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[Illustration: _THE HERO OF ZENTA_]
_Life Stories for Young People_
PRINCE EUGENE
THE NOBLE KNIGHT
_Translated from the German of
L. Würdig_
BY
GEORGE P. UPTON
_Author of “Musical Memories,” “Standard Operas,” etc.
Translator of “Memories,” “Immensee,” etc._
WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS
[Illustration: A. C. McCLURG & CO.]
CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1910
Copyright
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1910
Published September 24, 1910
THE PLIMPTON PRESS
[W · D · O]
NORWOOD · MASS · U · S · A
Translator’s Preface
The story of the brilliant career of Eugene, generally known as Prince
Eugene of Savoy, has its special lesson for youth. He was intended for
the Church, but was ambitious for a military career. Louis the
Fourteenth had marked out for him the profession of an _abbé_; but
monarchs, even the most powerful, do not always dispose. When “the
little Capuchin,” as he was contemptuously called, applied to that
sovereign for a commission in the French army and was refused it, he
shook the French dust from his feet and went to Austria, resolved that
France some day should suffer for that refusal. The story shows how his
resolution was carried out. The Austrian Emperor gladly welcomed him. He
rose from a subordinate position in the army to become one of the
greatest generals of his time. All Europe felt the strength of the
“little Capuchin’s” arm. He was a born soldier and war was the passion
of his life. His career, seems almost like an inspiration. He won
battles, often against largely superior forces, by the rapidity and dash
of his attacks, by a personal courage which never wavered, and by a
magnetic influence which inspired the admiration of his own soldiers and
fear among his enemies. He was in the field more than fifty years. The
ten peaceful years of his life were devoted to literature and the arts;
but the battle-field was the scene of his life’s success. The story
which his life has for youth is the result which may be accomplished,
not merely on battle-fields, but in every department of action, by
determined purpose, resolute will, and tireless industry. The “little
Capuchin” spurned the ease and comfort and luxury of an _abbé_ for the
rough fare of the soldier, and made himself the foremost general of his
time by the exercise of these qualities.
G. P. U.
Chicago, _July, 1910_.
Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
Prologue xi
I The Little Capuchin 13
II The Siege of Vienna 27
III Turkish Campaigns 37
IV The Battle of Zenta 48
V War of the Spanish Succession 57
VI Blenheim 79
VII The Italian Campaign 93
VIII Malplaquet 101
IX Eugene at Belgrade 115
X Last Days 129
Appendix 145
Illustrations
The Hero of Zenta _Frontispiece_
Prince Eugene before King Louis the Fourteenth 22
Prince Eugene before the battle of Malplaquet 112
Prince Eugene at Belgrade 124
Prologue
Prince Eugene, the great warrior and statesman, although scion of an
Italian family, and by birth a Frenchman, became a thorough German. He
appeared at a critical time in the relations between Germany and France,
to save his adopted fatherland from destruction, and to illuminate the
darkest period of German history with the glory of a series of the most
splendid and heroic achievements. The historian Von Sybel calls him “the
greatest general and statesman of Austria.” As a statesman he overtops
the greatest of his successors, Kaunitz and Stadion. As a general he
fills a place, chronologically and in rank, just between Gustavus
Adolphus and Frederick the Great. He was a dashing hero and at the same
time possessed a sympathetic nature. He was a genial companion, a
conscientious patriot, a master in politics, and an upright man.
Wherever he appeared he charmed. Although a born Frenchman of Italian
stock, he showed truer German feeling and spirit than most of the
Austrian leaders. He was one of those characters whom any nation might
be proud to possess. He served the Austrian imperial house for
fifty-three years, thereby contributing to the glory of the country.
Prince Eugene, The Noble Knight
Chapter I
The Little Capuchin
Prince Eugene of Savoy-Carignan, the hero of this story, takes foremost
rank among the greatest generals and statesmen of all times. This
strange French-sounding name may seem odd for a German hero; but in this
case it is quite misleading, for no one ever had deeper German
sympathies; no German soldier ever hated the people on the banks of the
Seine more bitterly. He gave them plenty of hard blows, and has been
christened by the German people—and not without reason—“Prince Eugene,
the chivalrous knight.”
Prince Eugene was born in Paris, although his ancestral land was Savoy,
the well-known duchy, formerly part of upper Italy, a barren mountainous
country. He first saw the light in the capital city of that country
which was afterwards to suffer so cruelly by his mailed hand. The ways
of Providence often seem strange, as in this instance, when in the heart
of France the man was born who was to teach France and the Frenchmen
respect for the Germans. France had ever been arrogant toward Germany,
and was particularly so at that time and until, in 1813-14-15 and later
in 1870 and 1871, she was taught a wholesome lesson.
