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TURENNE, HENRI DE LA TOUR

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 414 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TURENNE, See also:HENRI DE LA TOUR D'See also:AUVERGNE, VICOMTE DE (1611-1675), See also:marshal of See also:France, second son of Henri, See also:duke of See also:Bouillon and See also:sovereign See also:prince of See also:Sedan, by his second wife See also:Elizabeth, daughter of See also:William the Silent, prince of See also:Orange, was See also:born at Sedan on the 11th of See also:September 1611. He was educated in the doctrines of the Reformed See also:religion and received the usual training of a See also:young See also:noble of the See also:time, but See also:physical infirmity, and particularly an impediment of speech (which he never lost), hampered his progress, though he showed a marked partiality for See also:history and See also:geography, and especial admiration of the exploits of See also:Alexander the See also:Great and See also:Caesar. After his See also:father's See also:death in 1623, he devoted himself to bodily exercises and in a great measure overcame his natural weakness. At the See also:age of fourteen he went to learn See also:war in the See also:camp of his See also:uncle, See also:Maurice of See also:Nassau, and began his military career (as a private soldier in that prince's bodyguard) in the Dutch War of See also:Independence. See also:Frederick See also:Henry of Nassau, who succeeded his See also:brother Maurice in 1625, gave Turenne a captaincy in 1626. The young officer took his See also:part in the See also:siege warfare of the See also:period, and won See also:special See also:commendation from his uncle, who was one of the foremost commanders of the time, for. his skill and courage at the celebrated siege of Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc) in 1629. In 1630 Turenne See also:left See also:Holland and entered the service of France. This step was dictated not only by the prospect of military See also:advancement but also by his See also:mother's See also:desire to show the See also:loyalty of the Bouillon dominions to the See also:French See also:crown. See also:Cardinal See also:Richelieu at once made him See also:colonel of an See also:infantry See also:regiment. He still continued to serve at frequent intervals with the prince of Orange, who was the ally of France, and his first serious service under the French See also:flag was at the siege of La Motte in See also:Lorraine by Marshal de la Force (1634), where his brilliant courage at the See also:assault won him immediate promotion to the See also:rank of marechal de camp (See also:equivalent to the See also:modern grade of See also:major-See also:general). In 1635 Turenne served under Cardinal de la Valette in Lorraine and on the See also:Rhine. The siege of See also:Mainz was raised but the French See also:army had to fall back on See also:Metz from want of provisions.

In the See also:

retreat Turenne measured swords with the famous imperialist General See also:Gallas, and distinguished himself greatly by his courage and skill. The reorganized army took the See also:field again in 1636 and captured Saverne (See also:Zabern), at the storming of which See also:place Turenne was seriously wounded. In 1637 he took part in the See also:campaign of See also:Flanders and was See also:present at the See also:capture of Landrecies (See also:July 26) and in the latter part of 1638, under Duke Bernhard of See also:Saxe-See also:Weimar (1608-1639), he directed the assault of See also:Breisach (reputed the strongest fortress on the upper Rhine), which surrendered on the 17th of See also:December. He had now gained a reputation as one of the foremost of the younger generals of France, and Richelieunext employed him in the See also:Italian campaign of 1639=40 under " See also:Cadet la Perle," Henri de Lorraine, See also:count of See also:Harcourt (16or-1666). On the 19th of See also:November 1639 he fought in the famous rearguard See also:action called the See also:battle of the " Route de Quiers," and during the See also:winter •revictualled the citadel of See also:Turin, held by the French against the forces of Prince See also:Thomas of See also:Savoy. In 164o Harcourt saved Casale and besieged Prince Thomas's forces in Turin, which were besieging in their turn another French force in the citadel. The latter held out, while Prince Thomas was forced to surrender on the 17th of September 1640, a See also:fourth army which was investing Harcourt's lines being at the same time forced to retire. The favourable result of these complicated operations was largely due to Turenne, who had by now become a See also:lieutenant-general. He himself commanded during the campaign of 1641 and took Coni (See also:Cuneo), See also:Ceva and See also:Mondovi. In 1642 he was second in command of the French troops which conquered See also:Roussillon. At this time the See also:conspiracy of Cinq See also:Mars (see FRANCE:- History) in which Turenne's See also:elder brother, the duke of Bouillon, was implicated, was discovered. The earlier career of Turenne was markedly influenced by the relations of the principality of Sedan to the French crown; sometimes it was necessary to advance the soldier to conciliate the ducal See also:family, at others the machinations of the latter against Richelieu or See also:Mazarin prevented the See also:king's advisers from giving their full confidence to their general in the field.

