-
termined againft, abuſed him; the Marſhal ſmiled; and,
as he was going to meaſure the ground a fecond time,
feveral Officers, who had been feeking him, came up
and accofted him; the tradefman was confounded, and
very humbly begged pardon. The Viſcount anſwered
him, Friend, you was in the wrong to imagine that I
would cheat you. He went fometimes, though feldom,
to the public ſhows. He was one day alone in a box
in the play-houſe, when there came in fome country
gentlemen, who, not knowing him, would oblige him
to give them his feat in the first row; upon his refuſing,
they had the infolence to throw his hat and gloves upon
the ftage; without being moved, he defired a young
Lord of the firft quality, to gather them up for him.
Thoſe who had infulted him, finding who he was,
blushed, and would have retired, but he ftopped them,
and, with a great deal of good humour, told them, That if
they would contrive and fit clafe, there was room enough for
them all.
Coming home one night, he fell into the hands of
robbers, who stopped his coach upon the rampart of
Paris. On his promifing them an hundred Louis d'ors
to
Maréchal TURENNE.
61
to let him keep a ring of a great deal lefs value, they An. 1664.
returned it; and one of them had the boldneſs to go to —
his houſe the next day, and, in the midft of a great
company, to whifper him, and demand the performance
of his promife. The Viſcount ordered the money to
be paid him; and, before he related the matter, let him
have time to eſcape, adding, "That a promiſe ought
"to be kept inviolably; and that an honeft man ſhould
"never break his word, though given to knaves."
The Viſcount, after feveral years of repofe, was
obliged to refume his office of General. Louis XIV.
being convinced that the leagues and alliances, which
the Dutch were forming, were againſt him, refolved to
break with them. He fought all means to diffolve the
triple alliance; and began by endeavouring to draw off
from it King Charles II. of England. He communicated
his fecret to the Viſcount de Turenne, and employed
him in the management of that important negotiation.
The fignal fervices which this great General had done.
King Charles II. both before and after Cromwell's
death, had procured him the intimate confidence of the
Duchefs of Orleans, that Prince's fifter. Louis en-
tirely changed his conduct with regard to Henrietta of
England, whom he had often treated with indifference;
and ſhe in a ſhort time appeared to have great intereſt
at court. The Viſcount faw daily at her houſe a young
Lady of great beauty, and of yet greater wit: as fhe
was the Duchefs's favourite, he thought it neceſſary
to gain her friendship, in order to fecure the con-
tinuance of that of her miftrefs. Being fincerely per-
fuaded that he loved only the Lady's wit, he let himfelf
be ensnared with her charms; and fhe forgot nothing
that might engage him. Turenne did not diftruſt the
ready fervices of a young perfon, who feemed to look
upon him rather as a father than a lover. He did not
diſcern the fource of this growing affection; by degrees
his fentiments of friendship changed into the paffion of
love; and at length, neither the age nor the virtue of
this great General were fufficient to fecure him againſt
a weakneſs too common, and often fatal, to heroes.
His confidence in the Lady increafed with his love;
and, under pretence of making her ufeful in his poli-
tical projects, he difcovered to her the fecret of the
ftate.
62
The LIFE of
An. 1664.ftate. She entered into the intrigue, and ferved as a
mediatrix with the Princefs Henrietta.
The Duke of Orleans was not well pleafed with the
great influence he ſaw the Duchefs, his wife, was gaining
over the mind of the King; and fufpected thatfhe was carry-
ing on fome affairs of confequence; but not being able
to gueſs it, he applied himself to the Chevalier de Lor-
rain, his favourite, and employed him to find out the
myſtery. The Chevalier was the moſt agreeable Prince,
and had the moft wit of any body at court; he attacked
the young Marchionefs, and fhe could not refift the
pleaſure of telling him a fecret. The Duke of Or-
leans broke out in paffion against his wife, complained
to Louis of the unworthy manner in which he was
treated, and let him underſtand that he knew all that
was intended to be concealed from him. The King,
who had diſcovered his mind to nobody but the Vif-
count de Turenne, and the Marquis de Louvois, being
fure of Turenne's difcretion, told him that Louvois
had diſcovered the fecret. The Viſcount, ever true,
and always generous, even in the midſt of his weak-
neffes, juftified Louvois, and confeffed his own fault.
This candour charmed the King, and increaſed his
confidence in a man, who choſe rather to diſcover his
own ſhame than ruin a Minifter whom he might well
be allowed not to love. Turenne broke off all corre-
ſpondence with the young Lady, would fee her no more,
and all the reft of his life blufhed at the remembrance
of that adventure. It is reported, that the Chevalier
de Lorrain having a mind to talk to him of it, fome
years after; Let us begin then, faid the Vifcount, with
putting out the lights.
The Duchefs of Orleans continued her negotiations
with her brother King Charles, and it was thought ne-
ceſſary, in order to finish them, that ſhe ſhould go over
into England. To conceal this defign, the King gave
out, that he would vifit his new conquefts in Flanders.
He ſet out about the beginning of May, and taking
his court with him, went to Oudenarde, Courtrai, Lifle,
Dunkirk, and Gravelines. Henrietta of England
made uſe of the pretence of being fo near her own
country, to pay a vifit to her brothers King Charles
and the Duke of York. She embarked at Calais, ar-
rived
1
3
Maréchal TURENNE.
6:3
rived at Dover, and there faw the King, who promifed An. 1664.
her to quit the triple alliance; and the came back tri-
umphant to Paris, about the middle of June. Having
retired to St. Cloud for the benefit of her health, and
to enjoy the fine feafon, fhe died there in a few days
after, with all the refolution of a heroine, and the fen-
timents of a true piety. The Viſcount, who had ac-
companied her to St. Cloud, was fo afflicted at her
death, that he would have retired from the world, if
the King had not hindered him.
!
The ruin of the Dutch commonwealth now ſeemed
inevitable. Its fpoils were already divided between the
Courts of France and England; and Louis had like-
wife gained over to the alliance (by promiſes of fome
towns and diftricts that lay conveniently for them)
the Elector of Cologne, and Van Gaalen, Biſhop of
Munfter, a turbulent and ambitious Prelate, fond of war,
and greedy of plunder. The other powers of Europe
were not likely to give much interruption to the de-
fign. The Emperor was engaged in the feditions of
Hungary, and befides was no friend to the Dutch,
whom he looked upon as ſubjects that had revolted from
the Princes of his family, and as irreconcileable ene-
mies to the Roman Catholic religion. Sweden was
governed by a Regency immerfed in negotiations; and
the councils of Spain were always weak, irrefolute,
and flow.
The only Prince of the Empire who openly inte-
reſted himself for the Republic, was Frederick William,
Elector of Brandenburgh, who fecretly afpired to be
Stadtholder of Holland, and flattered himself that he
ſhould be able to make that dignity perpetual in his
family, and by degrees annex the territories of the
Dutch to his hereditary dominions.
Beverning, the Dutch Ambaffador at Madrid, had
indeed engaged the Queen of Spain to furniſh the
States with a Sum of money, and fix thouſand men;
who landed at Oftend, with orders to the Count de
Monterei, Governor of the Low Countries, to em-
ploy them in the fervice of the Republic.
But theſe were feeble refources against the formi-
dable preparations of their enemies; and befides, Hol-
land, to complete its misfortunes, was divided into two
factions;
1
64
The LIFE of
}
1
An. 1664.factions; one of rigid republicans, headed by the Grand
Penfioner John de Witt, and his brother Cornelius,
to whom the leaft fhadow of defpotic power feemed
contrary to the laws of humanity: the other, of mo-
derate republicans, who were for reinftating, in the
poſts of his anceſtors, the young Prince of Orange,
afterwards William III. of England. The party of
the young Prince began at length to prevail; and the
Republic being thus more employed in its domeſtic
diffentions, than attentive to its danger, contributed to
its own ruin. They had little to fear by fea, becauſe
they were very ftrong in fhipping; their treafuries were
filled with money: but they wanted foldiers. Four-
and-twenty years of peace had confumed all their old
troops, and no great things were to be expected from
new levies. Nevertheleſs they did all they could to
provide for the fecurity of their provinces; they got
together a great number of flat-bottomed boats mount-
ed with cannon, to guard the Scheld, the Meuſe, the
Wabal, the Iffel, and the Rhine; and diſpatched new
couriers to haften the arrival of the few auxiliaries
they expected.
ز
Before the opening of the campaign, and the decla-
ration of war, the King judged it proper to divide his
army. The first he refolved to command in perſon,
with his brother the Duke of Orleans, in quality of
Generaliffimo; the Viſcount de Turenne had the next
rank after him, and the title of Captain General.
The Prince of Condé was to lead the fecond the
Marſhal d'Humieres and Bellefonds were under him.
