Last Days
After a peaceful interval of sixteen years, during which Eugene had
devoted himself to the study of the arts and sciences, he was obliged
once more to take up his sword. France was again menacing the peace of
Europe. She was not willing that the Elector of Saxony should become
King of Poland, but presented another candidate and seized this
opportunity of picking a quarrel with Austria and Germany. Eugene
therefore found himself promptly seated in the saddle once more, ready
to show the King of France (now Louis the Fifteenth) that he still
understood his profession. Unfortunately this war was begun and
conducted in a very sleepy fashion, so that Eugene had only twenty
thousand men to oppose the one hundred and twenty thousand Frenchmen,
instead of the imposing army originally promised him by the Emperor; and
even though this small number was gradually doubled by accessions of
Prussians and other troops of the empire, it was not possible to
undertake anything important with them. In spite of this Eugene
manœuvred so cleverly with his little army that in a two-years’ campaign
(1734-1735) France gained no great advantage on the Rhine and took
possession only of Philippsburg.
As things stood—the Emperor without money, the army unpaid and without
bread—it was almost a miracle that France did not gain more advantages.
It was Eugene, the conqueror at Zenta, Höchstädt, Turin, Oudenarde,
Malplaquet, Peterwardein, and Belgrade who prevented it. In this war
against France Eugene made the personal acquaintance of the Crown Prince
of Prussia, later King Frederick the Great. Frederick greeted the noble
Knight with the significant words: “I should like to be allowed to
witness the manner in which a hero collects his laurels.”
Eugene felt a real attachment for the Crown Prince. He regretted that he
had not had the good fortune to become acquainted with him earlier, and
said to him, “My Prince, everything about you convinces me that you will
one day become a great military leader.” Once when Frederick had
cordially saluted the Duke of Württemberg, who was an old friend, Eugene
turned to him with the words, “Will your Majesty not kiss my old cheek
also?” a request with which Frederick immediately complied: a touching
token of the hearty esteem in which the aspiring young hero held the old
retiring one.
In the late Autumn of 1735 peace was made. The Emperor Charles the Sixth
suffered the loss of some territory in Italy, but had the great
satisfaction of seeing France recognize the Pragmatic Sanction (the
right of accession of the female line of the house of Hapsburg). Peace!
For the present only a short earthly peace; but the noble Knight was not
far from the eternal rest. But we must touch upon other things before
bringing this sketch to a close.
We have intentionally described Eugene in the character of a soldier and
hero first, and have thus passed over many events of his life. Let us
now return several years into the past; it will show us how even the
best and greatest of men are subject to enmity and slander. The reader
may remember Marshal Villars’s remark at Rastadt: “Eugene’s enemies are
not in the French camp, but in Vienna.” Probably Eugene did not let
these words trouble him much at the time, for who is without enemies?
The man is still to be born who is able to please everybody. But
Villars’s remark had a significance which Eugene was to understand
better some years later.
In the last two campaigns against the Turks, Eugene had conferred the
greatest glory on the Austrian arms. He was the most admired hero in the
imperial army, and possessed the undisputed love and esteem of his
Emperor and of the whole German people. Although all this gratified the
noble-minded Prince, it did not make him proud or arrogant, as fools in
such a situation are apt to be. On the contrary, he pursued the even
tenor of his way, flattering no one, though flattery is quite customary
and expected at court. War and a long life spent in the camp had lent
his manner a certain bluntness. He never tried to conceal his meaning,
and he spoke as he felt. This did not please many of the courtiers; they
took it for granted that it bespoke a high opinion of his own merits.
The wings of this proud eagle, they thought, who in eagle fashion
aspired to mount to the sun, must be clipped.
As president of the Royal Council of War—the highest dignity in the
state next to the Emperor—Prince Eugene had a great, if not the greatest
influence in all business of state. Whatever he had once decided was
right and good he would carry out, whether he was looked askance at for
it or not. He urged the regulation of the finances, which, as we know,
were in bad condition at that time in Austria. He demanded great economy
in all affairs, and abolished a great many abuses. Among other things he
procured a decree that no one should be allowed to buy his rank as an
officer in the army, but that only those should be chosen who were
really capable and worthy of the position. Next, he turned his attention
to the corrupt practice of favoritism shown to distinguished relatives,
which at that time was much in vogue in Vienna. He provided better care
for the soldiers, but demanded also stricter discipline and
subordination in the army. Of course this was a slap in the face for
many. It was especially uncomfortable for the higher classes, where the
greatest abuses had become habitual.
