Marshall Turenne

Front matter

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

ROCHESTER AND OTHER LITERARY RAKES OF THE COURT OF CHARLES H. With some Account of their Surroundings. With 15 Portraits. 8vo, 165.

FALKLANDS. With 8 Portraits and other Illustrations. 8vo, los, 6d.

Preface

To apologise for a book dealing with the campaigns of a celebrated General, but written neither by a soldier, nor by that far higher authority upon such subjects, a civil " military expert," would be useless ; for it is inconceivable that such an apology could be accepted. To the obvious retort, "Then why did you write the book ? " the Author can only reply by saying, "Why do most of us do many things which we ought not to do ? " and by expressing a hope that any ludicrous blunders to be found in the following pages may amuse his military readers as much as it has amused him to make them.

Whatever apologies may be due for the book itself, no apology is required for its Introduction, for which the author cannot sufficiently thank the talented, experienced and distinguished officer who has so kindly and so ably written it. While that officer is absolutely irresponsible for anything in the book except its Introduction, the book is responsible to the officer, not only for its Introduction, but also

242899 vi PREFACE

for a number of exceedingly useful hints and timely warnings. The author also wishes to express his gratitude for some very valuable suggestions, as well as for much assistance, from that kindest and most competent of critics, Mr. Walter Herries Pollock. Of the help always so readily and unselfishly placed at his disposal in his own family, the author will say nothing.

Contents

PAGE

Introduction -xvi

Chapter I. 1611 — 1634

Birth and boyhood — Services under the Prince of Orange in Holland —

Service in the French army in Holland — Siege of La Motte - i

CHAPTER H,

1635— 1638,

Appearance — Character and manner — Richelieu's diplomacy — Tur-

enne's v^^ars under La Valette — Richelieu offers Turenne his

niece in marriage — Duke of Bouillon becomes a Catholic — Birth

of Louis XIV. 14

Turenne's campaign in Italy under D'Harcourt— Siege of Turin— Duke of Bouillon's arrest — Loses his sovereignty — Turenne commands the French army in Italy in 1642 — Turenne made a Marshal of France — Turenne's descriptions of what he learned under his different commanders 27

CHAPTER IV.

Firearms of the seventeenth century— Pikemen— Cavalry— Artillery- Tactics — Strategy— Fortifications 39

CHAPTER V. 1643— 1644.

Politics in Paris— Mazarin— Duke of Bouillon— Defeat of Saxe-Weimar — Turenne goes to Alsace — Defeats Gaspard Von Mercy— General de Mercy besieges Freiburg — Turenne goes to its relief— Freiburg falls— Conde— His victory at Rocroi— He joins Turenne— Operations before Freiburg 54 viii CONTENTS

CHAPTER VI.

PAGE

Operations before Freiburg — The French army tries to cut off the communications of the Bavarian — The French army goes down the Rhine — Philippsburg — Mastership of the Rhine fortresses — Conde returns to France — Mercy occupies Mannheim — Duke of Lorraine besieges Bacharach - - - 72

CHAPTER Vn.

Turenne's German campaign in 1645 — Goes to Marienthal — Battle of

Marienthal — Turenne's retreat and plans — Napoleon on Turenne's

defeat — Turenne joined by Hessians, Swedes, and Conde — Battle

of Nordlingen 79

Napoleon on Nordlingen — Operations and retreat after Nordlingen — Turenne at Treves^Mazarin and Turenne — Politics in 1646 — Preliminaries of Turenne's German campaign of 1646 - - - 94

CHAPTER IX. 1646.

German campaign of 1646 — Delay of the Archduke — Alarm of the Duke of Bavaria — Turenne is moderate in his requisitions — Allies reach the Danube — Sieges of Rain and Augsburg — Arrival of the Imperial army — Serious position of the French and Swedes — Imaginary map — Strategy of Turenne and Wrangel in taking Landsberg — Troops sent to Munich— Diplomatists and generals - - - 102

CHAPTER X. 1647 — 1648.

Turenne's trouble with his German cavalry — Arrest of Rosen — Slaughter of the mutineers — Turenne goes to Luxemburg— Perfidy of the Duke of Bavaria— War declared against him— Campaign of 1648 — First disagreement between Turenne and Wrangel— Battle of Zusmershausen — Operations in Bavaria — An unfortunate incident — Peace of Westphalia 114

CONTENTS ix

PAGE

The Fronde — De Retz — Turenne's attitude — First peace with the Fronde — Conde's quarrel with Mazarin — Arrest of the three Princes — The New Fronde — Turenne joins the Fronde — Madame de Longueville — Turenne meets with a reverse — Rethel - - - 127

CHAPTER XII.