The Marfhal de Crequi headed the third; and the
fourth was to march into Weftphalia, under the con-
duct of the Duke of Luxembourg, to join the Bi-
shop of Munſter's troops. The King, to prevent
the contefts which might arife on account of rank
and precedency in command, ordered, that in cafe the
different armies fhould happen to join, in the ab-
fence of the Princes of the Blood, the Marſhal
d'Humieres, Bellefonds, and Crequi, fhould follow
the orders of the Viſcount de Turenne, during the
expedition.
1
The
Maréchal TURENNE.
65
The three Marfhals* refufed to obey, and were baniſhed. An. 1564.
The public faw nothing in the King's order that was not
due to the Viscount de Turenne's fuperior merit; and
a very able Magiftrate at that time made it appear, in a
letter to Marthal de Crequi, that Louis the XIVth's
predeceffors had often commanded the Marſhals of
France to obey perfons who were not Princes of the
Blood. The Marfhals continued in banifhment fix
months, and the King would not admit them again
into his fervice, but at the inftance of the whole body
of the Marſha's of France, who declared, that their
three difgraced companions might, and ought to fub-
mit.
Louis, accompanied by his brother, now advanced An. 1672.
towards the frontiers of Holland, at the head of up-
wards of an hundred and ten thouſand men. The
Elector of Cologne had opened all the paffages through
his territories, and delivered up Nuys, and ſeveral
other poſts, to be made magazines of arms; and the
Biſhop of Munfter affembled all his troops, in or-
der to enter by Weftphalia into the northern provinces
of Holland.
Upon the near approach of danger, when it became
neceffary to decide who fhould command the Dutch
troops, the divifions which tore the Republic were
greater than ever. The Prince of Orange's friends.
propofed the abolition of the perpetual Edict, which
fuppreffed the dignity of Stadtholder, and the raifing
the Prince to that office. The friends of the de Witts
oppoſed it; but they could not prevent his being chofen
Captain-general of the land forces, and High Admiral
of the fleet. Having got together an army of twen-
ty-five thousand men, he advanced to the banks of
M: d'Humieres was particularly blamed for his ſtiffneſs on
this occafion, as it was entirely owing to the Viscount's intereft
that he was made a Marſhal of France. But d'Humieres might
probably think himſelf under no great obligation, as it was not fo
much his own merit, as the charms of his wife, that made Tu-
renne his friend. This was fo notorious, that, at the time of
d'Humieres's promotion, the King afking the Chevalier de Gram-
mont," If he knew whom he had made a Marfhal of France ?"
"Yes, Sir," anfwered the Chevalier, "Madam d'Humieres."
The King felt the jeft, and was fo offended at it, that he inftantly
baniſhed Gramment from court.
F
the
{
66
The LIFE of
}
An. 1672. the
Iffel, and ordered the Dutch fleet to lie at the
mouth of the river Thames, to oppofe the naval forces.
of England and France, which amounted to an hun-
dred and fifty fhips. The Count de Monterei, being
perfuaded that the French would fall immediately upon
Maeftricht, added his Spaniſh and Walloon cavalry
to the garriſon of that place, which before confifted of
ten thouſand veterans.
This was all that Holland had to oppofe to the
French, who, by the advice of Turenne, attacked it
by its only acceffible fides, the Rhine and the Meufe,
at the fame time. The first attempt was made upon
Maffeick, which the Vifcount carried the next day
after it was invefted; and instead of befieging Maef-
tricht, as was adviſed by the Prince of Condé, he pre-
vailed to have it only blocked up, as the fiege would pro-
bably be long, difficult, and dangerous.
He then adviſed the befieging of Rhinberg, Orfoi,
Wefel, and Burick, at the fame time. They were
taken almoſt as foon as fummoned; and were followed
by all the towns which bordered upon the Rhine and
the Iffel. Some of the Governors fent their keys,
upon a diftant appearance of only one or two fqua-
drons of French troops; feveral Officers fled out of the
towns in which they were garrifoned, even before
the enemy appeared, and the confternation was ge-
neral.
The King of France now intended to enter into
the heart of the Republic's territories, and befiege
Nimeguen; but the Viſcount de Turenne having learn-
ed, that the Dutch had thrown fuccours into that
town, and judging that the fiege would be long and
bloody, advifed him to advance towards Betuwe, and
then to paſs the Rhine. It was found that the river
was fordable oppofite to an old fort called Tolhuys;
and the Prince of Condé refolved to pafs it with his
cavalry, while a bridge of boats was making for the
reft of the army. The King approved of the defign,
* The Iffel is a branch of the Rhine, made formerly by Drufus,
of a canal which that Roman dug to fortify his camp: but the
water of the Rhine having got into it, by length of time made
itſelf a channel.
and
Maréchal TURENNE.
67
and had a mind to be prefent at the enterprife; he left An. 1664.
his divifion of the army under the command of the Vif-
count de Turenne, at Rees (a town higher up the Rhine
which had just been taken after a fhort fiege) and fetting
out immediately with his houfhold, arrived at the Prince
of Conde's camp.
The Prince of Orange, who was encamped on the
banks of the Iffel, three leagues from Fort Tolhuys,
having learnt the King's defign, immediately fent Ge-
neral Wurtz, a German, with two regiments of foot
and fome fquadrons of horfe, to defend the ford. The
French artillery fired upon thefe forces in flank, while
the King's houthold troops, and the reſt of the cavalry,
crofled in good order to the number of about fifteen
thouſand. Wurtz's horfe advanced into the water to
fight, and made a difcharge; about twenty of the
French were drowned, being either wounded by the
enemy's fire, or carried away by the rapidity of the
Rhine. The Prince of Condé, with his fon the Duke
of Enguien, and his nephew the Duke of Longueville,
having paffed in a boat, put himſelf at the head of the
fquadrons, and advanced towards the Dutch, whofe ca-
valry inftantly fled, and their infantry laid down their
arms, and begged for quarter. The Duke of Enguien,
and the Duke of Longueville, warmed by the laft
night's wine, advanced imprudently to the enemy, and
the latter fired a pistol, crying out, No quarter. The
Dutch infantry in defpair, immediately took to their
arms and made a diſcharge, by which the Duke of Lon-
gueville was killed, and the Prince of Condé wounded
in the wrift. Being more concerned for the lofs of his
nephew than for his own wound, he gave orders to at-
tack the enemy, and followed them at the head of his
troops, till they were entirely fcattered.
The bridge being finiſhed, the rest of the army
paffed it: The Viscount, having learnt in the camp at
Rees what had happened, came immediately and took
upon
him the command of the Prince of Condé's army.
Every thing now yielded to the victorious French.
They took Doefburg, Heufden, Iffeloort, Arnheim,
Fort Knotfemburg, Fort Sckenck, &c. and there were
but few hours wherein the King did not receive an ac-
count of fome conqueft. It is to this day unaccount-
F2
able
68
The LIFE of
An. 1672.able how fo many fortreffes, that were thought impreg-
nable, fhould make fo bad a defence; and that in a
country which had been the fchool of Europe for fieges,
moſt of the places did not hold out longer than twenty-
four hours, after opening the trenches. It was expected
that Nimeguen would not prove fo eafy a conqueft.
The ftrength of the works, the prodigious quantity of
ammunition and provifions, the number of fighting
men, who with the armed citizens amounted to above
eight thouſand, the more than ordinary vigilance of the
magiftrates, and the valour and reputation of the Go-
vernor, promifed a long and obftinate refiftance. The
Viſcount battered it at a diftance for fome days with
little fuccefs; but on the eighth day after his beginning
to beſiege it in form, the town capitulated, and all the
garrifon, except the principal Officers, were made pri-
foners of war.
While the Viſcount de Turenne was thus making
himfelf maſter of the chief towns of Velau and Betau,
the troops of the Biſhop of Munſter and the Elector of
Cologne, having joined thofe commanded by the Duke
of Luxembourg, entered by the county of Benthem
into Over-Iffel, and took Groll, Deventer, Campen,
Swoll, Groninghen, and almoſt all the places of note
in that Province; but the Duke did not treat the con-
quered towns with the fame mildneſs that the Viſcount
did. The two Prelates, animated by that implacable
anger that almoſt always attends religious wars, excited
Luxembourg to uſe ſeverity.
The King, after the reduction of Doefburg and
Zutphen, had entered the Province of Utrecht, and a
detachment, commanded by the Marquis de Rochefort,
had poffeffed itſelf of the capital. The Prince of Orange,
who had weakened his army to reinforce the garrifons
of a great many towns, could do little to ftop the pro-
grefs of the French. The detachment under the Mar-
quis de Rochefort penetrated into the Province of Hol-
land, and took Woerden, Monfort, Amersfort, and
Naerden, which laft is but five leagues from Amfter-
dam. The Dutch could find no expedient to fave that
capital, but by having recourſe to an element which had
always been their chief defence. They pierced their
dams, opened their fluiccs, broke down their bridges,
and
་
Maréchal TURENNE.
