The Porte held peaceable possession of Belgrade for nearly two hundred
years, when the elector of Bavaria, who had become general of the
Hungarian armies under the emperor Leopold, began by beating the Turks,
who disputed the passage of the Save with him, and pursued them up
to the walls of Belgrade, to which place he laid siege on the 30th
of July, 1688. After a constant cannonade of twenty-five days, the
walls were opened in several places, and the commander was summoned
to surrender. Upon his refusal, the signal for a general assault was
given, at six o’clock in the morning of the 6th of September, and
five different breaches were attacked at the same time. At half-past
ten all the corps rallied to the cry of Emmanuel! (God is with us);
the Germans fell upon the Turks with such fury, that the latter gave
way and retreated before them. The combat was terrible; the whole
garrison, composed of nine thousand determined and warlike men,
united their efforts to check the progress of the Christians; those
who had fled, rallied upon the breaches and fought with desperation.
The Imperialists began to waver, and yielded the victory step by step.
The elector perceiving this, flew to their head, followed by Prince
Eugene, sword in hand: “My children, follow us!” shouted the elector,
“we must conquer or die!” The Germans return to the fight; Eugene
mounts first to the breach, at the head of the bravest. A Janissary
splits his helmet with a stroke of his sabre; the prince turns round
calmly, runs his enemy through, and resumes the fight. The garrison is
driven from the ramparts, and the assailants penetrate into the city;
the Turks endeavour to retreat to the castle, but in great confusion;
the Germans, who are pursuing them, enter with them. The combat rages
with more fury than ever; the elector is wounded by an arrow in the
cheek. Danger redoubles his courage; no enemy can stand against him,
and soon his victory is complete. Blood inundates Belgrade; neither
age nor sex is respected; the garrison is put to the sword; five
thousand Janissaries become the victims of the angry conqueror.--The
Germans lost about four thousand men, but the army found motives for
consolation in an immense booty.
In this siege we see a prince, who was to become one of the greatest
generals the world has known, displaying the character of a cool and
brave swordsman. Eugene did not flesh his maiden sword in this siege,
but it took place early in his career.
Voltaire claims Eugene as a Frenchman, although his father, the count
de Soissons, was the son of Charles Emanuel, duke of Savoy, and his
mother was an Italian, one of the notorious nieces of Cardinal Mazarin.
But as he was born in Paris in 1663, and his father was settled in
France, we suppose we must yield the honour to that country. But
France set very little store by him in his youth: he was first known
as the Chevalier de Cavignan; he next assumed _le petit collet_,
and was styled the _Abbé de Savoie_. It is said that he asked the
king for a regiment, and that Louis’ refusal was accompanied with
reproaches. Being unable to succeed in his darling view in France, he
went to serve the emperor against the Turks, in 1683. The two princes
de Conti joined him in 1685. Louis XIV. then commanded them all to
return; but the Abbé de Savoie was the only one who refused to do so,
simply saying he had renounced France. When the king heard this, he
said to his courtiers, “Don’t you think I have made a great loss?”
And the courtiers replied that the Abbé de Savoie would always be a
wild fellow, incapable of anything. They judged him by some youthful
extravagances, which should rarely be taken as proofs of what a man
may be. Voltaire’s character of him is so just, that we cannot refrain
from repeating it. “This prince, too much despised by the court of
France, was born with the qualities which make a hero in war, and a
great man in peace; a lofty and just mind, possessed of necessary
courage both in the field and in the cabinet. He committed faults, as
what generals have not? but they were concealed by the number of his
great actions. He shook the grandeur of Louis XIV. and the power of the
Ottoman; he governed the empire; and, in the course of his victories
and his ministry, showed an equal contempt for pomp and wealth. He even
cultivated letters, and protected them at the court of Vienna, as much
as was in his power.”