1651 — 1652.

Mazarin and De Retz — Mazarin leaves Paris, where the Queen becomes practically a prisoner — The Queen gives a general pardon and enriches Bouillon — The Queen bribes Conde to break off the Conti- Chevreuse match — De Retz recommends the Queen to arrest Conde — Conde flies and goes over to the Fronde — The King's army placed under Turenne and Hocquincourt — Beaufort's plan to seize the King — The disaster at Bleneau — Conde's rapid journey — Turenne's clever deception and check of Conde— Napoleon's criticisms 147

CHAPTER XIII.

The Court goes to St. Germains — The rebels at 6tampes and the royal army at Chartres — Duke of Orleans joins the Fronde — Mademoiselle de Montpensier goes to Orleans — Cabals and intrigues — Turenne's proceedings before 6tampes — James, Duke of York, under Turenne — The effect of regimental colours — Count Schomberg — Proceedings of the Duke of Lorraine — Proceedings of Turenne at Villeneuve St. Georges - - - - 167

CHAPTER XIV.

Movements of the Court and of Turenne — Movements of Cond^ — The terror of the Duke of Orleans — Turenne's steps towards attacking Conde — Conde starts for Charonne — He is refused a passage through Paris — Turenne receives news of Condd's movements — Battle of the Faubourg St. Antoine — Proceedings of Mademoiselle de Montpensier - - - - 180

X CONTENTS

CHAPTER XV.

PAGE

Duel between Beaufort and Nemours— Court goes to Pontoise — Turenne advances against the Spanish army — Death of the Duke of Bouillon — Turenne tries to prevent the junction of Lorraine with Conde — ^Villeneuve St. Georges— Napoleon's criticisms of both Cond^ and Turenne — Turenne's escape — Conde makes a false move — Turenne advises the King to enter Paris — Vacillations of Orleans — Louis XIV. enters Paris — Turenne advances to Bar-le- Duc — Drunken soldiers — Drunken officers — Fall of Bar-le-Duc — Friction between Turenne and La Ferte — Fall of Vervins - - 193

CHAPTER XVL

1653- His marriage — The Spanish invasion — Recovery of Rethel — Turenne's plan of campaign — Napoleon's opinion of it — The enemy takes Roye — The surprise near St. Quentin — The enemy marches towards Guise — Loss of Rocroi — Capture of Mouzon — Submission of Bordeaux — Arrest of Lorraine .-.-.-- 210

CHAPTER XVn. 1654.

Coronation of Louis XIV. — Siege of Stenay— Siege of Arras — Turenne goes to Peronne — Ignition of bags of gunpowder on horseback — Taking of Stenay — Napoleon on sieges — Taking of St. Pol and St. Eloy — Turenne reconnoitres the enemy's lines before Arras — Red-tapism in the Spanish army— Council of War— Relief of Arras — Retreat of the enemy 222

CHAPTER XVIII. 1655— 1656.

Friction between the Court and the Parliament — Turenne takes Landregies — Stupid conduct of Castelnau — Quarrel between Turenne and Conde — Turenne takes Conde and St. Guislain — Traitorous conduct of Hocquincourt — Francis of Lorraine changes sides — Cromwell makes an alliance with France — Don John of Austria — Siege of Valenciennes — Relief of Valenciennes — Retreat of Turenne — Loss of Conde and St. Quesnoy — Ill-conduct of Grandpr^ — Turenne besieges La Chapelle— Napoleon on the campaign ot 1656 - - 239

CONTENTS xi

CHAPTER XIX.

1657— 1658.

PAGE

Cromwell and France — Cambrai and Valenciennes — Siege of Montmedy —Calais— Siege of St. Venant— Siege of Mardyck— Hocquincourt becomes a rebel— Siege of Dunkirk— Death of Hocquincourt— Battle of the Dunes— Napoleon's criticisms — The rest of the campaign ^5^

CHAPTER XX.

1659 — 1668.