And now I must tell you how Prince Eugene came to be born in Paris. In
the first half of the seventeenth century Prince Thomas Francis of
Savoy, youngest son of the reigning Duke Charles Emanuel the First,
founded the collateral line of the house of Savoy-Carignan. His wife was
Marie of Bourbon, sister and heiress of the last Count of Soissons; his
two sons, Emanuel Philibert and Eugene Maurice. The latter took the
title of Count of Soissons and married Olympia Mancini, a niece of the
notorious French minister, Mazarin. From this marriage sprang three
daughters and five sons, of whom Prince Eugene was the youngest.
History tells us that Prince Eugene’s father was a man of gracious
manners and of a brave and genial disposition. He distinguished himself
in feats of arms, and was therefore a favorite at the court of King
Louis the Fourteenth of France. Eugene’s mother was a beautiful woman
and very fond of the gay life of the time; to her all the homage was
rendered that feminine beauty and wit were wont to receive at the
brilliant court of “His Most Christian Majesty.”[1]
The palace of Count Eugene Maurice of Soissons was situated upon the
site where the great Grain Market of Paris now stands. If one of my
readers should happen to visit that city he may look upon the spot and
meditate upon the instability of all earthly things.[2] This palace had
a long, memorable, and brilliant history. In the fourteenth century it
was the property of King John of Bohemia, of the house of Luxembourg; it
next served as the cloister of a sect of expiatory nuns and later passed
into the hands of the notorious Catherine de Medici, who furnished it in
all the extravagant taste of the time. It stood in the midst of splendid
gardens, embellished with fountains and colonnades; and in the interior
of the park was a chapel of truly royal magnificence. It may be, that in
this sacred spot Catherine de Medici, mother of that monster, Charles
IX, may have conceived the idea, for the advancement and honor of her
church, of the Paris massacre. It was in this palace that Eugene was
born, October 18, 1663, one hundred and fifty years before the great
battle of Leipzig, a victory which broke the power of the first Napoleon
over Germany. This date, which the year 1813 made a memorable one for
Germany, would seem more suitably marked in our calendars by the name of
“Eugene” or “Lebrecht” rather than by that of some saint.
Before we concern ourselves with Eugene or his parents, let us finish
the history of the palace of Soissons. For almost a century it remained
in the hands of the family. Then a dishonest Scot by the name of Law
founded a bank in Paris, which soon became bankrupt, beggaring many
thousands of the well-to-do citizens. At last the city of Paris bought
the ill-fated building in order to erect on the site of so much crime
and sin, wild lust and miserable treachery, a very practical building,
the above-mentioned Grain Market, thereby to wipe out the dark past.
Eugene’s cradle stood in the midst of gay and luxurious surroundings.
The palace of Soissons was the resort of the flower of the French
nobility. Brilliant _fêtes_, in which the King never failed to be among
the guests, followed one another, and the youthful mistress, the
beautiful Italian, Olympia Mancini, was the flower of them all. At last
the magnet lost its power, as it is ever prone to do where court life is
subject to the moods and caprices of a tyrannical ruler. Intrigues were
set on foot against the Count and Countess of Soissons; their powerful
relative, the minister Mazarin, had long been dead, and both of them
were banished from the court by a royal decree dated March 30, 1665, and
ordered to their country estates. One can imagine the feelings of
Olympia particularly, who had been the petted favorite and ornament of
the royal court for years. She shed no vain tears over her fate,
however, but cherished in her heart a thirst for revenge. She now hated
with a deadly hatred the King whom she had loved and honored, and this
sentiment she inculcated in her children. This seed, hatred of the house
of Bourbon and particularly of the King, fell in good soil. Her son
Eugene preserved this heritage from his mother throughout his whole
life.
Eugene was ten years old when his father suddenly died. After this blow,
fortune seemed utterly to forsake the Countess. In order to retrieve it,
she was ready to seize on any means, even the most unworthy. She studied
astrology and fortune telling, and in this way became associated with a
person named Voisin, who was finally prosecuted as a poisoner. Just in
time Olympia, learning that she was to be arrested as an accomplice,
fled to Flanders. But even abroad, in Brussels, she was pursued by the
hatred of her former friends. It was Louis’s minister Louvois
particularly who heaped insults upon her.
For the honor of Eugene’s mother, the Countess of Soissons, it must be
said that the totally unfounded rumors against her were at last
silenced. Not a trace of complicity with the crime of the Voisin woman
has been discovered. The talented Countess soon made many influential
friends in Brussels. Her salon became very popular, and these social
triumphs somewhat compensated for the wrongs suffered in Paris.
