Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount of Turenne
Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne, commonly known as Turenne, was a French general and one of only six marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family, his military exploits over his five-decade career earned him a reputation as one of the greatest military commanders in history.
Born to a Huguenot family, the son of a Marshal of France, he was introduced to the art of war at a young age. He first served as a volunteer in the Dutch States Army under the orders of his maternal uncles Maurice of Nassau and Frederick Henry before pursuing his career in the service of France, where his noble origins and proven qualities soon saw him rise to the top of the military hierarchy. He rose to prominence during the Thirty Years' War by capturing the fortress of Breisach in 1638. Promoted Marshal of France in 1643, he struck against Bavaria the following year, defeating the Bavarian army in three years of campaigning and forcing the Elector of Bavaria to make peace. The Elector soon broke the treaty and in 1648 Turenne invaded again with Swedish support, subduing the Imperial army at Zusmarshausen and pacifying Bavaria.
Turenne initially supported the Fronde but returned to royal service in 1651, emerging as France's foremost general by defeating the rebellious army of the Prince of Condé on the outskirts of Paris and re-occupying the city.
His triumphs against Spanish armies at Arras and at Dunkirk led to the overrunning of much of the Spanish Netherlands and brought the war against Spain to a victorious conclusion. Two years later, Louis XIV appointed him Marshal General of France. Although a supporter of absolute monarchy, he only converted to Catholicism in 1668, refusing to do so earlier despite political incentives.
During the War of Devolution in 1667 Turenne captured the Spanish Netherlands practically without resistance. In 1672 the French invaded the Dutch Republic and the Marshal General conquered the country up to Amsterdam. Checked by the Dutch flooding of the land, he invaded the Holy Roman Empire the next year, reaching the Elbe and compelling Brandenburg to abandon the anti-French coalition. Faced with the loss of Alsace to superior Allied forces, he crowned his career with a series of battlefield victories, most notably at Turckheim and a masterful strategic turning movement around the Vosges in mid-winter that drove the Imperials from Alsace. He was killed by an Imperial cannonball at the battle of Salzbach in 1675.
Background and early career
The second son of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, sovereign Prince of Sedan, by his second wife Elizabeth, daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange, he was born at Sedan. It is said that much of his money found its way to the poor during his early life. He received a Huguenot education and the usual training of a young noble of the time, but physical infirmity hampered his progress, though he showed a marked skill at history and geography, and was greatly impressed by the exploits of Alexander the Great and Caesar. At first he was a lazy student but after his father started saying his intellectual laziness was as great a barrier to joining the army as his physical weakness, he began to study on his own accord. After his father's death in 1623, he devoted himself to bodily exercises and in a great measure overcame his natural weakness. Turenne and his mother were devout Calvinists and were suspicious of Cardinal Richelieu, so when Turenne began his military career at the age of fourteen, he did so in the camp of his uncle, Maurice of Nassau, the Stadtholder of Holland and Prince of Orange. He started as a private in Maurice's bodyguard during the Eighty Years' War.Frederick Henry of Nassau, who succeeded his brother Maurice as Stadtholder and Prince of Orange in 1625, granted Turenne a captaincy in 1626. Turenne personally drilled his troops, as was the custom at the time, and won their respect with his charity and simple lifestyle. His company was alleged to be the best drilled and most disciplined one in the army, he required of his soldiers not only discipline but also high moral standards. His kindness made him well-liked among the entire army. The young officer took his part in the sieges of the period, learning much about fortifications and siege warfare. In 1629, Turenne served in the siege of Bois-le-Duc as commander of an artillery and reconnaissance. He won special commendation for his skill at this battle, but was reprimanded for recklessness. He also learned much about the details of leading an army, like posting guards and reconnaissance. In 1630 Turenne left the Netherlands and entered the service of France, motivated both by the prospect of military advancement but also because of his mother's desire to display loyalty to the French crown.