Peace of the Pyrenees— Louis XIV. marries Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain— Turenne helps in the restoration of the Stuarts to the throne of England— Turenne urges Louis to help Portugal— Charles II. marries the Infanta of Portugal— Death of Mazarin— Turenne and Mademoiselle de Montpensier — Death of the Viscountess of Turenne — Death of Anne of Austria — Claims of Maria Theresa to the Low Countries — Louis attacks the Low Countries — Siege of Lille — Coalition to oblige France and Spain to make peace — Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle 269

CHAPTER XXI.

1668— 1671.

Turenne and his religion— His quiet life in Paris — Anecdotes about Turenne— France during the years following the Peace of the Pyrenees— The Dutch— Louis XIV. breaks up the Triple Alliance — Turenne's adventures with a lady-in-waiting — Death of Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans — The two factions among the Dutch — Three French Marshals refuse to serve under Turenne - - - 283

CHAPTER XXII. 1672.

Campaign against Holland in 1672— Improvements in warfare — The Prince of Orange— Passage of the Rhine— Death of the young Duke of Longueville— Siege of Nimwegen — Napoleon criticises Turenne — The Dutch flood their country — Prince of Orange elected Stadtholder— Alarm in Europe at the French conquests- Advance of the Imperial army — Turenne's operations on the Rhine 301 xii CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXIII. 1673.

PAGE

Operations of Turenne in January and February, 1673 — Siege of Unna — Turenne pursues the Imperial army — The armies of Brandenburg and the Emperor separated— The Elector of Brandenburg makes a treaty with France—Louis XIV. takes Maestricht— Operations of Turenne against the fresh Imperial army — Prince of Orange retakes Naarden — Difference of opinion between Louvois and Turenne — Treachery of the Bishop of Wurzburg— Montecuculi deceives Turenne — Junction of the Prince of Orange with Montecuculi and the fall of Bonn— Turenne praises Louvois and D'Abre to the King — Napoleon's criticisms— Montecuculi 3^5

CHAPTER XXIV.

Nearly the whole of Germany joins the Emperor and Spain against France— Turenne advances against Caprara— Battle of Sintzheim — Criticisms of Napoleon— Turenne marches to the North— He ravages the Palatinate— Conde fights the great Battle of Seneff— Large reinforcement of the Imperial army— Bournonville's successful march along the Rhine— He crosses the river at Strasburg —Critical situation of Turenne and criticisms of Napoleon - - 329

CHAPTER XXV.

Battle of Ensheim— Criticisms of Napoleon— Retreat of Turenne— Anger in Paris— Sudden appearance of Turenne at Belfort— Battle of Turckheim— Criticisms of Napoleon 347

CHAPTER XXVI.

Turenne's ovation on his return to Paris- His wish to retire to the Oratory— Renewal of war— Turenne begs to be relieved from further military service— Visits De Retz— Starts for his campaign of 1675— Political condition of Strasburg— Turenne crosses the Rhine — Bridge at Ottenheim — Montecuculi recrosses the Rhine — Turenne removes his bridge to Altenheim— Crosses the Rench— Failure of Montecuculi's great effort— Success of Turenne - - 369

CONTENTS xiii

CHAPTER XXVII. 1675.

PAGE

Attempted retreat by Montecuculi — His failure — Battle of Sasbach — Death of Turenne — The French driven back across the Rhine — St. Hilaire and his son — The news at Paris — Letters of Madame de Sevignd — St. Evremond — The Bishop of Nimes — Bossuet - 384

Index 397

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

MARSHAL TURENNE. From the Portrait by Charles Lebrun in the Museum at Versailles. From a Photograph by MM. Braun et Cie. . . Frontispiece

PICTURE OF A BATTLE. From Du Buisson's Vie

DU ViCOMTE TURENNE, 1695 facing page 46

CARDINAL MAZARIN „ 58

CONDE. From the Portrait by David Teniers in the Museum at Chantilly. From a Photograph

by MM. Braun et Cie. ,, 65

PLAN DES TROIS COMBATS DE FRIBOURG . „ 70

PLAN DU COMBAT DE MARIENDAL . . . „ 82

PLAN DE LA BATAILLE DE NORDLINGHEN . „ 88

CARDINAL DE RETZ „ 128

MADEMOISELLE DE MONTPENSIER ... „ 168

DUKE OF SCHOMBERG „ 175

LEVEE DU SIEGE D'ARRAS „ 228

COMTE DE GRAMMONT „ 231

PLAN DU SIEGE DE VALENCIENNES ... „ 246

LOUIS XIV „ 274

MARSHAL TURENNE. From the Pastel Portrait BY Nanteuil in the Uffizi Gallery at Florence. From a Photograph by MM. Alinari .... „ 290

PLAN DE LA BATAILLE DE SINTZHEIM . . „ 332

PLAN DE LA BATAILLE D'ENSHEIM ... „ 350

PLAN DU COMBAT DE TURCKEIM ... „ 362

PLAN DES DIFFERENS CAMPS DU VICOMTE DU TURENNE ET DU COMTE DE MONTECU-

CULLI „ 375

MARSHAL TURENNE. From the Portrait by P.

