(1663-1736)
[Illustration: Prince Eugene. [TN]]
Prince Eugene, the most famed of Austrian generals, was the son of
Eugene Maurice of Savoy (by the mother's side Count of Soissons) and
of Olympia Mancini, niece of Cardinal Mazarin. His father intrigued,
and was banished from the court of France; and his mother also quitted
Paris not many years after, suspected of many vices of which she was
very probably innocent; and guilty of a thousand follies, which were
more strictly scrutinized than her crimes. Eugene was originally
destined for the Church, and, according to a scandalous custom, then
common in France as well as other Catholic countries, he obtained
several benefices while but a child, of which he was eager to divest
himself as soon as his mind was capable of discriminating between one
profession and another. He seems soon to have felt within himself that
ardent desire for military service, which is sometimes a caprice and
some times an inspiration; but Louis XIV., at whose court he still
remained, positively forbade his throwing off the clerical habit,
notwithstanding all the entreaties of the young abbe, and by so doing,
incurred the enmity of one who inherited from his mother no small
faculty of hatred.
At length, various circumstances with which he was in no degree
connected, brought about a change in the affairs of Europe that
afforded him an opportunity of escaping from the restraint placed upon
his inclinations, and of turning the genius they had despised against
those who had contemned him. France and Austria had long been either
secretly or openly at strife; but now the dilapidated state of the
German empire, after tedious and expensive wars, together with the
combination of external foes and internal insurrection, threatened the
nominal successor of the Roman Caesars with utter destruction. The
Hungarians in revolt, joined with the Turkish forces which they had
called to their assistance, marched into Germany and laid siege to
Vienna. Louis XIV. had hitherto taken care to foment the spirit of
insurrection, and to aggravate the more pressing dangers of Germany;
but at this moment, to cover the encouragement he had held out
privately to the rebels, he permitted the nobility of his court to
volunteer in defence of Christendom, which the fall of Vienna would
have laid open to Infidels. A large body of young men set out
immediately for Austria, among whom Prince Eugene contrived to effect
his departure in secret. The famous, but unamiable minister Louvois,
when he heard of the young abbe's escape remarked with a sneer, "So
much the better, it will be long before he returns."
The speech was afterward repeated to Eugene, who replied, "I will
never return to France but as a conqueror;" and he kept his word, one
of the few instances in which history has been able to record that a
rash boast was afterward justified by talents and resolution.
On arriving at Vienna, Eugene cast away the gown forever, and his rank
instantly procured him a distinguished post near the person of the
Duke of Lorraine, then commanding the imperial forces.
Shortly after he had joined the army, John Sobieski, the valiant King
of Poland, advanced to the assistance of the emperor, and the Turks
were forced to raise the siege of the Austrian capital. In the
campaign that followed against the Infidels, Eugene distinguished
himself greatly, both by a sort of light unthinking courage, and by a
degree of skill and judgment, which seemed to show that the levity he
was somewhat too fond of displaying, though perhaps a confirmed habit
from his education in an idle and frivolous court, was no true type of
the mind within. It was the empty bubble dancing on the bosom of a
deep stream. This was felt by those who surrounded him; and promotion
succeeded with astonishing rapidity. Before the end of three months he
was in command of a regiment of horse.
Continual battles, sieges, and skirmishes, now inured Eugene to all
the hardships and all the dangers of war, and at the same time gave
him every opportunity of acquiring a thorough knowledge of his new
profession, and of obtaining higher and higher grades in the service.
In the course of a very few years he had been wounded more than once
severely; but at the same time he had aided in the taking of
Neuhausel, Vicegradt, Gran, and Buda; was the first who entered sword
in hand into the intrenched camp of the Turks at Hersan; and had
received a commission as Lieutenant-general in the Austrian service.
The storming of Belgrade was the next great event in which Eugene was
called to act; and here, in command of a body of reserve, he attacked
the walls, after the first parties had been repulsed, and succeeded in
forcing his way into the city. The regiments which had failed at first
now rallied; and the path being open, the Imperial forces poured in in
all directions, and Belgrade was taken after a most obstinate defence.