69
and laid all the country under water. The other towns An. 1672.
followed this example; Holland, Brabant, and Dutch
Flanders, were one vaſt ſea, in the midſt of which the
towns rofe like ifands. In this extremity, the people
being perfuaded that there was no fafety for their coun-
try, but in having the fupreme power lodged in one
man, obliged the States of Holland and Weft-Friesland
to abrogate the perpetual and irrevocable edict against
the Stadtholderſhip, and to confer that dignity upon the
Prince of Orange, together with thofe of Captain Ge-
neral and High Admiral, with which he had before been
invefted.
The rapidity of the King's conquefts began to give
umbrage to the other Princes of Europe. His ally the
King of England fent Ambaſſadors to remonftrate
againſt his having, contrary to the treaty between them,
taken fome towns in Holland, to defire he would pene-
trate no further on that fide, but turn his arms towards
Zealand, in order to deliver it up to the English;
adding, that if he did not come into theſe meaſures,
Great Britain would be obliged to break her alliance
with him. All Germany was alfo in motion to come
and affift the Dutch. The Emperor had ordered all the
members of the Empire to recall their troops that were,
in foreign fervice, upon pain of being put under the
han of the Empire, and to unite for the common fecu-
rity. The French negotiations had no fuccefs in any
of the courts of Germany. All were jealous of France;
England began to waver, and the Elector of Branden-
burgh was advancing in great hafte with an army of
twenty-five thousand men. Louis reflected ſeriouſly
upon all thefe circumftances; and fearing to rifque his
glory and his conquefts by perfifting too obftinately, he
refolved to withdraw his own perfon out of danger, and
to join with the King of England, in offering terms of
peace to the Republic. In the mean time, he made a
triumphal entry into the city of Utrecht. The King
then fet out to return into France through Dutch Bra-
bant, and at Boxtel near Bois-le-Duc, gave audience
to the Deputies from Holland, in prefence of the Eng-
liſh Ambaffadors. Louis infifted chiefly upon an ad-
vantageous treaty of commerce, upon the Catholic re-
ligion's being every where reftored in the Dutch do-
F 3
minions,
ཀ༠
The LIFE of
An. 1672. minions, upon the payment of twenty millions of livres.
for his expences in the war, and upon their giving up to
him all the places taken on the Meufe, on the other fide
of the Rhine, and in the Empire. The King of Eng-
land demanded of the Dutch the lowering of the Flag,
a million fterling for his expences, a hundred thouſand
pounds yearly for the right of fishing on the coafts of
Great Britain and Ireland; the fovereignty of the United
Provinces for his nephew the Prince of Orange; or at
leaſt, the hereditary and unalienable right of fucceffion
to the offices of Stadtholder, Captain General, and
High Admiral, and a fhare in all the commerce with
the Indies.
!
The diftreffes of the Republic were at this time
greater than ever. The Bishop of Munfter and the
Elector of Cologne were continuing their conquefts in
Friefland and Groninghen; and the Viſcount de Tu-
renne was extending his on the Wahal and the Meufe.
He had lately taken the important towns of Crevecœur,
and Bommel; but notwithſtanding the extremities to
which the Dutch were reduced, thefe conditions of a
peace appeared intolerable. They refolved to die in de-
fence of their liberty. The hearts and hopes of the
nation were all turned upon the Prince of Orange. The
people became enraged againſt the Grand Penfioner,
who had fued for peace; and their fury ſeconded the de-
figns of the Prince's party. An attempt was immediately
made upon the life of John De Witt; and Cornelius his
brother, being afterwards accuſed of an attempt upon
the Prince's life, was put to the rack; and in his tor-
ments recited the firft lines of this Ode of Horace,
Juftum & tenacem propofiti virum. At last, the unruly
populace maffacred the two brothers in the ftreets of the
Hague; and all thofe violences of which an enraged
multitude is capable, were committed on their bleeding
bodies. Scarce were the De Witts dead, when the
magiftrates of all the United Provinces declared the young
Prince, as thofe of Holland and Weft-Friefland had done
a few days before, Governor, Admiral, and Captain
General; fo that by this event he becaine mafter of all
the deliberations of the States.
Louis's laft regulation in Holland, was to leave the
Duke of Luxembourg to obferve the Prince of Orange's
motions,
Maréchal TURENNE.
71
motions, and to order M. de Turenne to oppofe the An. 1672.
forces of the Elector of Brandenburgh, and of the Em-.
peror Leopold, who was going to declare war againſt
France.
The Elector was advancing in great hafte, at the
head of twenty-five thoufand men. Turenne, having
no mind to give him time to enter Holland, or the
country of Cleves, marched against him with only
twelve thouſand men, many of whom were diffatisfied
at repaffing the Rhine, to begin a new campaign. The
Viſcount, knowing that want of money was the cauſe
of their murmuring, gave new evidences of his liberality
to the Officers, fupplied all their neceffities, and en-
gaged them to follow him. He went up as high as
Wefel, where he croffed the Rhine, and advanced to Sept. 10,
obferve in perſon the motions of the enemy. The bold- 1672.
nefs with which he appeared on the German fide of the
Rhine, to diſpute the paffage of it with two great armies,
and oppoſe the united forces of the Empire in the Em-
pire itſelf, aftoniſhed all Germany. He removed the
apprehenfions of the Germans, by writing circular let-
ters to affure them, that the intentions of the King his
Maſter, were not to disturb the peace of the Germanic
body, but only to oppoſe the Emperor, who was coming
to hinder his conquefts in Holland, and that the French
troops fhould retire, if the Elector of Brandenburgh
would give fecurity not to moleft the allies of France.
But the Viſcount could not hinder the union of the
Electoral and Imperial armies, which, to the number of
forty thousand men, joined in the Bishopric of Hilde-
fheim, about the 12th of September, and advanced to-
wards the Rhine, with a defign to pafs it at Coblentz
The Vilcount, by the judicious choice of his pofts,
hindered their executing this defign, and kept his ground
on the German fide of the Rhine, till the enemy were
joined by the Duke of Lorrain's troops. He then re-
paffed it at Andernach, and leaving a body of men to
guard that paſs, went with the reft of his army to take
up his quarters in the country of Triers, which he laid
under contribution, upon difcovering that the Elector,
though he feemed defirous to preferve a neutrality, was
carrying on fecret intrigues at the Court of Vienna.
The Viſcount ftill watched the motions of the Imperial
F 4
and
72
The LIFE of
An. 1672. and Electoral armies, which were employed for the ſpace
of three whole months, in attempting to pafs the Rhine
at Mentz, Coblentz, Strafburg, and other ftrong towns;
but Turenne 'continually put unfurmountable obftacles
in their way, marched always at their heels, and both
hindered them from affifting the Dutch, and making a
diverfion in Alface. The united armies, being thus dif-
appointed in their principal defign, reſolved to take up
their winter quarters in the territories of the Biſhop of
Munſter and the Elector of Cologne, and wreak their
vengeance upon thoſe two Prelates, who were in the al-
liance of France. Accordingly the Elector of Branden-
burgh and the Duke of Lorrain, with the two Imperial
Generals, the Duke of Bournonville and the Count de
Montecuculli, marched towards the frontiers of Weft-
phalia; and the Viſcount, refolved to prevent them,
advanced to Weſel about the end of December, and
wrote to Court of the defign he had formed. The King,
being more than fatisfied that the Viſcount, with fixteen
thoufand men, had hindered two armies of forty_thou-
fand from paffing the Rhine and affifting the Dutch,
had already ordered him to put his troops into winter
quarters in Alface and Lorrain. As the Court had not
heard that he had obeyed, Louvois, the Minifter for the
department of war, had wrote to him, "That it was
"to be feared the Rhine would freeze and hinder him
"from repaffing it; that he would endanger his army
"in a bad feafon, purely to push the Elector of Bran-
"denburgh perhaps ten leagues further; that the King
"would have his troops no longer in the field, and
r
pofitively commanded him to put them into winter
quarters, and expected to hear by the firft courier
"that they were retired." Before the receipt of theſe
letters, the Viſcount had already wrote to the Miniſter,
"That it would be prejudicial to the King's fervice
66 to repafs the Rhine fo foon; that fince the march of
"the Imperialifts towards Weftphalia, the Biſhop of
"Munfter was very much difcouraged; that the Count
"de Montecuculli was ufing all his efforts to engage
him in the Emperor's party; and that if the enemy
66 was not hindered from ravaging that Prelate's terri-
"tories, he would certainly put himſelf under the pro-
❝tection of the Empire. The Viſcount, no leſs
fkilled
I
"
་
Maréchal TURENNE.
73
ſkilled in negotiations than in war, went to the Biſhop
of Munfter, and confirmed him in the alliance of the
King, by promiſing to deliver him foon from the enemy's
troops, which were now in poffeffion of fome part of
the territories of the two Prelates, where the Elector of
Brandenburgh gave up all to the fury and licentiouf- Jan. 1673.
nefs of his foldiers, and reduced the inhabitants of the
country to the greateſt miſery. But all his attempts
upon the towns were rendered abortive by the vigilance
and activity of the Viſcount, who even attacked and
made himſelf maſter of feveral places belonging to the
Elector in Weftphalia; and having joined his troops to
thofe of Munſter and Cologne, advanced towards the
united armies with a defign to give them battle. Their
number, though now reduced to twenty thousand men,
was ftill fuperior to that of the French. But the Ger-
mans were afraid of paffing a great defile which was be-
twixt them and the French army, and thought fit to
decamp and abandon part of their artillery and baggage.