Front a Photograph by Mr. Emery Walker . . „ 387

Introduction

" Read and re-read the campaigns of the great captains," said the greatest of all captains, and foremost among those of modern times he placed Turenne. But did he not practically contradict this " Maxim" bygathering in the threads of thought and action of all previous leaders and reweaving them in the loom of his powerful and almost omniscient mind into lessons of warfare for all time? For all time certainly, so far as we can see, as regards the greater lessons of strategy, even allowing for the infinite possibilities of the future. Tactics, however, have altered so much that the Napoleonic batdefields are to us little more instructive than those of the Thirty Years' War and the Fronde, much less so than the batdes of Turenne were to Napoleon himself, who practically swept away the old methods. Even strategy may in some degree now be said to be affected. Had Turenne undertaken the passage of the Alps, science would have aided him little more than it did Hannibal. When Napoleon performed that wonderful feat, with the exception of rather better roads than Turenne would have had to deal with, the mechanical means at his disposal were

b xvii xviii INTRODUCTION

little greater than those on which the great Carthaginian could count. Were a general, however, to attempt a like invasion in these days, he would have all the accessories of iron, steam and electricity to materially forward his project.

As regards the weapons and equipment of the Napoleonic wars, armour had practically ceased to be worn. ' The pike, the harquebuss and the wheel-lock had given place to the musket and bayonet, pike and wheel-lock in one. Cavalry had ceased to charge at the trot, and the firing of "piece and pistol before setting on with the sword" had yielded to shock tactics proper. In fact the highly trained infantry of the age of Napoleon had considerably curtailed the liberties taken by cavalry in the age of Turenne, and certain modifications in mounted tactics were the inevitable consequence. The conqueror of Austerlitz and Jena, the victor on a hundred fields, remodelled the tactics and altered the system of war, from that which had prevailed in the time of his predecessor, to suit the different conditions under which he led the armies of France into nearly every country in Europe. But although he might alter the conditions of attack and defence, akhough he no longer laid his armies up in winter quarters, nor sat down before fortresses when there yet remained an army in the field to defeat, still with all the momentous changes he made, he could not alter the great principles of strategy. On the other hand, his cam-

INTRODUCTION xix

paigns exemplify every principle upon which Turenne acted, and with the wider field in which he exercised his greater ambitions, he not only mirrored to us all that Turenne thought and said and did, but added to them the fire of his own genius for war. But the great principles of strategy as affected by the configuration of frontiers, the necessity for a secure base, the command of the sea, and the strokes of attack and defence, which these demanded, must remain immutable for all time. The great principles of Turenne are the same as those under which Von Moltke and Oyama worked, and although it may be better worth the time and the study of the military student to read and re-read the campaigns of Napoleon and the great masters of the art that have lived since, than to turn to the pages of a biography of Turenne, still there may be much there that even the most advanced of modern soldiers will find of value.

Are we, however, quite certain that the last word has been said on the principles of warfare? Surely no one would dream of asserting that tactics are not changing day by day? Is it not possible that developments since the Russo-Japanese war, even of lithe last few months, may entirely revolutionise strategy as well as tactics? Is it not possible that some modern "Trafalgar" or " Battle of the Sea of Japan" may be fought in the air, that the warship may give place to the airship, that a "secure base" maybe looked for

XX INTRODUCTION

among the higher Alps or in the Himalayas, and that not only our swords but possibly our rifles and our quickfiring guns may find final resting-places in museums^ beside the armour and equipment of past centuries ?

But unlimited as are the possibilities of the future, we can only deal with things as they are, and that being so, the student will find much that will interest him in the campaigns undertaken, and nearly all brought to a successful issue, by a great general who commanded the armies of France in the middle of the seventeenth century.

The careful study alone of the strategical marches, which began in 1647, and formed a new development in the art of war — new, indeed, so far as the Middle Ages and modern times are concerned, but in reality only a reapplication of that art, as understood by the greater captains, among the ancients — will well repay the reader.