Now, the best cure was a radical one—to remove the noble Prince Eugene.
But how? It was not very easy to overthrow such a man as this. The
Spanish party at court understood the matter, however, and applied the
lever at the right point; in other words, they began with the Emperor
Charles the Sixth, who guarded his prerogatives anxiously and jealously.
He could not endure that any one should presume to exercise any control
over him even from a distance. So the Spaniards and Frenchmen whispered
in his ear that Eugene was seeking to become a second Wallenstein; that
the army was on his side; that it was most dangerous to give him freedom
to carry out his ambitious plans.
Furthermore, Eugene was accused of expressing himself very openly on
political questions in favor of Hungary, at the house of Countess
Batthiany, a Hungarian. Others declared that he was jealous of the fame
of his subordinates. They said that in order to test Guido Starhemberg’s
intrepidity he had caused bombs to be placed under the table before a
banquet and had them exploded at the moment when Starhemberg was just
about to propose the Emperor’s health; and that Starhemberg was not at
all disconcerted, but had coolly emptied his glass. Not content with
this, they accused Eugene of having needlessly sacrificed a great many
soldiers in the last war, and of having favored the cavalry at the
expense of the infantry. In short, they found abundant matter for
malicious attacks on him for his desperate situation at Belgrade where
he had allowed himself to be surrounded by superior numbers. Of course
they prudently failed to recall his brilliant victory.
All this had its effect; these malicious slanders succeeded in
undermining the Emperor’s confidence, which had appeared to be so
absolute, and in a short time produced such a complete revolution in his
sentiments for the Prince that he suddenly regarded his deeds and
aspirations with changed eyes. Indeed, distrust and entire estrangement
took the place of his former grateful regard. The men who encouraged
this wicked calumny because they wished to ruin Eugene at all costs and
drive him from the court were miserable tools of the Spanish court
party, particularly of a certain Tedeschi, a spendthrift abbot, who
played the clown and fun-maker at court, as well as the Count von
Nimptsch, brother-in-law of the Emperor’s favorite, Althan. Herr Althan
himself and the Marquis von Thomas, the ambassador of Duke Victor
Amadeus of Savoy, were also secretly concerned in this disgraceful
affair. But the truth of the old maxim proved itself in this instance:
“It is a long road which has no turning.”
This treachery came to light through another’s treachery. The valet of
Count von Nimptsch, an enthusiastic admirer of the high-minded Prince
Eugene, discovered the tricks of his master, possessed himself of
written proofs of his treachery, took them to headquarters, and laid
them before Prince Eugene.
What a surprise all this vileness was to the Prince! At first he could
not and would not believe it. He could not imagine that the party had
sunk so low. But there it was, black on white, it was a fact. His
enemies had basely slandered him in order to accomplish his ruin.
Eugene did not hesitate a moment, but went straight to the Emperor, not
in order to justify himself—for with his high character he did not feel
it necessary—but to demand just punishment of the miserable slanderers.
“Your Majesty,” he said, “a pernicious plot has been concocted against
me. Miserable slanderers have conspired against my honor and robbed me
of the precious favor of my beloved Emperor. I demand satisfaction!”
Eugene then revealed what had been done behind his back and named the
dishonorable traitors openly. He could speak in plain terms, for a good
conscience was his best weapon.
The Emperor was seized with the most painful embarrassment; he was
silent with surprise—and shame.
But this did not satisfy Eugene. “I demand full satisfaction,” said he
firmly. “If this should be refused me, I shall be obliged to lay all my
offices and honors at Your Majesty’s feet. But I shall call upon all
Europe to sit in judgment on the terrible injury which has been done me
in case such an insult shall remain unpunished.”
The Emperor tried to soothe the aggrieved hero, embraced him, and
expressed the hope that they might still remain the same good old
friends.
But this did not satisfy Eugene. He repeatedly demanded full
satisfaction. He affirmed that the affair had gone too far for him to be
put off with mere words, and that otherwise he must demand his
dismissal.