Victor Amadaeus, Duke of Savoy, was shortly after this persuaded by his
cousin Eugene to embrace the interests of the house of Austria; and to
enter into the great alliance which had been formed for the purpose of
depressing France.
The vast power which Louis XIV. had acquired, and the evident
disposition he displayed to extend that power to the utmost, had armed
the fears of all the monarchs of Europe against him. At the same time,
the armies which had conquered for him were dispersed, and the
generals who had led them to victory had in most instances fallen into
the grave. Perhaps these considerations might lead the Duke of Savoy
to withdraw from an alliance which promised little support, and
eminent danger; but he had soon reason to repent of having done so.
Marshal Catinat, the best of Louis's living officers, was ordered to
act against him; the whole of Piedmont quickly fell into the hands of
the French; and on August 18th the duke was completely defeated by the
adverse general. Eugene, who was present, though wounded with a spent
ball, covered the retreat of the troops of Savoy; but the battle was
nevertheless completely lost, and influenced for long the fate of
Piedmont.
After various campaigns in Italy, where little was effected but a
diversion of the French forces from his scene of war in Germany and
the Netherlands, Eugene prevailed upon his cousin the Duke of Savoy,
to lead his troops into France and to draw the French army from Italy,
by carrying the war into their own country. The scheme was a bold one,
but it proved most successful, and Embrun, Quilestre, and Gap, having
fallen, the allied army, under Victor Amadaeus and Eugene, advanced
rapidly into Dauphiny. Terror and consternation spread before them;
and in revenge for the devastation committed by the French in the
Palatinate, they now ravaged the whole of Dauphiny, burning the
villages and hamlets, and laying the cities under heavy contributions.
The heart of France was open to the invading army; but, fortunately
for that country, a severe illness put a stop to the proceedings of
Victor Amadaeus. Returning to Turin in haste, he left his army to the
command of Prince Eugene; but the Italian generals contrived, by
hesitation in their obedience, and opposition to his wishes, to defeat
Eugene's best schemes, so that he was glad, by a rapid retreat, to
bring his army in safety to Savoy.
Eugene was now created Field-marshal; and received the order of the
Golden Fleece; but his gratification at these marks of approbation was
bitterly alloyed by a severe defeat which he suffered near Pignerol,
in company with his cousin the Duke of Savoy, who madly engaged the
French forces in a position where his own discomfiture was a certain
consequence.
Few movements of any import took place in Italy for some years after
this, in which Eugene was concerned. Victor Amadaeus, partly from
caprice, partly from fear, withdrew from his alliance with Austria,
and, once more signed a treaty of neutrality with France. The Imperial
troops, unable singly to keep the field against the French, abandoned
Savoy; and Eugene, though his efforts had proved unsuccessful, was
received at Vienna with the highest distinction.
The emperor, probably judging rightly in this instance, that the
prince had failed from his energies being crippled by a divided power,
now gave him the sole command of the army opposed to the Turks in
Hungary.
Eugene immediately found himself menaced by the whole force of the
Turkish Empire; but after some masterly manoeuvres he saved the city
of Peterwaradin, on which the Ottoman forces were marching; and then,
though with very inferior power, approached the intrenchments of the
Grand Vizier, at Zeuta, with the intention of forcing him from his
camp. At the very moment, however, that the army had advanced too far
to retreat, a courier arrived, bearing the emperor's commands to
Eugene, on no account to risk a battle. Eugene's measures were already
taken; he put the letter in his pocket, attacked the Turks, defeated
them completely, left twenty thousand Mussulmen dead on the field, and
ten thousand drowned in the Danube; pursued his victory by burning
Serai and securing the frontier line of fortresses, and then returned
to Vienna in expectation of reward and honor.
The emperor received him coldly, and before the day was over he was
put under arrest for disobedience of orders. The clamor, however, of
the people, and some feeling of shame in the bosom of the proud, weak
Leopold, soon caused him to restore Eugene to his rank, and to send
him once more against the Turks. Success, however, did not follow the
prince through the succeeding campaign; and before the season brought
it naturally to a close, peace had been determined on between Austria
and the Porte.