Moreover his steady adherence to the See also:

Protestant religion was a further See also:element of difficulty in Turenne's relations with the ministers. Cardinal Richelieu nevertheless entrusted him with the command in See also:Italy in 1643 under Prince Thomas (who had changed sides in the See also:quarrel). Turenne took Trino in a few See also:weeks, but was recalled to France towards the end of the See also:year. He was made a marshal of France (December 19) and was soon sent to See also:Alsace to reorganize the " Army of Weimar "—the remnant of Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar's troops—which had just been severely defeated at See also:Tuttlingen (November 24-25, 1643). He was at this time See also:thirty-two years of age and had served under four famous commanders. The methodical prince of Orange, the fiery Bernhard, the soldierly Cardinal de la Valette and the stubborn and astute Harcourt had each contributed much to the completeness of Turenne's training, and he took the field in 1644 prepared by See also:genius and See also:education for the responsibilities of high command. The See also:work of reorganization over, Marshal Turenne began the campaign in See also:June by See also:crossing the Rhine at Breisach, but was almost instantly joined by an army under the duc d'See also:Enghien (afterwards the great See also:Conde), who, as a prince of the royal See also:house, took the See also:chief command of the See also:united armies of " France " and Weimar." The four famous See also:campaigns which followed brought to an end the Thirty Years' War (q.v.). The chief event of the first of these was the desperately-fought battle of See also:Freiburg against Count See also:Mercy's Bavarians (See also:August 3, 5 and 9, 1644), after which Philipsburg was successfully besieged. Before the See also:capitulation Enghien withdrew and left Turenne in command. The marshal opened the campaign of 1645 with a strong forward See also:movement, but was surprised and defeated by Mercy at See also:Mergentheim (Marienthal) on the 2nd of May. Enghien was again sent to the front with the army of France and Turenne's army was greatly increased by the arrival of a See also:Swedish force and a contingent from See also:Hesse-See also:Cassel. The Swedes soon departed, but Enghien was at the See also:head of 20,000 men when he met the Bavarians in a battle even more stubbornly contested than, Freiburg.

Mercy was killed and his army decisively beaten at Allerheim near See also:

Nordlingen (August 3, 1645). See also:Ill-See also:health forced Enghien to retire soon afterwards, and Turenne was for the third time left in command of the French army. He was again unfortunate against the larger forces of the imperialists, but the campaign ended with a gleam of success in his capture of See also:Trier (Troves). In the following year (1646) he obtained more decided successes, and, by separating the Austrians from the Bavarians, compelled the elector of See also:Bavaria to make See also:peace (signed See also:March 14, 1647). In 1647 he proposed to attack the thus weakened army of the See also:emperor, but was ordered into Flanders instead. Not only was the opportunity thus lost but a serious See also:mutiny See also:broke out amongst the Weimar troops, whose pay was many months in arrear. The marshal's tact and firmness were never more severely tried nor more conspicuously displayed than in his treatment of the disaffected regiments, among whom in the end he succeeded in restoring See also:order with little bloodshed. He then marched into See also:Luxemburg, but was soon recalled to the Rhine, for in 1648 Bavaria had returned to her See also:Austrian See also:alliance and was again in arms. Turenne and his Swedish See also:allies made a brilliant campaign, which was decided by the action of Zusmarshausen (May 17), Bavaria being subsequently wasted with See also:fire and See also:sword until a second and more secure pacification was obtained. This devastation, for which many modern writers have blamed Turenne, was not a more harsh measure than was permitted by the spirit of the times and the circumstances of the See also:case. The peace of See also:Westphalia (1648) was no peace for France, which was soon involved in the See also:civil war of the See also:Fronde (see FRANCE: History). Few of Turenne's actions have been more sharply criticized than his See also:adhesion to the party of revolt.