Soon after, they were chafed out of the country of
Marck, and repaffed the river Lippe; the troops of Bran-
denburgh retired into the county of Ravenfberg, and the
Imperialiſts into that of Lippe.
The Viſcount refolved to pursue them, drive them
out of Weftphalia, and make himſelf maſter of all the
towns the Elector had there. It was a very fevere ſeaſon,
and the French were obliged to go over fteep mountains,
and paſs through narrow defiles. While the army was
marching through one of thefe defiles, the Viſcount,
exhauſted with watching and fatigue, laid himſelf down
to fleep behind a bufh. Some foldiers, feeing that the
fnow fell very faft, immediately cut fome branches of
trees and made round him a hut, which they covered
with their cloaks. He awaked while they were thus de-
fending him from the injuries of the weather, and aſked
what they were diverting themſelves with, when they
ſhould be marching: IVe have a mind, faid they, to pre-
Serve our Father; this is our grand affair: if we should lofe
him, who would lead us back again to our own country?
Turenne foon forced the paffages where the enemy had
left troops, and poffeffed himself of all the places be-
longing to the Elector in Weftphalia, except Lipftadt
and Minden, which the troops of Munfter and Cologne
were
74
The LIFE of
An. 1673.were ordered to block up. In the mean time the wea-
ther was exceffive cold, and the ground was fo frozen,
that no trenches could be opened before the towns that
were befieged; fo that the troops were expofed without
fhelter to the fire of the mufquetry and cannon of the
befieged. Not a man however complained; the Vif-
count was preſent every where, and fupported the fol-
diers under their fatigue by fharing in it. The two
armies of the enemy, purfued and chafed from poft to
poft, quitted Weftphalia, repaffed the Wefer with pre-
cipitation, and went into the Bishopric of Hildesheim.
In paffing the river, fome of the Emperor's troops finding
themſelves mixed with the Elector's, would cross over
firſt for fear of being expoſed to the French: The others
refufed to yield, and the difpute growing warm they
came to blows; and the quarrel might have had bad
confequences, if fome of the General Officers had not
interpofed and put an end to it. The name of Tu-
renne was become ſo formidable to the two armies, that
they fled at his approach, and thought nothing impoffi-
ble to his foldiers, though fewer in number than theirs.
The Viſcount one day fent forty dragoons to view the
country about Paderborn; they forced a paffage where
there was a regiment of Imperial Cuiraffiers, killed
fifteen or fixteen of them, put the reft to flight, entered
their quarters, fet them on fire, and retired without
lofing a man.
1
In the beginning of March, the Viſcount advanced
through the Biſhopric of Paderborn to the town of Hox-
ter, where there was a bridge of ſtone over the Weſel.
He took poffeffion of the town, drove out the garrison.
which the Elector had left there, and purfued the enemy
into the Bishopric of Hildefheim: The united armies.
having already ruined the country, could not ſubſiſt any
longer, and defigned to extend themfelves in Lower
Saxony, in the territories of the neighbouring Princes:
But the Dukes of Brunfwick, Lunenburgh, Zell, and
Wolfenbuttel, oppoſed their entrance into it with an
army of twelve thouſand men. Then the two armies
of the enemy, having neither expedients nor courage
left, feparated; the Emperor's troops retired into Fran-
conia, and thofe of Brandenburgh into the Principality of
Halberstadt. The Elector himself took refuge in Berlin
his
1
Maréchal TURENNE.
75
his capital, The Viſcount, having now no enemy to An. 1673.
fight, returned into the country of Marck, and gave up-
all the Elector's territories in Weftphalia to the dif
cretion of his troops. They found there abundance of
provifions, put all under contribution, and enriched
themfelves.
:
The Viſcount was the only man who did not make
advantage of the ſpoils of the enemy, and evidenced in
the whole of this famous expedition, a difintereſtedneſs
as great as his valour. A general Officer one day pro-
pofed to him a method of gaining four hundred thouſand
livres in fifteen days, in fuch a manner that the Court
could never have known it: He anſwered with a noble
fimplicity, I am very much obliged to you; but as I have of
ten had opportunities of the like nature without having ever
made advantage of them, I think I ought not to alter my
conduct at thefe years. Near the fame place, and about
the fame time, the inhabitants of a great town offered
him an hundred thoufand crowns, if he would go out
of his road, and not march with his troops through their
town: He anſwered them, As your town is not in the way
by which I intended to lead the army, I cannot take the money
you offer me.
The Viſcount being at too great a diftance to ſend
couriers regularly into France, the Court was fome
time without hearing any news of him. The enemies
of his glory began to declaim against him, and gave out
every where that he had fuffered himſelf to be ſhut up;
and that the King's army was loft, by his entangling
them unadvifedly in a country without towns or maga-
zines. All the Courtiers murmured: The King him-
felf, who was very cautious of blaming thofe whom the
public exclaimed againft, one day, with an air of un-
eafinefs, let fall these words: I have no news of the Vif-
count de Turenne. It was not long before he heard, that
having driven the Elector of Brandenburgh from the
Rhine to the Elbe, he had obliged him to take refuge in
his capital: Detraction was filenced, and the Vifcount's
enemies were confounded.
The Elector, not thinking himſelf fafe even in Ber-
lin, fent to the Vifcount to treat of peace, who, re-
ceiving a full power from the King, confented to eva-
cuate all the conquefts he had made in the Elector's ter-
ritories,
;
76
The LIFE of
An. 1673 ritories, upon condition the Elector would forfake the
alliance of Holland, continue neuter for the time to
come, and engage the Duke of Neubourg to be furety
for his fidelity.
The Viſcount then forced the Biſhop of Munſter to
give up all the Elector's places that he had ſeized, and
marched immediately towards Franconia, to drive away
the Emperor's troops, who had a mind to return to the
Rhine. The Imperialifts, upon his approach, retired
into Bohemia with all expedition; and the Viſcount,
marching through the heart of Germany, came and en-
camped near Frankfort, there to wait the refult of the
deliberations of the Court of Vienna.
While M. de Turenne was thus fpreading the terror
of the French arms in Germany, the face of affairs was
entirely changed in Holland. The Prince of Condé,
who had refumed the command of the army there, was
hindered by the inundations from extending the French
conquefts. He determined therefore to repaſs the Meufe,
and befiege Bois-le-Duc. The forces that remained in
Holland, under the Duke of Luxembourg, were too
weak, to hinder the Prince of Orange from retaking
Naerden, and gaining other advantages: and theſe
troops were foon after recalled, and all the King's. con-
queſts in Holland * abandoned, with great precipitation,
in order to oppoſe the formidable alliance that was
formed againſt the ambition of France. The Parlia-
ment of England forced its King to enter ſeriouſly
into negotiations of peace. The Emperor, the Empire,
and Spain, joined the Dutch, and folemnly declared
war againſt France. The Spaniards foon began hoſti-
lities in Hainault and Flanders, where they were oppo-
fed by the Prince of Condé. The Emperor got toge-
ther in Bohemia an army of thirty thouſand men, the
*Before Luxembourg evacuated Holland, he took by ftorm the
towns of Bodegrave and Swammerdam, and gave them up to be
plundered and burnt by his foldiers. Amidft the piteous cries that
the inhabitants made to move him to compaffion, he was often heard
crying out to his men, No quarter; plunder, kill, and ravish. And
he himself fet them an example. Having deluged the ftreets in
blood, they entered the houses, where they violated wives in the
arms of their huſbands, and daughters in thoſe of their parents ;
and whoever attempted to oppofe thefe exceffes, was maſſacred
without mercy. Buiffon.
command
Maréchal TURENNE.
77
command of which he gave to the Count de Montecuculli, An. 1673,
who decamped from Egra, and marched towards Fran-
conia. The Vifcount de Turenne, who was poſted
near Frankfort on the Maine, at the head of twenty
thousand men, watched his motions, but could not con-
jecture whether he would march towards the Upper or
Lower Rhine, in order to invade Alface, or go and join
the Prince of Orange. It was of greater confequence to
hinder him from invading Alface, than from joining the
Prince of Orange. This Prince, when the French
abandoned Holland, having joined a part of his troops
to thofe of Spain, had entered the territories of Juliers
and Cologne with an army of twenty-five thousand men.
Having laid wafte both thofe countries, he marched
towards Bonn in order to befiege it, and fent to Mon-
tecuculli to repair thither with all expedition. Turenne
concluded that the German General would march to-
wards Alface, where every thing was without defence,
and took proper meaſures to prevent it. But Montecu-
culli fent his infantry down the Rhine in boats to join
the Prince of Orange, while his cavalry filed off by
Wetteravia with the fame view. The Imperialifts,
having thus eluded the vigilance of M. de Turenne,
joined the Prince of Orange near Coblentz, who imme-
diately went and befieged Bonn. The town, being in-
vefted by three different armies, the Imperial, Dutch,
and Spaniſh, was obliged to furrender after a fiege of
nine days.