The Emperor could not refuse. He gave Eugene his hand and ordered, in
the first place, the arrest of Nimptsch and Tedeschi. A short time
afterwards a special commission was assembled to conduct the
investigation of the affair. It went forward very slowly, for the
commissioners were loath to compromise people in high stations. During
this time Eugene did not engage in any business of state, so that all
public affairs came to a standstill. At last the head of the
investigation commission, Count von Windischgrätz, made an end of the
dilatory proceedings. He boldly informed the Emperor that it would be a
perpetual disgrace to his Government if Prince Eugene, to whom the
Austrian house owed eternal gratitude, should become the victim of a
vile intrigue. He begged the Emperor to bring the guilty ones to justice
and to carry out the sentence of the court without fear or favor. That
was effective. The affair began to move rapidly. On the morning of the
twelfth of December, 1719, the sentence of Tedeschi was read in front of
the Corn Exchange, the Court House of that day, and was immediately
executed. He was obliged to endure two hours in the pillory and received
thirty heavy blows of the rod by the executioner. After this procedure
he was driven in a cart outside the Kärnthner gate to the Tyrol road,
where he was made to take an oath never to return to Austria. Count
Nimptsch was taken in a closed carriage to Grätz, where he had to suffer
two years’ imprisonment, after which he was forever banished from
Vienna. Althan escaped with a black eye, so to speak, and the Savoyan
ambassador, Marquis von Thomas, might consider himself lucky in escaping
the excited populace of Vienna unharmed.
This was the atonement which the Emperor Charles the Sixth made to
Prince Eugene. After these events they became as good friends as they
had formerly been, and the Emperor took every opportunity of showing by
word and deed the warmest devotion to the Prince, as hundreds of
personal letters from the Emperor to his faithful paladin testify.
Eugene’s health was of special concern to the Emperor, to show which a
single document will suffice. A letter from the Emperor, dated November
27, 1729, ended with the very cordial words: “I implore you, my Prince,
to take care of your health. Remember that we are growing older and not
younger. Be careful of yourself, therefore, out of consideration for me,
for I love you and embrace you heartily.”
There remains nothing more to tell except of our hero’s peculiarities of
temperament, his manner of life, his character, and his death.
First of all we must defend Prince Eugene from the suspicion that he
loved war. He regarded it as a necessary evil, but when it was no longer
to be avoided he did not fear it. He did not hate the French and fight
against them because the King had caused him and his family much sorrow
and disgrace in his earliest youth, but because he considered them
Germany’s most bitter enemies, as they were continually seeking at all
costs to injure her. He fought the Turks as the enemies of Christendom.
He had so often seen the horrors of war which these barbarians had
inflicted on the country and its people that it was no wonder he gladly
battled with them and did everything in his power to deliver the
civilized world from them.
Prince Eugene was a religious man, but did not parade his piety, as so
many do. His modesty and humility, his untiring care for his soldiers,
his beneficence and charity, were the outpouring of his religious
nature. Eugene never let fall a word in praise of himself, and was
always just to his subordinates and all his officers. It was also a
trait of his noble character that he never censured deserving men. If,
however, his duty made this necessary, he did it privately or in the
presence of the Emperor, to whom he was accountable. He was a real
father to his soldiers. He cared for them in every possible way,
visiting the sick and wounded, and comforting the dying. It was no
wonder that they were devoted to him.
He exercised an almost magical influence over them, which we must the
more admire, because Prince Eugene was lacking in all the externals
which usually make the deepest impression on people of the lower classes
and on great masses. For, as we already know, he was small and
insignificant-looking; besides, he did not understand the German
language any too well, and was lacking in the eloquence which inflames
the soldier to deeds of valor and inspires him to hasten recklessly into
danger. But his affability and impartiality, his personal courage and
the abandon with which he would place himself at the head of a storming
column, sharing discomfort, want, misery, heat, and cold with his
soldiers, compensated for the lack of external beauty. Under his
leadership the troops felt themselves to be invincible. To use an old
phrase: under him they would have undertaken to drive the devil out of
hell.
At the same time Eugene had extremely clear judgment, not only amid the
wild confusion of battle, where, as we have read, this quality very
often inclined the victory to his side by means of prompt and energetic
action, but also in his many other offices and affairs of state. He was
always wise in the choice of his co-workers, gave them his full
confidence, and scarcely ever was disappointed or deceived by one of
them. As we have said, Eugene did not understand the German language
well, and could scarcely write it at all. He always signed German
reports or ordinances: “Eugenio von Savoy.” This has been explained as
follows: Eugene wished to indicate his extraction by the Italian word
“Eugenio,” his adopted fatherland by the German “von,” and his birthland
by the French “Savoy.” However that may be, it is certain that Eugene
devoted himself heart and soul to Germany and to the imperial house to
the end of his days. He never forgot that, as an unknown and virtually
banished youth, he had found a friendly and hospitable reception on
German soil. Eugene’s life was a perpetual expression of gratitude for
this; and to Austria in particular he rendered imperishable services.