The army of Weimar refused to follow its See also:

leader and he had to flee into the See also:Spanish See also:Netherlands, where he remained until the treaty of See also:Rueil put an end to the first war of the Fronde. The second war began with the See also:arrest of Conde and others (See also:January 1650), amongst whom Turenhe was to have been included; but he escaped in time and with the duchesse de See also:Longueville held Stenay for the cause of the " Princes "—Conde, his brother See also:Conti, and his brother-in-See also:law the duc de Longueville. Love for the duchess seems to have ruled Turenne's action, both in the first war, and, now, in seeking Spanish aid for the princes. In this war Turenne sustained one of his few reverses at See also:Rethel (December 15, 1650); but the second conflict ended in the See also:early months of the following year with the collapse of the See also:court party and the See also:release of the princes. Turenne became reconciled and returned to See also:Paris in May, but the trouble soon revived and before See also:long Conde again raised the See also:standard of revolt in the See also:south of France. In this, the third war of the Fronde, Turenne and Conde were opposed to each other, the marshal commanding the royal armies, the prince that of the Frondeurs and their Spanish allies. Turenne displayed the See also:personal bravery of a young soldier at Jargeau (March 28, 1652), the skill and wariness of a See also:veteran general at See also:Gien (See also:April 7), and he practically crushed the civil war in the battle of the See also:Faubourg St See also:Denis (July 2) and the reoccupation of Paris (See also:October 21). Conde and the Spaniards, however, still remained to be dealt with, and the long See also:drawn out campaigns of the "Spanish Fronde" gave ample See also:scope for the display of scientific generalship on the part of both the famous captains. In 1653 the See also:advantage was with Turenne, who captured Rethel, St Menehould and Muzon, while Conde's See also:sole See also:prize was Rocroy. The See also:short campaign of 16J4 was again to the advantage of the French; on the 25th of July the Spanish were defeated at See also:Arras. In 1655 more ground was gained, but in 1656 Turenne was defeated at See also:Valenciennes in the same way as he had beaten Conde at Arras. The war was eventually concluded in 1657 by Turenne's victory at the See also:Dunes near See also:Dunkirk, in which a See also:corps of See also:English veterans sent by See also:Cromwell played a notable part (June 3–14); a victory which, followed by another successful campaign in 1658, led to the peace of the See also:Pyrenees in 1659.

On the death of Cardinal Mazarin in 1661 See also:

Louis XIV. took the reins of See also:government into his own hands and one of his first acts was to appoint Turenne " marshal-general of the camps and armies of the king." He had offered to revive the See also:office of See also:constable of France (suppressed in 1627) in Turenne's favour if the marshal would become a See also:Roman See also:Catholic. Turenne declined. Born of Calvinist parents and educated a Protestant, he had refused to marry one of Richelieu's nieces in 1639 and subsequently rejected a similar proposal of Mazarin. He had later married a daughter of the Protestant Marshal de la Force, to whom he was deeply attached. But he sincerely deplored the See also:division of the See also:Christian See also:church into two hostile camps. He had always distrusted the See also:influence of many dissident and uncontrolled sects; the history of Independency in the English army and See also:people made a deep impression on his mind, and the same fear of indiscipline which drove the English Presbyterians into royalism See also:drew Turenne more and more towards the Roman Catholic Church. How closely both he and his. wife studied such See also:evidence as was available is shown by their See also:correspondence, and, in the end, two years after her death, he was prevailed upon by the eloquence of See also:Bossuet and the persuasions of his See also:nephew, the See also:abbe de Bouillon, to give in his adhesion to the Orthodox faith (October 1668). In 1667 he had returned to the more congenial See also:air of the " Camps and Armies of the King," directing, nominally under Louis XIV., the famous " See also:Promenade militaire " in which the French overran the Spanish Netherlands. Soon afterwards Conde, now reconciled with the king, rivalled Turenne's success by the rapid See also:conquest of Franche See also:Comte, which brought to an end the War of See also:Devolution in See also:February 1668. In Louis XIV.'s Dutch War of 1672 (see DUTCH See also:WARS) Turenne was with the army commanded by the king which overran Holland up to the See also:gates of See also:Amsterdam. The terms offered by Louis to the prince of Orange were such as to arouse a more See also:bitter resistance. The dikes were opened and the See also:country See also:round Amsterdam flooded.