At the time of her flight the Countess had left her children with the
mother of her deceased husband, the Princess of Carignan. Their
grandmother sought to give them a good education and to provide for
their future. Four of her grandsons were already in the army, three in
France, and one, Julius, in the German imperial service; but she had
difficulties with Eugene, the fifth and youngest. In short, Eugene was
intended for the priesthood, but was determined to become a soldier
instead. Of princely birth, as a member of the clergy, his future would
have been secure; in time he might have enjoyed fat revenues, and
sometime and somewhere have occupied a bishop’s seat. This goal might
have tempted many of his rank, but it was not so with him. He might also
have entered into service at court and would probably have prospered
outwardly there, but with his nature and talents how unhappy he would
have been if thus misplaced! The mere thought of becoming a courtier and
toady of his French majesty, the “Most Christian King,” who was as
bigoted as he was godless, treacherous, and unjust; who had driven
Eugene’s parents into banishment and had heaped unjust suspicion,
insult, and injury upon his mother, was repugnant to him.
He was firmly resolved to become a soldier. In his earliest youth he had
shown a pronounced, even unconquerable predilection for the profession,
and had concentrated all his dreams and hopes and his whole education
upon it. Mathematics had always been his favorite study. With resolute
purpose he had applied himself to the study of geometry under a friend
of Vauban, the great French master of fortifications, whose excellent
buildings, walls, moats, redoubts, lunettes, and bastions caused German
soldiers trouble enough, even in the last war. His favorite book was the
life of Alexander, the great King of Macedonia, by Curtius; his
principal models were Hannibal and Cæsar. He would pore over every work
on battles and sieges he could find, and his eyes glistened when he
heard the clashing of weapons. Possessing such tastes and talents, there
was but one insuperable obstacle to his becoming a soldier: he was of a
very delicate physique and had been sickly in his early years. Although
he persistently exercised and took every means to harden and toughen
himself, his nature could not be altered, and to his great chagrin he
remained small and delicate even when he had reached maturity.
“I shall be a soldier for all that,” he often said with great
determination to those who good naturedly meant to discourage him, and
then he would add: “but no carpet-knight or soldier on parade, like
those who guard the Louvre day and night that His Majesty may sleep
soundly, and who swagger about in gold and silver braid, conniving at
the adventures of the princes and royal family. No! I wish to be a real
soldier; one who is ready in the face of any hardship to do his sworn
duty to the death.”
Here his good grandmother of the house of Bourbon probably smiled and
shook her finger in warning; and no doubt her grandson answered her: “If
it be God’s will, you shall yet see me a field-marshal at the head of an
army.”
It was useless to gainsay such a spirit as this. Eugene had a head of
his own, as they say, and had quietly made up his mind to let time solve
the problem. There was still another difficulty and a very serious one.
The will of the King had destined the little fatherless boy, whom
circumstances had also deprived of a mother’s guidance, for the Church
instead of the army. It is very likely that he thought that such an
obstinate little princeling of the house of Savoy should not be allowed
to have his own way, but must be taught to obey.
We shall see what came to pass. Of course it was impossible to contend
with a Louis the Fourteenth, for he had plenty of means for compelling
obedience. He had long ago made up his mind to break this youthful
obstinacy and prevent Eugene from entering the French army. At last came
the time when Eugene must decide. Through good friends he had several
times tried to sound the King’s disposition in the matter, and always
with discouraging results. Eugene, whom the King sarcastically called
“the little _abbé_” said to himself: “You must be a man, and if you ever
intend to march at the head of an army and confront an enemy armed to
the teeth, you cannot afford to be afraid of the King of France! So
there!”
One fine day Eugene begged for an audience, which was granted. At last
he stood before His Majesty, King Louis the Fourteenth, whom his
creatures called “The Great.” Eugene and Louis! One cannot imagine two
natures more unlike in every respect, inwardly and outwardly. One
elevated Germany to a position of honor and power; the other would have
been glad to drag it down in order to be worshipped as its ruler.
Standing erect, with clear and honest eyes, in a resolute voice, Eugene
presented to the King his petition for a commission in the army.
When he had finished, the King’s eyes rested upon him for some moments
with an expression of derision. The “little _abbé_” had never before
seemed so repulsive to him. Eugene certainly was far from being a
paragon of beauty. His complexion was dark, he was small in stature, and
his nose was comparatively large. His upper lip was so short that his
mouth remained constantly open, disclosing the front teeth. The
redeeming feature was his eyes which, intelligent and fiery, gazed
intently at the King as though they would read his fate from his lips.