Such was the event of this campaign; in which the
King had loft his conqueſts in Holland, and had now a
war to maintain againſt Spain, the Empire, and the
Dutch united. He was foon abandoned by England,
and at laſt by Munfter, and even Cologne. The Vif-
count de Turenne could not diffemble his uneafinefs,
and there appeared in his countenance an air of thought-
fulneſs and melancholy. Having put his army into win-
ter quarters, he returned to court, where he was
ceived by the King with great demonftrations of eſteem
and affection. His Majefty talked frequently with him
in private, of the means of re-eftabliſhing affairs the
next campaign, fpoke to him one day of the fatal con-
fequences of Louvois's counfels, to which he attributed
the lofs of Holland, and gave him a fair opportunity to
re-
re-
78
The LIFE of
An. 1673.revenge himſelf on the Minifter, who had done him
many ill offices. The Viſcount contented himſelf with
anfwering the King, That the Marquis de Louvois was
very capable of doing his Majefty great ſervice in the cabinet,
but that he had not experience enough in war, to take upon
him the direction of it. This moderation and generolity
extremely pleaſed the young King; and he ſaid to him,
Though all my Minifters fhould hate you, my "heart shall be
always for you. He then ſpoke to him of the Marquis
de St. Abre, a Lieutenant General in the army com-
manded by M. de Turenne, and aſſured him, that that
Officer fhould never more ferve under him. Turenne
afking the reaſon, the King told him, that St. Abre had
very much blamed his conduct, and written to Louvois,
that if he had been confulted, he could have faved Bonn
without hazarding Alface. Why then did not he speak to
me? faid the Vifcount with great fimplicity, I should
have heard him with pleasure, and profited by his advice.
He then excuſed St. Abre, commended him, gave an
exact account of his fervices, obtained a gratuity for
him, and entreated the King not to deprive him of fo
able a Lieutenant General.
1674.
The Prince of Orange's prudence, valour, and un-
expected fuccefs, determined the States General, in the
beginning of this year, to make the Offices of Stadthol-
der, Admiral, and Captain General of the Seven United
Provinces, which they had already conferred upon him,
hereditary to his male defcendents. Thus, at the age
of three-and-twenty, he was raiſed to a higher pitch of
glory and power in the Republic, than any of his an-
ceftors had been. The Prince then employed all his
credit to draw off his uncle the King of England, the
Biſhop of Munfter, and the Elector of Cologne, from
the intereft of France, and to ftrengthen the alliance
he had already made with the Emperor, Spain, and
Denmark, in which he had a mind to engage the princi-
pal members of the Germanic body. He had the good
fortune to fucceed in all his views. The ancient treaties
between England and the Dutch were renewed in their
utmoſt extent the threatenings of the Emperor made
fuch an impreffion upon the two Prelates, that they
abandoned the interefts of France: the Elector of Bran-
denburgh broke the treaty he had figned with M. de Tu-
renne :
Maréchal TURENNE.
79
renne the Landgrave of Heffe, the Elector of Triers, An. 1674.
the Elector Palatine, the Dukes of Brunfwick and
Lunenburgh, in a word, all the Powers of Germany
entered into a league with the Dutch, except the E-
lector of Bavaria and the Duke of Hanover, who con-
tinued neutral. Louis made all the preparations necef-
fary for refifting fo many enemies. He fent an army to
the frontiers of Spain under Maréchal Schomberg; the
Prince of Condé commanded a fecond in Flanders, to
watch the motions of the Prince of Orange; the King
himfelf led a third into Franche-Comté, with a defign
of conquering that Province; and the Vifcount de Tu-
renne returned into Germany with a fourth, confifting
only of ten thouſand men, to prevent the King's being
interrupted in his conqueſts from that quarter.
The Duke of Lorrain, having affembled all his army,
which did not exceed two thouſand men, attempted to
croſs the Rhine at Bafil, and penetrate into Franche-
Comté, in hopes that great numbers of the Lorrainers
would follow him thither, but being hindered by the
Viſcount, who was pofted on the weft fide of the river,
he went and joined Count Caprara, the Imperial Gene-
ral, near Heidelberg, where the Duke of Bournonville,
at the head of another body of Imperial troops, was
upon his march to join them.
The Viſcount, being informed of this defign, refolved
to fight them before their junction; and making his
troops march without baggage and with uncommon di-
ligence, he croffed the Rhine at Philipfburgh, and con-
tinued his march towards the enemy through the Pala
tinate. In his way he defeated and took prifoners two
hundred of the Imperial foot, at a farm called Bruck-
haufen, after a very fharp engagement; and afterwards
routed a party of horfe, who were marching to fuftain
that infantry. Being afraid of fome furprife, he went
every night when the army encamped, and viewed the ad-
vanced guards in perfon, to fee if all the men were at
their pofts. He once paffed by a tent where ſeveral
young foldiers, who were fupping together, were com-
plaining that he had led them fuch a long march to no
purpoſe. An old foldier, who had been fo lamed in the
action of Bruckhaufen, that he could not raife his hand
to his mouth, anfwered them, You do not know our Fa-
4
ther:
享
​80
The LIFE of
An. 1674.ther, he would not have expofed us to fo much fatigue, if he
had not ſome great thing in view which we cannot yet find out.
The young foldiers, immediately changing their note,
began to drink their General's health; and the Viſcount
afterwards acknowledged, that he had never felt fo fen-
fible a pleaſure.
At laft, after a march of almoft thirty leagues in four
days, the Viſcount difcovered the enemy poſted on an
eminence beyond the town of Sintzheim, a place fituated
at an equal diſtance from Philipfburgh on the Rhine,
and Hailbron on the Neckar. The two armies were
nearly equal in number, about nine thouſand men each;
but the Imperialifts were much more advantageoufly
poſted: the French could not get at them, without first
taking the town and caſtle of Sintzheim, which were
places of fome ftrength: Caprara's troops were fresh,
and had come from good quarters, whereas the Vif-
count's foldiers were fatigued during the winter, and by
a long and rapid, march. But all theſe diſadvantages
were furmounted by the bravery of the French troops,
who first made themſelves mafters of Sintzheim and its
caſtle, fword in hand, and then attacked the Imperial
troops with the greateſt fury. The Viſcount, not con-
tented with going amidſt the ranks, and encouraging the
foldiers by his voice and gefture, animated them by his
example, gave his orders every where with tranquillity,
threw himſelf among the Imperialifts, and was more
than half an hour in the midft of the Emperor's Cui-
raffiers. The refiftance made by the enemy was very
obftinate; they rallied feveral times, but were ftill bro-
ken and repulfed. At laft, they retired with the lofs of
two thouſand killed, and five or fix hundred taken pri-
foners; and the Viſcount, whofe lofs amounted to
about one thouſand two hundred men, and whoſe in-
fantry was fatigued by their march, contented himſelf
with detaching a ſmall body of horſe to purſue the run-
aways, who retreated in fuch a fright, that feveral of
them, not contented with paffing the Neckar, went
above fixteen leagues farther, and never ftopped till they
came to Frankfort on the Maine. When the battle
was over, the principal Officers went and congratulated
the Viſcount on the fuccefs, which they acknowledged
to be entirely owing to his prudent conduct. The Viſ-
count
Maréchal TURENNE.
81
count as politely anſwered, that with foldiers like them a An. 1674
man ought to attack with boldness, because he was fure to con
quer.
Soon after this, the Viſcount received a reinforce-
ment, which made his army amount to fixteen thousand
men; and the remains of the enemy, by their junction
with the Duke of Bournonville, being about thirteen
or fourteen thouſand, returned to the banks of the Nec-
kar. But upon the Viſcount's preparing to paſs that
river and attack them a fecond time, they retired to-
wards the Maine, which they croffed in all hafte, and
fecured themſelves from his purſuit.
Turenne, being mafter of the Palatinate by the re-
treat of the Imperialiſts, let his troops live there at dif-
cretion. They confumed in a month the forage and
harvest of the country, fo that it was impoffible for the
enemy to fubfift there. Moft of the peasants abandoned
their houſes and left the country; but to revenge them-
felves for the miferies they fuffered by war, they exer-
cifed before their departure all manner of cruelties upon
fuch French foldiers as they could furprize; they burnt
ſome by a flow fire, and hung up others with their
heads downwards, and left them to die in that manner :
they tore out the heart and entrails of others, put out
their eyes, and having maimed them in different ways,
expoſed them in the high roads. The French army faw
thoſe ſpectacles in feveral places in their march *. The
English, provoked at this inhumanity, gave themſelves
up to their reſentment, went like madmen with torches
in their hands, and burnt a great many towns and vil-
lages, and even ſome ſmall cities. Their revenge was
fo fudden, that the Officers could not reftrain them;
and had not the threats and orders of M. de Turenne
put a stop to their fury, they would have laid waſte the
whole country. He exemplarily punifhed thofe who
began the burning, though they were the braveſt fol-
diers of his army. He could not condemn them to
* In this manner Mr. Ramfay endeavours to clear M. de Tu-
renne and the French from an action, which is generally confidered
as a (tain upon the glory of both. Other French authors, particu-
larly M. de Voltaire, who wrote fince the Chevalier, fay nothing of
the provocation given by the Palatines, or of the English troops
being the chief actors in thefe barbarities.