This heroic measure completely checked Turenne, whom the king had left in command. See also:

Europe was aroused to action by the See also:news of this event,. and the war spread to See also:Germany. Turenne fought a successful war of manoeuvre on the See also:middle Rhine while Conde covered Alsace. In January 1673 Turenne assumed the offensive, penetrated far into Germany, and forced the Great Elector of See also:Brandenburg to make peace; later in the year, however, he was completely outmanceuvred by the famous imperial general See also:Montecucculi, who evaded his opponent, joined the Dutch and took the important place of See also:Bonn. In June 1674, however, Turenne won the battle of Sinzheim, which made him See also:master of the See also:Palatinate. Under orders from Paris the French wasted the country far and wide, and this devastation has usually been considered the gravest blot on Turenne's fame, though it is difficult to say that it was more unjustifiable than other similar incidents in See also:medieval and even in modern war. In the autumn the allies again advanced, and though Turenne was again outmanceuvred, his failure on this occasion was due to the action of the neutral See also:city of See also:Strassburg in permitting the enemy to See also:cross the Rhine by the See also:bridge at that place. The battle of Enzheim followed; this was a See also:tactical victory, but hardly affected the situation, and, at the beginning of December, the allies were still in Alsace. The old marshal now made the most daring campaign of his career. A See also:swift and See also:secret march in See also:mid-winter from one end of the See also:Vosges to the other took the allies by surprise. Sharply following up his first successes, Turenne drove the enemy to Turkheim, and there inflicted upon them a heavy defeat (January 5, 1675). In a few weeks he had completely recovered Alsace: In the summer campaign he was once more opposed to Montecucculi, and after the highest display of " strategic See also:chess-moves " by both commanders, Turenne finally compelled his opponent to offer battle at a disadvantage at Sassbach.

Here, on the 27th of July 1675, he was killed by almost the first shot fired. The news of his death was received with universal sorrow. Turenne's most eloquent countrymen wrote his eloges, and Montecucculi him-self exclaimed: " Il est mort aujourd'hui un homme qui faisait honneur a 1'homme." His See also:

body was taken to St Denis and buried with the See also:kings of France. Even the extreme revolutionists of 1793 respected it, and, when the bones of the sovereigns were thrown to the winds, the remains of Turenne were pre-served at the Jardin See also:des Plantes until the 22nd of September 'Soo, when they were removed by order of See also:Napoleon to the church of the Invalides at Paris, where they still See also:rest. Turenne was one of the great captains whose campaigns Napoleon recommended all soldiers to " read and re-read." His fame as a general was the highest in Europe at a period when war was studied more critically than ever before, for his military See also:character epitomized the See also:art of war of his time (Prince de Ligne). Strategic caution and logistic accuracy, combined with brilliant dash in small combats and constancy under all circumstances of success or failure may perhaps be considered the salient points of Turenne's genius for war. Great battles he avoided. " Few sieges and many combats " was his own See also:maxim. And, unlike his great See also:rival Conde, who was as brilliant in his first battle as in his last, Turenne improved See also:day by day. Napoleon said of him that his genius See also:grew bolder as it grew older, and a modern author, the duc d'See also:Aumale (Histoire des princes de la maison de Conde), takes the same view when he says: " Pour le connaltre it faut le suivre jusqu'a Sulzbach. Chez lui chaque jour marque un progres." In his personal character Turenne was little more than a See also:simple and See also:honourable soldier, endowed with much tact, but in the See also:world of politics and See also:intellect almost helpless in the hands of a skilful intriguer or casuist. His morals, if not beyond reproach, were at least more austere than those prevalent in the age in which he lived.