Some time previous to the period of which we now speak, Louis XIV. had
endeavored to tempt Eugene back to his Court, by the offer of a
Marshal's rank in the French army, the government of Champagne, and a
considerable yearly pension. Eugene, who felt that, however flattering
to himself, the offer originated alone in the selfishness of an
ambitious monarch, refused it in terms sufficiently galling to the
proud King of France. Nevertheless, after the peace of Westphalia,
Villars, who was sent as ambassador to Vienna, is supposed to have
been again charged with a mission of the same nature to Eugene. The
fact, however, is not only doubtful, but very improbable, from the
character of all parties concerned. Eugene was not a man to leave
himself the possibility of changing; Louis was not a man meanly to
solicit where he had once been refused; and Villars was not a man to
undertake a mean commission, even for a king. It is probable that the
courtesy which the prince evinced toward Marshal de Villars from a
sense of his personal merit, at a time when the haughty Court of
Vienna was mean enough to treat even an ambassador with cold
disrespect, was the sole origin of the report. However that might be,
Eugene remained for a length of time at Vienna, filling up his
inactivity by trifling with many arts and many enjoyments, till at
length the War of the Succession, as it was called, breaking out, he
was appointed to the command of the army in Italy.
[Illustration: Prince Eugene and the Marshal de Villars.]
At length a general engagement took place at Luzara, at which Philip
of Spain was present. The forces of the French have been estimated at
forty thousand, those of the Imperial general did not much exceed
one-half that number. The battle was long and fierce; and night only
terminated the contest. Both parties of course claimed the victory.
The French sung a Te Deum, but retreated; the Imperial army retained
their ground.
Nevertheless, the fruits of victory were gathered by the French. Their
immense superiority of numbers gave them the power of overrunning the
whole country; and the Imperial court, either from indolence,
heedlessness, or intrigue, failed to take any step to support its arms
in Italy; so that all which Eugene had taken, sooner or later fell
into the enemy's hands, and he himself, disgusted with the neglect he
had met with, left his army under the command of another, and set out
to see whether he could not procure some reinforcement, or at least
some supply of money to pay or provide for his forces. At Vienna he
found good reason to suspect that Count Mansfield, the minister of
war, had by some means been gained to the interest of France. But, in
the meanwhile Eugene was appointed minister of war; and sometime
after, in this capacity, proceeded to confer with Marlborough on the
united interests of England and Austria.
This negotiation was most successful; and here seems to have been
concerted the scheme which Marlborough afterward so gloriously pursued
for carrying on the war against France on the side of Germany, and of
thus freeing the Empire. In a military point of view, also, Eugene's
efforts, though supported by no great army, and followed by no great
victory, were wise and successful. He foiled the Hungarian rebels in
their bold attack upon Vienna, checked them in their progress
everywhere, and laid the foundation of their after subjugation. Soon
after this, Eugene took the command of the Imperial army on the Rhine;
and after considerable manoeuvring singly, to prevent the junction of
the French army with that of the Duke of Bavaria, finding it
impossible, he effected his own junction with the Duke of Marlborough,
and shared in the glories of the field of Blenheim.
Eugene was here always in the thickest of the fight, yet never for a
moment forgot that he was called upon to act as a general rather than
a soldier. His operations were planned as clearly and commanded as
distinctly in the midst of the hottest conflict, as if no tumult had
raged around him, and no danger had been near to distract his
attention; yet his horse was killed under him in the early part of the
battle; and at one moment, a Bavarian dragoon was seen holding him by
the coat with one hand, while he levelled a pistol at his head with
the other. One of the Imperialists, however, coming up at the moment,
freed his general from this unpleasant situation; and Eugene
proceeded to issue his orders, without the least sign of discomposure.