G
death,
82
The LIFE of
I
:
i
:
An. 1674. death, without doing great violence to himfelf; but as
the maintenance of difcipline was concerned, he made
clemency give place to ſeverity.
:
Lewis, Elector Palatine, fecond coufin to the Vif-
count, enraged at feeing from the top of his caſtle at
Manheim, two cities and twenty-five towns in flames,
challenged Turenne to fingle combat, by a letter which
he fent him filled with reproaches. The Vifcount, in
his anſwer, laid the blame upon the fury of his foldiers,
afferted that it was done without his order, and con-
cluded with a vague compliment, which, it feems,
brought the Elector into a better humour, and made him
afhamed of being angry at the ruin of perhaps one half
of his fubjects.
When the French had laid waſte that part of the Pa-
latinate which is on the eastern fide of the Rhine, the
Viſcount croffed over at Philipfburgh, and led his
troops, upon the fame errand, to that part of his coufin's
dominions which lies on the weſtern fide of the river.
Here a dyfentery got into the army, and Turenne
fhewed the utmoſt humanity to his foldiers, by taking
care of their cure, by vifiting the fick, and fupplying all
their neceffities. If his money was ſpent before he had
finiſhed his round, he borrowed of the first Officer he
met, defiring him to go to his fteward and be repaid.
The fteward, fufpecting that they fometimes demanded
more than they had lent, repreſented to his maſter, that
it would be proper to give bills: No, faid the Viſcount,
give them all they afk: it is impoffible an Officer fhould de-
mand more than he has lent, except he be in great want, and
in that cafe it is right to affift him. This conduct filled the
-foldiers with love and refpect for him: when he was
walking at the head of the camp, they would come from
their poft to look at him, and fay one to another, Our
Father is in good health, we have nothing to fear.
In the mean time the Emperor's army being increaſed,
by the junction of feveral bodies of troops fent by the
Princes and Circles of the Empire, to thirty-five thou-
fand men, crofled the Rhine at Mentz, and alarmed the
Court of France with the apprehenſions of an invaſion
on the fide of Lorrain. Louvois blamed the Viſcount's
conduct, and fent him preffing orders from the King to
quit Alface, and oppofe the progrefs of the enemy.
But
I
Maréchal TURENNE.
83
But Turenne ſaw the danger there would be in leaving An. 1674.
the banks of the Rhine; and repreſented, in his letter
to court, that the enemy, how numerous foever, could
think of no other enterprize that ſeaſon, than forcing
him to do what his Majefty ordered him; in which
cafe Brifac and Philipfburgh muft foon furrender; the
Imperialists would be mafters of all the country from
Mentz to Bafil, and perhaps immediately carry the
war into Franche-Comté, thence into Lorrain, and
come and ravage Champagne. He concluded with
faying, "I know the ftrength of the Imperial army,
"the Generals that command it, and the country I am
"in: I take all upon myſelf, and will be anſwerable for
"the event." The King, who knew how little the
Viſcount was apt to be prefuming, truſted entirely to
his capacity and experience, fent him a re-inforcement
of eight battalions, and left him at liberty to do as he
pleafed. The courfe of the campaign juftified the Vif-
count; and the Minifter himſelf admired his able ma-
nagement.
The Confederates, having paffed the Rhine, `were
hindered from entering into Lorrain, by the judicious
difpofition of the Vilcount's troops; and finding it
difficult to fubfift in fuch narrow quarters, they pre-
pared to repaſs the river, near Philipfburgh, as if they de-
figned to beſiege that town. He took therefore all the ne-
ceffary precautions to defend it, by ftrengthening the
fortifications, and reinforcing the garrifon. It foon ap-
peared that their real defign was upon Straſburgh; where
the inhabitants were ftirred up to mutiny againſt their
magiftrates, to violate the neutrality they had promiſed,
and to receive an Imperial garrifon. Turenne fufpected
their intention, and had fent the Marquis de Vanbrun
to take poffeffion of a fort at the end of the bridge near
Strafburgh, on the weft fide of the Rhine. This would
have defeated the fcheme of the Imperialifts, but Van-
brun fuffered himſelf to be amufed by the inhabitants.
of Strafburgh, till the enemy were entirely maſters of
the place, and had taken poffeffion of the fort in quef-
tion.
The Confederates now paffed the Rhine a fecond
time at Straſburgh, and marched into Upper Alface,
where they found abundance of provifions to fupport
G 2
their
84
The LIFE of
An. 1674 their army, and from whence they could eafily make
an irruption into France. They had already near
forty thousand men, and in fifteen days expected the
Elector of Brandenburgh, with twenty thousand
more. This reinforcement would have made them too
formidable; fo that the Viſcount had no expedient left
but to march ftrait to the enemy, with an army which
confifted at moft but of twenty-two thouſand men,
and fight them before the arrival of the Elector. With
this view he left his camp at midnight, in hopes of
getting at them before they had notice of his march.
Had it not been for a continual rain, which lafted all
the night, and the following day, he would have ef-
fected his defign. But his army not coming till four
in the afternoon, upon the high grounds near the
village of Enfheim, where the enemy was encamped,
they had time to prepare for battle. Though the
Vilcount's men were much fatigued, he made them
poffefs themſelves of the out-pofts, without fuffering
them to reft; and having ſtood to their arms all night,
he led them to the battle by break of day. It was very
obftinate on both fides; but, though both armies were
drawn up in battalia, they fought only by detach-
ments; and the hotteft of the action paffed in a wood
that was between both, where the Imperialifts had
entrenched themselves, that they might be able to take
the French in flank. The Viſcount expofed himfelf
as much as the meaneft foldier, and had a horſe
wounded under him. His example made the foldiers
exert themſelves to the utmoft, fo that they bravely re-
pulfed the enemy, who returned to the charge no leſs
than four times. At laft, the French became maſters
of the plain as well as the wood. The little that re-
mained of the day was fpent in cannonading; and
night put an end to the engagement.
→
The French had been upon the march for near
forty hours before the action: it had lafted from
morning till night, in a deep foil, during a continual
rain, The Vifcount faw that if he made his troops.
pafs the night in the field of battle, they would not be
in a condition to fight next day; he therefore re-
paffed a ſmall river which he had croffed to come at
the enemy, in order to be near his baggage and pro-
vifions,
Maréchal TURENNE.
85
1
vifions, and refreſh his army. He had evidently An. 1674-
the advantage of the day; the enemy had loft near.
three thouſand men, with eight pieces of cannon, fe-
veral ſtandards, kettle-drums, colours, and many pri-
foners; and in the following night they abandoned their
camp precipitately, and left in it two pieces of cannon,
a good quantity of provifions, and a great number of
wounded men.
The French on their fide loft two
thouſand men, and had many Officers killed and
wounded; but they were ftill able to keep the field
while the enemy remained under the cannon of Straf-
burgh, behind the river Ill, to wait for the Elector of
Brandenburgh.
;
In October, this Prince arrived, accompanied by his
Electreſs and ſeveral other Princeffes, who faid they were
going to make an acquaintance with the French Ladies,
and learn the manners of that polite nation. This great
reinforcement having joined the Imperial army, which
now amounted to fixty thouſand men, they hoped to
drive the French out of Alface, to enter Lorrain, and
penetrate as far as Paris. The alarm reached the court;
and the King ordered the arriere-ban, and ſeveral regi-
ments from Flanders to march towards the Rhine. The
German Generals held a council of war, wherein it was
refolved to march towards the Viſcount, who, having
firft fecured Saverne and Haguenau from all attempts,
retired to a ſtrong poft at Dettweiler, capable of fhel-
tering an army fo much inferior to the enemy as his
was.
While the Viſcount was in this camp, he met one day
with a poor Gentleman of the arriere-ban, who was
very ill mounted, but appeared very zealous for the
ſervice. Turenne propofed to him to change horfes,
and made him accept of one of great value in ex-
change for a mean one, which the Viſcount politely
told him, he liked better becauſe it was more gentle.