Cardinal Richelieu immediately made him colonel of an infantry regiment. Yet he continued to serve with the prince of Orange at short intervals, who at the time had an alliance with France. He took part in successful fighting near Antwerp and fought against Hendrik van den Bergh. He took part in an uneventful campaign under Schomberg in 1630 but his first serious service under the French flag occurred at the siege of La Mothe in Lorraine by Marshal de la Force, where his brilliant courage at the assault won him immediate promotion to the rank of maréchal de camp. In 1635 Turenne served under Louis de Nogaret de La Valette in Lorraine and on the Rhine. The French and their allies raised the Imperial siege of Mainz, but the French army had to fall back on Metz for want of provisions. In the retreat he measured swords with the famous imperial General Gallas, and distinguished himself greatly. He managed to defeat his pursuers in battle but the Imperials were too numerous to be turned around. The reorganised army took the field again in 1636 and captured Saverne, at the storming of which he was seriously wounded. In 1637 he took part in the campaign of Flanders, including the capture of Landrecies. In the latter part of 1638, serving under Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, he directed the assault on Breisach, which surrendered on 17 December. In led the assault on the powerful fortress of Vieux-Brisach in 1638 and obtained its capitulation on December 17.
File:Lombards Library 012.jpg|thumb|right|Henri, Count of Harcourt
Turenne's superior at Turin
Turenne had now gained a reputation as one of the foremost of the younger generals of France, and Richelieu next employed him in the Italian campaign of 1639–1640 under Henri de Lorraine, count of Harcourt. On 19 November 1639 Turenne fought in the famous rearguard action called the battle of the "Route de Quiers", for which he received a lot of credit though he only gave himself a small role in his own description of events. At the battle of Casal, 10,000 Frenchmen defeated 20,000 Spaniards. The French commander Harcourt was almost encircled but Turenne used deception to scare off the enemy and the battle was won. In 1640, Harcourt saved Casale Monferrato and besieged Prince Thomas' forces in Turin, which in turn were besieging another French force in the citadel thereof. That winter he relieved the citadel of Turin, held by the French against the forces of Prince Thomas of Savoy. The French in the citadel held out, while Prince Thomas had to surrender on 17 September 1640, a fourth army which had invested Harcourt's lines being at the same time forced to retire. Turenne, by now lieutenant-general, played a major role in the victory. He himself commanded during the campaign of 1641 and took Coni, Ceva and Mondovì.
In 1642 he served as second-in-command of the French troops which conquered Roussillon. At this time Richelieu discovered the conspiracy of Cinq Mars in which Turenne's elder brother, the Duke of Bouillon, had become implicated.
Marshal of France
The relations of the principality of Sedan to the French crown markedly influenced the earlier career of Turenne; sometimes it proved necessary to advance the soldier to conciliate the ducal family, at other times the machinations of the ducal family against Richelieu or Mazarin prevented the king's advisers from giving their full confidence to their general in the field. Moreover, his steady adherence to the Protestant religion provided a further element of difficulty in Turenne's relations with the ministers. Cardinal Richelieu nevertheless entrusted him with the command in Italy in 1643 under Prince Thomas, who had changed sides in the quarrel, and who was not trusted by Richelieu. Thomas, nominally in command, quickly put Turenne in control of the campaign. Using deception to fool the Spanish into weakening Trino, Turenne took the town in a few weeks. He was promoted to Marshal of France on 16 May 1643.Turenne was recalled due to the intrigues of Cardinal Mazarin, who was sabotaging Turenne's career. This meant that he was available in case of sudden need for a good commander. After the French suffered a devastating defeat at Tuttlingen, Turenne was thrown back into action. The following campaign would greatly advance his career.
While molding the army back into fighting condition Turenne bought mounts for 5,000 cavalrymen and clothes for 4,000 infantrymen with his own money. The reorganization finished, Turenne began campaigning in June 1644, crossing the river Rhine at Breisach. He defeated Gaspard von Mercy in the Black Forest before retreating to the Rhine. Unable to relieve the besieged Freiburg with inferior numbers, he was quickly joined by a force under the Duke of Enghien, later to be known as the Grand Condé. The Duke, as a prince of the royal house, took the chief command of the united armies of "France" and "Weimar". The desperately fought battle of Freiburg against Franz von Mercy's Bavarians proved the chief event of the first campaign. In this battle Turenne distinguished himself with a well executed strike at the enemy flank. The French continued on by successfully besieging Philippsburg. Before the capitulation Enghien withdrew and left Turenne in command. At the same time the Duke of Lorraine moved to besiege nearby Bacharach. Turenne took 500 men and built a huge camp near Bacharach, believing Turenne had a large force Lorraine retreated. Turenne continued on by taking the important fortress of Kreuznach and blocking the route between the two armies.