He was essentially a See also:

commander of See also:regular armies. His See also:life was spent with the troops; he knew how to win their See also:affection; he tempered a severe discipline with rare generosity, and his men loved him as a comrade no less than they admired him as a commander. Thus, though Conde's genius was far more versatile, it is Turenne whose career best represents the art of war in the 17th See also:century. For the small, costly, and highly trained regular armies, and the dynastic warfare of the age of Louis XIV., Turenne was the ideal army leader. The most notable of the numerous portraits of Turenne are those of P. de See also:Champagne at See also:Versailles, and of Senin (dated 1670) in the See also:Jones collection at South See also:Kensington, See also:London. Of the older See also:memoirs of Turenne the most important are those of " Du See also:Buisson," La See also:Vie du vicomte de Turenne—the author is apparently Gatien de Sandraz de Courtilz (Paris, the See also:Hague, and See also:Cologne, 1688–1695); Abbe Raguenet, Histoire du vicomte de- Turenne (Paris, 1741) and especially See also:Ramsay, Histoire d'Henry de la Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (Paris, 1735), the second See also:volume of which contains the marshal's memoirs of 1643–1658. These memoirs, of which the Prince de Ligne wrote that " ce ne sont pas de conseils, ce sont des ordres . faites' ` allez,' &c."—were written in 1665, but were first published (Memoires sur la guerre, tires des originaux, &c.) in 1738, reprinted in See also:Michaud, Memoires sur l histeire de France, 3rd See also:series, vol. iii., and Liskenne and Sauvan's Bibliotheque historique el militaire, vol. iv. (Paris, 1846). A See also:manuscript Maxsmes de M. de Turenne (1644) exists in the See also:Staff Archives at See also:Vienna, and of other documentary collections may be mentioned See also:Grimoard, Collections de lettres et mimoires trouves See also:dens la portefeuille de X. de Turenne (Paris, 1782); Recueil de lettres ecrites au vicomte de Turenne See also:par Louis XI V. et ses ministres, &c. (Paris, 1779); Correspondence inedite de Turenne avec Le Tellier et See also:Louvois, ed. See also:Barthelemy (Paris, 1874). See also the Observations on the Wars of Marshal Turenne, dictated by Napoleon at St See also:Helena (1823); Puysegur, La Guerre par principes et regles (Paris, 1748) ; Precis in Bibliotheque internationale d'hist. milit.

(See also:

Brussels, 1883) ; See also:Duruy, Histoire de Turenne (Paris, 1880) ; See also:Roy, Turenne, sa vie et See also:les institutions militaires de son temps (Paris, 1884); See also:Hardy de Perini, Turenne et Conde (Paris, 1907); Neuber, Turenne als Kriegstheoretiker and Feldherr (Vienna, 1869) ; See also:Sir E. Cust, Lives of the Warriors of the 17th Century (London, 1867) ; T. O. Cockayne, Life of M. de Turenne (founded on Ramsay's work; London, 1853) ; G. B. See also:Malleson, Turenne. Marshal Turenne, by " the author of the Life of Sir Kenelm See also:Digby " (London, 1907), is a valuable work by a civilian, and is based in the See also:main on Ramsay's work, the memoirs of Cardinal de See also:Retz, See also:James, duke of See also:York, &c., and on Napoleon's commentaries. A remarkable parallel between Turenne and Conde, in See also:Saint-Evremont's Hoge of the latter, will be found in Carrion-Nisas, Essai sur l'histoiregeneral de l'art militaire, ii. 83 (Paris, 1824). (C. F.

End of Article: TURENNE, HENRI DE LA TOUR

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