Turenne's march to effect a junction with Wrangel at Friedburg is one that has rarely, if ever, been surpassed in the annals of war, be it taken either as an exemplification of endurance on the part of an army, organisation on the part of a staff, or moral courage on the part of a leader. No doubt a severe discipline accounts for the first. But the second is another matter. Even in these days with good roads, with more than one road to march over, and with a wellorganised and trained staff to direct and work out details, the movement of an army is not the easy matter

INTRODUCTION xxi

that it may appear on paper. Considering the difference of the conditions in the seventeenth century, the complete absence of even one good road, and the nonexistence of a staff in the modern sense of the word, I think there can be litde doubt that to the leader himself belongs the chief credit of the organisation that even in those times was at any rate to some extent an absolute necessity. Still more than this, what shall we say of the decision and moral power which enabled Turenne to make up his mind to enter upon so hazardous an undertaking? This march, if nothing else, should place him for all time among the great captains of the world. Certain it is, that if the modern soldier learns nothing else from the study of the campaigns of Turenne, it will be borne in upon him more than ever that all practices, and all principles, may pass away from the conduct of war save one — the moral. Of this Turenne was as great an exponent as the Corsican himself It won them both many a batde, as much later it enabled Lee, aided by his great lieutenant, to keep at bay for so long the concentrated might of the Federal cause, and as it will decide many an action of the future, be it fought with the quickfiring guns and far-reaching rifles of to-day, or the boundless possibilities of the future, such as airships armed with unknown weapons, of which we only see faint indications in the present.

Aeain, even if it be acknowledged that the ereat xxii INTRODUCTION

Napoleon has caught up all the threads of thought from the captains that went before him, including the subject of this book, whom, as leader, strategist and tactician, he ranked so high, are there no other reasons for studying his career ? Can the story of a life such as Turenne's lie unnoticed on the pages of the past ? Or is it possible that the memory of an honest, upright man of genius, who played so great a part on the stage of the world, can fade away entirely without having left his mark, not only on the century in which he lived, but on the race to which he belonged? The student of history will find much in his career that affected the politics of his time, while the soldier will read of his campaigns and battles with more than a passing interest ; for they are not only examples of the battles and sieges, marches and countermarches of that great century of war, the seventeenth, but also illustrations of the perpetual truth, that the leader who understands how to "set a squadron in the field" and "the division of a battle knows," is more important than many squadrons, that numbers do not make an army, and, above all, that even a trained army is nothing without trained and capable leaders, or without a supreme, trusted and highly experienced commander at its head. This great fact no one knows better than the private soldier, possibly better even than the critic, able though he may be. Did not the "private men" of the Peninsular Army say that they would rather see the " Duke's"

INTRODUCTION xxiii

great nose on the morning of a battle than hear that an extra division was coming up? And when the love of the soldier is combined with this respect, as it was in so marked a degree in the case of Turenne, success should indeed follow. The great Marshal studied his profession from youth upwards, both theoretically and practically; theoretically, in such books as were then to be obtained, practically, in the best of all schools, successful and unsuccessful war. Early in life he rose to high command, but he never ceased to practise the lesson learned in his youth, " that diligence and activity are the great cause of success in military affairs ". Finally, the words of the old soldier to the young grumbler would be an epitaph worthy of Turenne, words that might well be printed at the beginning of every British soldier's "Small Book": "What makes you complain ? You do not know our General ; when we are in distress, he suffers more than we do. At this moment his thoughts are wholly employed in contriving how to extricate us from this difficulty. He is awake when we are asleep. He is our Father. It is easy to see you are but young."

To all who are interested in the life-long work of a man whose character was written in such irlowinof words by a subordinate, I commend the fascinating

pages that follow.

FRANCIS LLOYD.

Aldershot, September, igoy.

CHAPTER I.

Englishmen are pardonably apt to look at everything

from an English standpoint, therefore it may be well,

before embarking upon a study of certain events abroad,

to ascertain where we stand in relation to things in

England, at the starting-point of our story. Half a

dozen years had passed since the attempt to blow up

King and Parliament in a gunpowder explosion,

and James I. was now engaged in trying to raise

money by instituting a minor hereditary honour,

which he entitled a baronetcy and offered at the fixed

price of ^1,095. If ^i- literary landmark should also

be required, we may observe that we start five years

before the death of Shakespeare.