From the fame camp he fent his nephew the Duke of
Elbeuf (fon to the Vifcount's niece, but defcended by
his father from a younger branch of the houſe of Lor-
rain) to make his compliments to Charles IV. Duke
of Lorrain, who was in the enemy's camp. Charles
could not help faying to the young Prince, who was
then but fourteen years old, My young coufin, you
G 3
66
arc
P
86
The LIFE of
1
An. 1674," are too happy in feeing and hearing the Vifcount de
"Turenne every day you have no father but him;
"kifs the ground he treads on, and be killed at his
"feet." The French continued in this fituation till
the end of October, during which time the formidable
German army did nothing but feize a ſmall fort, which
the Viſcount had garrifoned with a Captain and an
hundred and fifty men. In the beginning of Novem-
ber, Turenne received another reinforcement from
Flanders, where the campaign ended very early, with
the bloody, but undecifive, battle of Seneff, fought
between the Princes of Orange and Condé. The Im-
perialifts now thought the Viſcount too ftrong for
them to venture upon any enterprize; and finding it
difficult for their army to fubfift in a thinned country,
they retired towards Strafburgh. The Viſcount, on
his fide, croffed the mountains which feparate Alface
from Lorrain; and the Confederates were informed
that he had put his army into winter quarters. De-
pending upon this intelligence, and upon the lateneſs
of the feaſon, they divided amongst them all the fine
country between the Rhine and the mountains of Al-
face from Strafburgh to Befort, and began to treat
about contributions. The Elector of Brandenburgh
eftabliſhed his court at Colmar, and fent for the
Electreſs there, who, till then, had refided at Straf-
burgh,
Scarce had the news of Turenne's march into Lor-
rain reached the court of France, when his conduct
began to be cenfured. Several Officers of the army
wrote to Paris that they were aftoniſhed at this pro-
ceeding. The Minifter omitted nothing to prejudice
the King againſt a General, who, inſtead of driving
the enemy out of Alface, had left them in quiet pof-
feffion of it, and was retired into Lorrain.
In the mean time, the Imperialifts, fecure, as they
imagined, from any difturbance, had extended all over
Alface, and were enjoying themſelves in peace. In
the beginning of December, Turenne, finding that the
enemy had done all that he had foreſeen they would,
judged it was time to execute the project he had
formed. He divided his army into ſeveral detach-
ments, put old Officers at the head of each, fent them
by
!
Maréchal TURENNE.
87
by different routs over the mountains, and appointed An. 1674.
them all the fame place of rendezvous at Befort, at
the ſouthern extremity of Alface. By this means he
appeared on a fudden among the enemy's quarters,
who imagined he was quiet in Lorrain, and that the
campaign was at an end. On the twenty-ninth he
attacked and defeated a body of fix thouſand horfe
at Mulhauſen, and took a great many prifoners.
He then marched to Colmar, where the Elector of
Brandenburgh, who was called the Great Elector, had
his quarters. He arrived juft at the time when this
Prince and the other Generals were fitting down
to table, ſo that they had only juſt time to efcape;
and the field was covered with fugitives. He next
marched to Turkheim, to attack the main body of the Jan. 5.
enemy, which was affembled near that town.
The 1675.
advantageous fituation of the poft he chofe, rendered
his victory almoſt certain. The Imperialifts gave
ground by degrees, and began to retreat; when, night
coming on, fufpended the battle: and next morning
there was no enemy to be feen. Thus was this vast
army of fixty thouſand men defeated and difperfed by
a body, which, at moft, never exceeded half that
number. Alface remained in the poffeffion of the
French, and the Imperialifts repaffed the Rhine with
the utmoſt expedition.
▼
The fuccefs of this campaign aſtoniſhed all Europe;
but the ſurpriſe was ftill greater, when it was known
that the Viſcount had foretold it two months before.
The King cauſed to be read, in prefence of all the
court, a letter from the Viſcount, dated the thirtieth
of October, and fent to Le Tellier, Secretary of State,
in which Turenne fignified to him, "that, pretend-
ing not to be able to refift the enemy after their
"junction with the Elector of Brandenburgh, he
"would ftill retire before them; that to give them
"the greater confidence, he would retreat quite into
"Lorrain; after which they would not fail to extend
"themſelves all over Alface; that then he would fall
upon their quarters by a way they ſhould never ful-
'
66
• Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XIV,
G 4
"pect;
88
The LIFE of
An. 1675." pect; and that he would perhaps oblige them to re-
"pafs the Rhine, and take up their winter quarters
“in their own country.
}
At his camp near Scheleftat, the Viſcount received a
letter, in which the King expreffed great impatience to ſee
him. He immediately fet out for Paris, and in his way
met every where great multitudes of people of all ages
and ranks, who came to fee him. The inhabitants of
Champagne flocked together in crowds for ten leagues
round, and fhed tears of joy at ſeeing the man, whom
they looked upon as their deliverer from the calamities.
of an approaching invafion. When he arrived at court,
the King received him with greater marks of eſteem
and favour than he had ever fhewn to any one. The
whole converfation of Paris turned upon his laſt cam-
paign, the luftre of which feemed to eclipſe all his
preceding ones. It was faid every where that Fabius
was become Alexander: he was looked upon as the
preſerver of the ſtate: people ſtopped in the ftreets to
fee him as he paffed: he could not appear in public
without being furrounded by a crowd of people, filled
with joy and admiration.
Louvois himſelf could not help doing him juftice,
and reflecting with fome confufion on the difadvan-
tageous judgments he had paffed upon the Viſcount's
conduct during this glorious compaign. The Prince
of Condé being diflatisfied with this Minifter, ſpoke
to Turenne to join in a complaint of him to the King.
The Prince was afterwards foftened by the Chancellor
Le Tellier, the Miniſter's father; but Turenne, think-
ing he ſhould fail in his duty, if he kept filence, ſpoke
refolutely to the King, and made him fenfible, that,
though Louvois was an able Minifter, he was not al-
ways qualified to judge of the operations of war in
a remote country, fo well as the Generals who were
upon the ſpot. He did not fo much as mention any
thing that regarded himſelf perfonally, but dwelt wholly
upon what concerned the welfare of the ftate; and de-
fired leave to write to his Majefty directly, and that
the letters might be delivered by his nephew, the Car-
dinal de Bouillon. The King granted his requeſt, and
admired his moderation, generofity, and greatnefs of
foul, in doing juftice to the merit even of thoſe who
had
Maréchal TURENNE.
89
had endeavoured to injure him. He afterwards ordered An. 16-5.
Louvois to wait upon the Viſcount, to apologize for
what had paſt, and to defire his friendship. Turenne
received him with dignity, but with affability alfo: he
heard the Miniſter's compliment, and then anfwered
him, "I have done a great deal to gain your friend-
"ſhip, becauſe the King's fervice required it; and yet
"I have not been able hitherto to obtain it.
You
“aſk mine, becaufe his Majefty orders you to do fo.
"I do not refufe it you; but you muſt excufe me if
"I do not make you a promiſe of it, till you have
"fhewn by your conduct that you defire it in earneſt.”
The Prince of Condé, though fo eafily reconciled to
the Miniſter himself, could not help admiring the
Viſcount's behaviour; and faid, that he had acted more
nobly in this than in winning fo many towns and
battles,
The Viſcount, far from being elevated by all this
applauſe, had thoughts of retiring wholly from the
world, and giving himſelf up to a life of folitude and
devotion; but the King abfolutely forbidding it, he
prepared to make a campaign againſt one of the greateſt
Generals of the age.
At the inftigation of France, the King of Sweden
declared war this year againſt the Elector of Branden-
burgh, who was confequently obliged to withdraw his
troops from the Confederate army. The court of Vien-
na, no longer caring to truft the fortune of the Empire
to the other Princes, who had but ill defended it,
again placed at the head of its armies the famous Count
de Montecuculli, who had defeated the Turks in the
bloody battle of St. Gothard, and, in fpite of Tu-
renne and Condé, had joined the Prince of Orange,
and ftopped the progrefs of Louis XIV. in the United
Provinces.
In the beginning of every campaign, the Viſcount
ufed to regulate his accounts, and pay his debts; and
he was uncommonly folicitous this year to fee that
picce of justice performed. Before his departure he
went to vifit Cardinal de Retz, who, having quitted
faction and intrigue, acquired in retirement, and in
an advanced age, thofe virtues, to which, in earlier life,
and in the bustle and hurry of the world, he had been
a ftranger.
90
The LIFE of
"
An. 1675.a ftranger. Turenne told him, that, were it not for
the preſent fituation of affairs, he would imitate fo
good an example, and put fome interval between his
life and his death. He left Paris on the eleventh of
May, and arrived in Alface time enough to prevent
the execution of Montecuculli's defign, who had taken
the Emperor's troops from their winter quarters much
fooner than ufual, and advanced towards Strafburgh,
in order to paſs the Rhine at that place, and endeavour
to reap, in the Higher Alface, thofe advantages, of
which the multiplicity of counfels, and the bad con-
duct of the Confederate Generals, had deprived them
in the laſt campaign. The inhabitants of Strafburgh
were almoſt perſuaded to grant Montecuculli a paffage;
but the Viſcount's arrival kept them fteady to their
neutrality, and difconcerted the meafures of the Ger-
man General. The Viſcount then paffed the Rhine
himſelf, in order to fecure Alface, by drawing the at-
tention of the enemy to the eaſtern fide of the river.