The following year Eugene returned to Italy, and once more began the
war against Vendome. Notwithstanding all his skill and activity,
however, the superiority of the French numbers, and the distinguished
military genius of their chief, prevented Eugene from meeting with any
very brilliant success. He surprised various detachments, relieved
several towns, was successful in many skirmishes; but he failed in
drawing the French out of Savoy, and was totally repulsed in
endeavoring to pass the Adda.
In the attempt to do so, many men and several valuable officers were
lost on both sides. The battle was long and furious. Both Vendome and
Eugene displayed all their skill to foil each other; and perhaps so
bravely contested a field was as honorable to each as a great victory.
Neither, however, could fairly claim the battle as won; for though
Eugene failed in passing the river, the French were the greatest
sufferers in the contest, and they did not succeed in compelling the
Germans to fly, though they prevented them from advancing to join the
Duke of Savoy. Eugene, with his wonted reckless courage, exposed
himself more than even was necessary, and in the very commencement of
the engagement was wounded severely in the neck, notwithstanding which
he remained a considerable length of time on horseback, till a second
musket-ball, in the knee, forced him to absent himself for a time from
the field. These wounds probably decided the failure of his attempt;
but they did not prevent him from securing his army in good winter
quarters, and checking all active operations on the part of Vendome.
The next campaign was more successful. Vendome, after defeating a body
of Imperial troops at Calemato, was recalled, and the command of the
French forces given to the Duke of Orleans and the Marechal de Marsin,
who with an army of eighty thousand men invested Turin, the last hold
of the Duke of Savoy.
Eugene immediately marched to form his junction with the duke; and no
longer opposed by the genius of Vendome, passed the Adige unattacked,
crossed the Tanaro, and the Po, joined his cousin near Carmagnola, and
advanced to the succor of Turin. The French were dispirited; and
uncertainty and divided councils pervaded their camp. On September
7th, the allied army, with less than half their numerical force,
attacked them in their intrenchment, forced their position in every
direction, and after one of the severest conflicts ever known,
completely defeated them, and raised the siege of Turin. The battle,
however, was at one time nearly lost to the allies by an accident
which befell Eugene. In rallying a body of Imperial cavalry, the
prince's horse received a ball in his chest, fell with the rider, and
threw him into a ditch, where, stunned with the fall, he lay for
several minutes among the dead and dying. The report spread through
the army that he was killed; a general alarm was the consequence; and
the infantry were beginning to give way, when, suddenly starting up,
Eugene commanded the nearest German regiment to fire upon the French
cavalry that were coming up to the charge. The effect was tremendous;
the French went to the right about; and, though they rallied again and
returned to the charge, the Imperial troops continued gradually to
force their way on, till their adversaries fled in confusion.
The consequence of this victory was the evacuation of the north of
Italy by the French. Eugene was now everywhere successful for some
time. He forced the passage of the Col de Tende, carried the French
intrenchments on the Var, and laid siege to Toulon. Here, however, he
failed; the defence was long and obstinate, reinforcements arrived at
the French city, and Eugene, together with the Duke of Savoy, agreed
to raise the siege once more, and retire into Piedmont.
Eugene was now again called to join Marlborough, in company with whom
he fought and conquered at Oudenarde, took Lille (where he was again
severely wounded), Ghent, Bruges, Tournay, and Mons; and forced the
French lines at Malplaquet, after a severe and long-protracted
struggle, in which two hundred thousand men were engaged, and nearly
sixty thousand fell.
If the victories of Blenheim and Oudenarde might more fairly be
attributed to Marlborough than to Eugene, the success at Malplaquet
was chiefly obtained by the prince, who had forced the intrenchments,
taken the wood of Sart, and turned the enemy's flank, before
Marlborough had made much progress against the other wing.
Eugene had strongly counselled the battle, though opposed by the
States of Holland, and had in a measure taken the responsibility upon
himself. On all occasions Eugene's impetuosity led him to expose his
person more than mere duty required, and now, having staked his fame
on the success of his attempt, he seems to have resolved not to
survive a defeat. In the very first attack he received a severe wound
behind the ear, which bled so profusely that all his staff pressed him
to retire for the purpose of having it dressed.