It is historic fact that not only the Emperor Charles the Sixth, but
other competent judges, have acknowledged these services. King Frederick
the Second of Prussia believed that the reign of Charles the Sixth
closed much less brilliantly than it had begun, because of the death of
Prince Eugene. Some years later, when that Prussian ruler declared war
against Austria, and Silesia soon fell into his hands, the imperial
chancellor, von Sinzendorff, who had so often opposed Eugene’s counsels,
is said to have declared, in his anxiety, “If Eugene were only alive we
should know what to do!” Of course, no one can tell whether Eugene would
have had better success if he had been opposed to Frederick, but it is
certain that Austria could not produce a second Eugene from among her
many warriors and statesmen. He remained “the only,” “the great Eugene.”
The last campaigns against the French (1734-1735) had shattered his
already much impaired health. He was troubled with a bad cough, so that
for days together he was not able to speak a word. Then a short period
of relief would come, so that he could attend to public and private
business or spend an hour with some old friend. One of his favorite
recreations was to visit the venerable and gifted Hungarian Countess
Batthiany of an evening for a game of piquet. His closed carriage passed
slowly through the streets, and the horses are said to have known the
house and to have stopped there of their own accord. But very likely no
one would get out, for the master, the coachman, and the servant were
all napping. Each one had then to be aroused separately, which no doubt
caused a great deal of merriment each time. He had become very old and
tired. The hardships of war had greatly weakened him, and the eighteen
wounds which he had received in fourteen great battles and countless
skirmishes also counted against him. He had passed the limit which the
sacred book sets to human life.
On the twentieth of April, 1736, he had had his game of cards as usual
in the society of the Countess Batthiany, but had been exceptionally
quiet. On his arrival at home he complained that breathing was
difficult, but refused to see a doctor and went to bed! About midnight,
when his faithful old servant went in once more to look after his
beloved master, he found him sleeping quietly, and softly withdrew. The
next morning the servant noticed that his master was sleeping unusually
late, also that he had not heard him cough. So he opened the door and
approached the Prince’s bed. He was dead; a congestion of the lungs had
quietly ended his active and useful life.
When the news of the Prince’s demise became known in Vienna, it produced
general dismay and deep mourning. No one was more deeply grieved than
the Emperor. He gave orders for a funeral such as no Austrian subject
had ever had before, to honor the hero. “It shall serve to show,” said
the Emperor, “that the services of the departed shall never be forgotten
by me.”
Almost the whole population of Vienna flocked to see the Prince as he
lay in state. Fourteen Field-Marshals were the pall-bearers, and the
grateful Emperor himself attended the funeral services in the Cathedral
of Saint Stephen. The eloquent Father Peickart preached the sermon on
the text: “And departing, he has left us an example in his death which
should be an inspiration to virtue, for the young as well as the old.”
Footnotes
[1]Formerly one of the titles of the King of France.
[2]Since the powerful emperor of united Germany keeps guard upon the
Rhine, France may no longer forbid any of our countrymen her
dominions.
[3]Budapest is the official name of Buda and Pest, or Pesth. It is the
capital of Hungary. Buda is on the west bank of the Danube and Pest
on the east. The German name of Buda is Ofen.
[4] “The regiments were so destitute of accoutrements that the officers
were ashamed of commanding them. If a troop was sent three or four
miles away, at least half of the men were left fainting by the
roadside. The starved men looked more like shadows than human
beings.”—Thus wrote Eugene to the Emperor.
Appendix
The following is a chronological statement of the principal events in
the life of Prince Eugene:
1663 Born at Paris.
1683 Enters Austrian Service against the Turks.
1688 Major-General at Siege of Belgrade.
1691 Campaign in Italy.
1697 Defeats the Turks at Zenta.
1699 Treaty of Peace with the Turks.
1701 Campaign in Italy.
1704 Victory at Blenheim.
1706 Defeat of the French.
1707 Received Government of Milanese.
1708 In Command in Flanders.
1709 Battle of Malplaquet.
1712 Invasion of France.
1714 Treaty of Peace with France.
1716 Defeat of the Turks.
1717 Battle of Belgrade.
1718 Appointed Vicar-General of Italy.
1728 Campaign in France.
1735 Peace with France.
1736 Death of Eugene.
LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
_Translated from the German by_
GEORGE P. UPTON
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Emperor William First
Elizabeth, Empress of Austria
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Transcriber’s Notes
--Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public
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End of Project Gutenberg's Prince Eugene, The Noble Knight, by L. Wurdig