From this time theſe two great Officers, who had re-
duced war into an art, and left nothing to Fortune,
were employed in following and obferving each other
in their marches and encampments, which were more
applauded by the Officers of France and of the Em-
pire than victories. Each penetrated into the other's
defigns, by what he himſelf would have done in the fame
fituation; and they were never deceived. Neither
durft hope to get a victory through the fault of his
enemy, but knew that he muft gain it by force of ge-
nius and military fcience. "This laft campaign,'
fays Chevalier Follard (a great judge in the art of war)
"is the mafter-piece of the Viſcount de Turenne, and
"the Count de Montecuculli: there is nothing fo fine
"in all antiquity: none but the connoiffeurs in the art
"can form a right judgment of it. How many ob-
"ftacles to furmount on both fides! How many
"feints, marches, counter-marches, deep and artful
"ftratagems and defigns! It is by theſe things that
"Generals are known, and not by eafy conquefts,
or by gaining victories with a prodigious number of
troops. At the age of fixty-four, the Vifcount had
all the vigour of a young man he was continually on
horſeback, viewed even the leaſt important pofts him-
<<
felf,
J
Maréchal TURENNE.
91
..
cr
felf, and judged of every thing by his own eyes; An. 1675.
whereas Montecuculli, who was fixty-fix, was more
broke, afflicted with the gout, lefs fit for action, and
often obliged to form his fchemes upon the reports of
others. The fuperior activity of Turenne diftreffed the
Imperialifts, but his army began in time to feel great
inconveniencies. For fix weeks after its paffing the
Rhine, there had been continual rains: the foldiers
were encamped in mud and dirt, and had fuffered a
great deal in a ruined country. The horfes, having
confumed all the forage and the grafs, had nothing to
live upon for fome time paft, but the leaves of trees.
The young foldiers grew impatient of being in moraffes,
where they were often in water up to the knees; but
the old ones quieted their murmurs, and aſked them,
why they complained. "You do not know our Ge-
"neral," faid they; "when we are in any diftreſs,
"he is more uneafy than we : at this moment his
thoughts are wholly employed in contriving how to
"extricate us from theſe difficulties: he is often awake
"when we fleep: he is our father; it is eaſy to ſee that
you are but young." In effect, Turenne foon de-
livered his army out of this diftrefs, and got the Im-
perialifts into a fituation near the town of Safpach,
where he could attack them with great advantage. Af-
ter having carefully viewed the ground, he could not
help faying to fome General Officers, "It is done: I
"have them they cannot escape me any more; and I
"fhall foon reap the fruit of fo fatiguing a campaign.”
On fuch occafions he was not uſed to diſcover any
hopes of ſucceſs, far lefs to fay he was fure of it. Hav-
ing obferved the enemy's camp a fecond time, he went
and reſted under a tree, where he breakfaſted. Here he
received advice that the enemy's infantry was in mo-
tion; as indeed their whole army was preparing to
make a retreat. He roſe up, mounted his horſe, and
advanced to an eminence, to fee what was the matter.
He ordered thoſe that were with him not to follow him;
and faid to the young Duke of Elbeuf, Stay here, nephew,
you are always running round me ; you will make me known.
Near the place whither he was going, he met my Lord
Hamilton, who faid to him, Come this way, Sir, they
are firing the way you are riding: to which the Vit-
count,
·92
The LIFE of
An. 1675.count anſwered, I would not willingly be killed to-day.
He went on, and met St. Hilaire, Lieutenant General
of the artillery, who faid to him, ftretching out his
hand, Look, Sir, upon that battery which I have raiſed
yonder. Scarce had he turned back two paces, when
a random fhot from a cannon firſt carried off St. Hi-
laire's arm, that was pointing towards the battery, and
then took the Viſcount full in the breaft. He instantly
fell forward with his face upon the faddle-bow; and
in this poſture the horſe carried him back to the place
where he had left his company. There the horſe ſtopped;
and the Great Turenne, having twice opened his eyes,
fell dead in the arms of his fervants. St. Hilaire's fon,
thinking his father mortally wounded, came and be-
wailed him with many tears. It is not for me, ſaid the
father, that you ſhould lament, but for that great man,
pointing to the Viſcount's body.
The confternation of thoſe who ſaw him fall is in-
expreffible. Hamilton, who had more command of
himſelf than the reft, immediately threw a cloak over
the body, and the news was for fome time kept a ſe-
cret from the foldiers. At laft it flew from rank to rank,
and every where fpread a profound filence, which was
interrupted by fighs and lamentations. Our Father is
dead, cried the foldiers, tearing their hair, and
we are undone. They all infifted upon feeing their
General's body, and that fad fpectacle renewing
their tears, they cried out, with one common voice,
Lead us to the battle, we will revenge the death of our Fa-
ther. Turenne's death put an end to the anxiety
of the enemy's Generals, and the terror of their fol-
diers: they were fenfible they had gained a great ad-
vantage, becauſe France had fuftained a great lofs.
Montecuculli, indeed, with a greatness of foul ſeldom
found in rivals, feemed unaffected with any thing but
grief; and often repeated theſe words, There is a man
dead who was an honour to human nature.
There were then no Lieutenant Generals belonging to
the French army, but the Count de Lorges (Turenne's
nephew) and the Marquis de Vanbrun; the latter of
whom having retired to a neighbooring village, by
reafon of a wound in his foot, returned to the army as
foon as he learnt the news of the Viſcount's death. They
confulted a long time with the principal Officers, what
meaſures
Maréchal TURENNE.
93
meaſures were proper to be taken, but could come An. 1675-
to no conclufion. Whereupon the foldiers cried out fe--
veral times, Let PYE loofe, he will lead us; meaning the
horſe the Viſcount commonly rode. At läft, after feve-
ral deliberations, the French army, which was to have
attacked the enemy, refolved to retire; and the Impe-
rialiſts, who thought of nothing but how to retreat,
advanced to attack the French. There enfued a terrible
battle, in which the Count de Lorges difplayed all the
ſkill of a great General; and the Marquis de Vanbrun,
who charged the enemy, with his leg tied to the faddle,
was killed. The Imperialiſts loft five thousand men,
and the French three thouſand; the latter afterwards re-
paffed the Rhine. As they were croffing the bridge, the
foldiers, covered with wounds, faid one to another,
Alas! if our Father had been alive, we should not have been
thus wounded.
At length the French fecured themſelves under Schele-
ftat; and their thoughts being now no longer taken up
with the care of oppofing the enemy, they felt more fen-
fibly than ever the greatneſs of their lofs. They began
again to lament their misfortune, to recal to mind all
the virtues and good deeds of their General, and to re-
count them to one another, though they all knew them
before. The Viſcount's nephews had a fervice per-
formed for him, at which the Officers and foldiers af-
fifted with the ufual ceremonies; the Officers with
black crape ſcarfs, the drums covered with the fame,
and the foldiers with pikes trailing, and mufkets in-
verted. Their lamentations, accompanied with tears,
were heard at a great diftance; and Turenne was be-
wailed by the whole army, as a father by his family,
When the news of his death arrived at court, con-
fternation and grief were painted on every face: the
tradeſmen of Paris left their work to go and mourn
with their neighbours; and the inhabitants of that great-
city flocked together to enquire of one another all the
circumſtances of fo great a misfortune. Aftoniſhment
and forrow foon ſpread from the capital to the moſt dif-
tant provinces; the peaſants of Champagne thought
themſelves on the point of being invaded. One of
them went and preffed his landlord to cancel the leaſe
he had taken of a farm, giving this for the fole reafon,
4
The
94
The LIFE, &c.
}
An. 1675.The Great Turenne is dead, and the Germans will come and
put us all under contribution.
The King bewailed the death of this great man :
he ordered his body to be brought to the abbey of St.
Dennis; and to diftinguifh the Viſcount de Turenne
from thofe to whom the fame honour had been granted,
he would have him interred in the chapel appointed for
the burying-place of the Kings and the royal family.
While his corps was upon the way from the banks
of the Rhine to Paris, the people ran together in crowds
upon the road, and watered his coffin with their tears.
The inhabitants of the villages, towns, and cities, came
out to meet it; thofe of Langres, among others, put
on mourning, and paid him extraordinary honours.
His body being arrived at Paris, the King caufed a fer-
vice to be performed over him in the cathedral of Nôtre-
Dame, at which the Clergy of France, who were then
affembled in convocation, the parliament, the univerſity,
the magiftrates and citizens, all in a body, affifted.
The moſt celebrated preachers vied with one another in
making his panegyric: there was no public difcourſe
pronounced all that year, either at the opening of par-
liaments, or in the academies, or in the univerſities, or
on any folemn occafion, wherein his elogium was not
made, and the lofs of him lamented. Never was a pri-
vate man ſo much regretted; becauſe never was a private
man fo univerfally refpected and beloved.
!
FINI S.
І
BOUND
OCT 141941
UNI OF MICH
LIBRARY