Turenne began the 1645 campaign with a successful forward movement, but Mercy managed to deceive him into thinking the Bavarians were scattered and far away and he was taken by surprise and defeated at Mergentheim. While Turenne had quickly ordered his forces to unite one of his subordinates, general Rosen, was not informed on the situation, defied the order, leading to defeat while Turenne's main force was winning. Turenne's army lost all of its artillery and baggage and five-sixths of its infantry. Turenne retreated to Hesse, which caused its forces to join the French as well as a Swedish force and reinforcements under Condé, who took command once again. The Swedes soon departed, but Enghien commanded still 17,000 men. The French marched into Bavaria with facing little opposition until they caught up with Mercy's retreating army. Mercy inflicted casualties on the French in an artillery duel and outmanoeuvred them in the march on Allerheim, buying time to fortify his position. Turenne advised not to fight but this was rejected by Condé. Turenne's plan of attack was accepted by Condé. The following battle was a French victory and Mercy was killed but the French had suffered heavily. Ill health forced Enghien to retire soon afterwards, leaving Turenne for the third time in command of the French army. He was met by superior imperial forces and forced to retreat. At Philippsburg, Turenne crossed the Rhine using a bridge made of boats.
A month after his retreat Turenne marched 120 miles to Trier which he recaptured for its elector Philipp Christoph von Sötern after over a decade of imperialist occupation. Having taken control of the Moselle for France by this move he set upon improving the defence of that river. Turenne now returned to France where he was offered the Duchy of Château-Thierry, which had also been promised to his brother, by Mazarin, who was trying to drive a wedge between Turenne and his rebellious brother, but Turenne saw what the cardinal was doing and accepted only if the transaction to his brother was completed.
In 1646 Turenne obtained more military successes. He decided to unite his forces with the Swedish under Carl Gustaf Wrangel. Mazarin however had made a deal with the Duke of Bavaria not to unite French and Swedish forces and not to cross the Rhine. In return, the Bavarians would not join the Imperial army. He ordered Turenne to besiege Luxembourg but Turenne correctly suspected the Duke of Bavaria of foul play and procrastinated. Soon the Bavarian army linked up with the imperials and Turenne tried to do the same to assist Wrangel. He was successful by using a detour via Wesel because there was no other bridge south of there he could use. In conjunction with Wrangel, Turenne marched unhindered up until the area between Memmingen and Landsberg am Lech. Their combined army invaded Bavaria by crossing the Danube and advanced as far as Munich and Bregenz, plundering their way through the country. This convinced the Elector of Bavaria to conclude a truce in March 1647. With these manoeuvres Napoleon said he displayed "great boldness, sagacity and genius; they are fertile in grand results, and ought to be studied by all military men". File:Anselmus-van-Hulle-Hommes-illustres MG 0557.tif|thumb|Turenne at the Peace of Westphalia, engraving after Anselm van Hulle.In 1647 he proposed to attack the weakened army of the emperor, but he was ordered into Flanders instead. Not only did France thus lose an opportunity, but a serious mutiny broke out amongst the Weimar troops, who had not received their pay for six months. Rosen, who had been recently promoted to high office on Turenne's insistence, convinced the Weimarian cavalry to revolt, pretending to be held prisoner by them. Turenne had already left for Flanders with his main force but rode back with a small contingent, surprising the mutineers. Instead of destroying them with a surprise attack, he marched with them as if he was still in command and managed to secretly have Rosen arrested after which the mutiny died down. He then marched into Luxembourg but soon received orders to switch to the Rhine. As Turenne predicted Bavaria again joined the Imperial cause in 1647. He compelled the imperials to lift Siege of Worms and formally declared war on Bavaria. After joining with the Swedes, once again led by Wrangel, they moved together against the imperials. Scouts detected the imperials, and during the following night Turenne secretly moved his troops close to the imperials. The following day, 17 May, the imperials marched off unaware of the danger resulting in their rearguard being caught isolated and defeated in a vicious battle at Zusmarshausen. Troops subsequently wasted Bavaria with fire and sword until a more secure pacification was obtained. This devastation, for which many modern writers have blamed Turenne, appeared no more harsh a measure than the spirit of the times and the circumstances of the case permitted. Turenne planned on moving into Austria and taking Vienna, but as the Peace of Westphalia had been signed this campaign never materialized.