Meanwhile in France, with which we shall be much

more concerned than with England, a boy only ten

years old had been a year on the throne, with the

title of Louis XIH. His mother, Marie de' Medici,

the first of several women connected with politics

whom it will be necessary to notice, was Regent, and

she was so badly served by her ministers that some of

the orreatest Princes of France, includine the Prince of

Conde and the Dukes of Nevers, Mayenne, Longueville,

Vendome and Bouillon — the father of our hero — vvith- I drew from the Court and formed a league to protest against the incompetence, maladministration, and unconstitutional conduct of the Government. Soon afterwards the Ministry was recast, and, five years later, Richelieu was made Minister of State, with the portfolios of War and Foreign Affairs. This League of the Princes, so near the moment of our outset, deserves special notice, because subsequent Leagues of French Princes, some of whom bore the same names, led to many of the complications and wars to be described in these pages.

Another cause of warfare at that period was religion, or at any rate what went by that name. Protestantism, in the usual acceptation of the word, was scarcely a century old, and it had become, to a large extent, a political plaything ; nor were certain Catholics of high rank, or high office, above taking a hand in the game which was provided. During a great part of the second half of the previous century, civil wars, undertaken in the name of religion, had been waged in France between the Catholics and the Huguenots ; and the King, who was assassinated the year before our point of departure, had fought as a Protestant against the Catholic King, before he himself became King and Catholic. And while the Christians, in Western and Central Europe, were endeavouring to teach each other theolog}' with the sword, the Turks, in Eastern Europe, were attempting to win their affections to the religion of Mahomet, with the same persuasive instrument.

Literature, if it did not, like religion, lead to wars, i6ii] GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 3

had considerable influence in France during the same period ; and some of the characters to appear upon our stage were contributors to it. At the time of our opening Montaigne had not been dead twenty years ; Malherbe was making a revolution in French poetry ; and Jean Louis Guez de Balzac (a writer very different from the Honore de Balzac of a later period), if some one truly said of him "z7 dcrit pour dcrire,'' and not because he had anything in particular to say, was on the point of adding much to the lucidity, vivacity and grace of a national literature which had hitherto been too often diffuse, careless, obscure, clumsy and ponderous. At the same time St. Francis of Sales, if not in France yet in French, was writing in an attractive style about religious subjects ; and, if there were not very many famous authors at the moment, a number of writers, subsequently very celebrated, were either lately born or were about to be born.

The most famous general living at the time of the birth of the celebrated marshal who will form the subject of this book, was Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, who is considered by some authorities to have been the greatest general that ever commanded an army. Sweden, at that period, was one of the most important powers in Europe ; the power of Spain, on the contrary, was on the wane, while that of the Empire was dwindling away altogether. The monarch, who bore the title of Emperor, was powerful as a King, but not as the representative of the Cassars ; and, if his kingdom was large, his Empire beyond it was even less his own than the property mortgaged beyond its value can be called his own by a bankrupt country gentleman.

One more subject needs notice by way of prelude. Much as the wars of the early part of the seventeenth century did to hamper all civil industries, in some districts bringing production and commerce almost to a standstill, the middle classes, especially among the Dutch burghers, the bourgeoisie of Paris, the citizens of London, and still more those of Strasburg and the other free cities of Germany, were gradually learning their powers, asserting their rights, and endeavouring to hint to their superiors in rank, that trade was as important a factor in politics as nobility, if not royalty, and that the shop demanded recognition, as well as the castle.

Two little boys, apparently so hopelessly delicate that their respective fathers despaired of their ever being able to maintain the military traditions of their families, were destined to become very celebrated generals, to rank among the greatest military commanders of history, and to revolutionise the sciences of strategy and tactics. These two officers were Henry, Viscount of Turenne, and Louis, Prince of Cond^, commonly called The Great Conde.

It is with the first named, and by several years the first-born, of these boys that we have to do. His father, Henry de la Tour, Duke of Bouillon, was sovereign of Sedan, one of those small sovereignties which sometimes bring about great wars, especially when they are situated, as is Sedan, between large and i62i Mt. io] childhood 5

important countries. As it happens, Sedan never acted as the match for enkindling a great military conflagration ; but it served as the battlefield on which a great nation was practically defeated rather more than two and a half centuries later than the date at which this story must begin, namely, on the 1 1 th of September, 161 1, with the birth of Henry of Turenne.