“You are disobedient, _abbé_,” said the King in a cutting voice; “you
oppose my will.”
“Not your will, Your Majesty,” answered Eugene, “but only an office for
which I have no inclination.”
“But you are not fit for a soldier,” said the King, measuring him from
head to foot with an almost disdainful look. “You will never be able to
bear the hardships of the service. As I happen to know, your father had
destined you for the priesthood. Take back your petition.”
“All my ancestors have followed the profession of arms,” answered
Eugene; “it is the most honorable one for a prince, it is——”
“Silence with your arguments,” interrupted the King; “I am in no mood to
listen to them. You know my wish. I will suffer no contradiction. A
prince of Savoy-Carignan should——” Here the King cleared his throat and
could not at once find the right expression for what he wished to say.
[Illustration: _PRINCE EUGENE
before King Louis the Fourteenth_]
“Should,” Eugene took up the unfinished remark, “should at least have
the liberty of deciding his own future and of choosing his profession.”
“The little _abbé_ is excited,” said the King in a disdainful tone. Then
he continued, “It shall be as I have commanded. Your Reverence must
enter into holy orders very shortly.”
“Your Majesty,” replied Eugene with a firmness of voice and manner far
beyond his years (for he was then only seventeen), “you force me to
declare that I shall embrace the profession of arms in spite of
everything.”
“But not under my flag, not in France,” cried the King forbiddingly.
“Then I am compelled to seek another sovereign and another fatherland.”
“Do so, Prince. You are dismissed.”
Eugene immediately obeyed this command. His future was decided.
“This person’s face is very repulsive to me,” said the King to his
courtiers. “The Soissons were all pig-headed and this fellow has
inherited his mother’s audacious spirit besides. Louvois is right, all
these Soissons must learn to submit.”
So thought the King. But man proposes; God disposes. This Soissons
(Eugene) at least did not feel the power of the King of France; the
reverse was the case, which we shall see as our history proceeds. The
heart of Prince Eugene was light as a feather when he had turned his
back upon the King and his grand palace. Now all was clear between them;
he had spoken his mind and told the King the truth, as he had probably
never heard it spoken before by one of his vassals.
When one considers, it was certainly a very daring procedure. Abruptly
and quickly he had broken all the ties that bound him to the King and
his house. It was certainly not a bad thing to have the powerful King of
France for a cousin. Had Eugene, according to the King’s demand, become
a priest, he would have fared well, might have folded his hands on his
knees and have enjoyed a very comfortable living. But now it was
necessary to stand on his own feet and to act with hands and brain.
Thousands would certainly have decided differently, would have preferred
the certain to the uncertain and have considered that a piece of bread
in the mouth is better than a feather in the cap.
Eugene did not belong to this order of mankind. Fate had early taken him
in hand. His father’s cares and his mother’s tears had sunk deeply into
his heart. He was too good a son to forget easily the wrongs inflicted
by the King. He had also been early introduced to the frivolous life at
court, and had conceived a disgust for it. Thirdly and lastly, he had a
lively faith in God. He believed firmly in an all-wise heavenly control
of the universe, had put his trust in the King of kings, and was at
peace with himself. He would never have been a successful priest, but he
was enthusiastic for the profession of arms.
The next problem for Eugene to solve was, under whom he should seek
service. France was not the world. There were many potentates under
whose banners he could find honor and fame. He hesitated but a short
time; then his intuition came to his aid and he chose the German
Emperor. Strangely enough, although a Frenchman by birth, his heart had
always turned to Germany; from youth German deeds of valor had inspired
him. Added to this, his uncle, the Duke of Savoy, was on the most
friendly terms with the Emperor Leopold the First, and his brother
Julius, who had entered the imperial service shortly before, had already
been assigned to the command of a regiment.
Eugene lost no time. He said farewell to his grandmother and to his
brothers and sisters, and packed his belongings. These, no doubt, were
not numerous, for his pleasure-loving mother had attended to that; and
besides, the parental legacy had been widely distributed. But this
troubled Eugene very little. In eating, in drinking, and in dress he was
accustomed to the greatest simplicity; and in case of need he had a rich
uncle in Savoy, who would have considered it a disgrace, as he had a
great deal of family pride, to let his young relative suffer want.
Accompanied by a single servant, Eugene left Paris and shook the dust of
the proud capital from his feet. It is said that he vowed never to enter
France again except as her enemy, sword in hand, at the head of a German
army. We shall see later how this came to pass. And now let us heartily
wish good luck to our determined young Savoyard.