"If I am beaten," replied Eugene, "it will not be worth while; and if
we beat the enemy, I shall have plenty of time to spare for that."
After some short repose, we soon find Eugene once more acting against
the Turks in Hungary. No sooner was war determined, than Achmet III.
marched an immense force down to the frontiers of Hungary, to act
against Eugene, who had just taken the command of the German forces at
Peterwaradin. The Vizier Hali, commanding the Ottoman troops, full of
confidence in his own skill, and in his immense superiority of
numbers, advanced rapidly upon Eugene, and crossed the Save, which
formed the boundary of the two countries, determined to crush his
adversary by one great battle. Eugene was as desirous of such an event
as the vizier, and therefore the troops were soon engaged, almost
under the walls of Peterwaradin. The Turks fought bravely for many
hours, and the battle was long undecided; but at length, Eugene's
superior skill prevailed, and the enemy fled in every direction. The
Grand Vizier struggled to the last, with long and desperate bravery,
but after having received two severe wounds, he was borne away by the
fugitives to Carlowitz, where he died the next day, muttering to the
last imprecations against the Christians.
After the death of Hali from the wounds he had received at
Peterwaradin, the command of the Turkish army was given to the Pacha
of Belgrade, one of the most skilled officers in the Ottoman service.
But Eugene was destined to destroy the Turkish power in Hungary. The
campaign of the next year commenced with the siege of the
often-captured Belgrade; and it was soon completely invested and
reduced to sore distress. The Porte, however, was not unmindful of its
preservation; and, in the beginning of August, the pacha appeared on
the mountains surrounding the town, with an army of near two hundred
thousand men. Thus shut up between a strong fortress and an immense
army, with the dysentery in his camp, and his forces enfeebled by long
and severe labors, Eugene's situation was as difficult as it is
possible to conceive. Notwithstanding every disadvantage, his usual
bold course of action was pursued in the present instance, and met
with that success which is almost always sure to attend the
combination of daring and skill. After a short delay, to enable
himself to employ all his energies (having been himself greatly
debilitated by the camp fever), he attacked the Turkish army in their
intrenchments, and at the end of a very short but severe struggle,
succeeded in defeating a force more than three times the number of his
own.
Belgrade surrendered immediately; and the next year, without any great
military event, put an end to the war.
After the conclusion of peace, Eugene, who had been appointed governor
of the Austrian Netherlands, resigned that office, which he had never
personally filled, and was appointed vicar-general for the emperor in
his Italian dominions.
For many years after this Eugene spent his days in peace and
tranquillity, endeavoring to raise up a spirit of commerce among the
Germans, and to improve the finances of his sovereign, by whom he was
appreciated and loved. His greatest efforts were in favor of Trieste,
which he changed from a petty town to a great commercial city, and
which remains to the present day the best and the noblest fruit of all
his talents and all his exertions.
At first, everything promised that the old age of Eugene would have
passed in peace, uninterrupted by any warlike movements; but he was
once more called from his calmer occupations by the short war which
broke out with France in 1733.
Perhaps, in point of military skill, the two campaigns which followed
were the most brilliant of Eugene's life; but with only thirty
thousand men, opposed to a force of double that number, he could alone
act upon the defensive.
He did so, however, with more success than the scantiness of his
resources promised. He prevented the French from penetrating into
Swabia; and, though Philipsburg was taken notwithstanding all his
efforts, he contrived, by turning the course of the neighboring
rivers, to inundate the country on the German side of that city, and
to render its possession unprofitable to France.
Peace soon succeeded, and with these two campaigns ended Eugene's life
as a commander. He lived for some time after this, indeed, amusing
himself with the embellishments of his palace and gardens, and
employing a great many mechanics and laborers, during all seasons of
dearth or scarcity; but the battle-field never saw him more. His
health gradually and slowly declined, and on April 21, 1736, in the
seventy-fourth year of his age, he was found dead in his bed, after
having been slightly indisposed the night before.