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François-Eugène, Prince of Savoy-Carignan
Prince Eugene of Savoy by Jacob van Schuppen
Allegiance	Austrian Habsburgs
Battles / wars	Great Turkish War • Battle of Zenta War of the Spanish Succession • Battle of Chiari • Battle of Blenheim • Battle of Turin • Battle of Toulon • Battle of Oudenarde • Battle of Malplaquet Austro-Turkish War of 1716-18 • Battle of Petrovaradin • Siege of Belgrade War of the Polish Succession

François-Eugène, Prince of Savoy-Carignan (18 October, 1663 – 24 April, 1736), was a general of world renown, and one of the greatest military commanders in European history. Born in France to aristocratic Italian parents Eugene was initially prepared for a career in the church

But after the king rejected him for service in the French army Eugene moved to Austria, and transferred his loyalty to the Habsburg Monarchy.

Spanning six decades, Eugene served three Habsburg Emperors – Leopold I, Joseph I and Charles VI. Eugene first saw action against the Ottoman Turks at the Siege of Vienna in 1683 and the subsequent War of the Holy League, before serving in the Nine Years War alongside his cousin, the Duke of Savoy. However, the Prince’s fame was secured with his crushing victory against the Ottomans at the Battle of Zenta in 1697. Eugene further enhanced his standing during the War of the Spanish Succession, where his partnership with the Duke of Marlborough secured victories against the French on the fields of Blenheim, Oudenarde and Malplaquet; he gained individual success as Imperial commander in northern Italy, most notably at Turin in 1706. Renewed hostilities against the Ottomans in the Austro-Turkish War (1716-18) consolidated his reputation with another major victory at the Battle of Petrovaradin.

Eugene was one the world’s great patrons of the arts.

Early life (1663–99)

Hôtel Soissons

The Hôtel Soissons – converted from a nunnery into a palace by Catherine de Medici. Birthplace of Prince Eugene of Savoy in 1663.

Eugene was born in the Hôtel Soissons in Paris on 18 October 1663. Although he was a subject of King Louis XIV, Eugene’s parents came from Italian families. His mother, Olympia Mancini, was one of Cardinal Mazarin’s three nieces whom he brought to Paris from Rome in 1647 to further his, and to a lesser extent, their ambitions. Olympia soon outdid her rivals in the number of love affairs and intrigues at court – even forming an intimate relationship with the young King himself. But despite their close rapport, speculation of marriage between Olympia and Louis was soon dispelled, and her emotional hold over the King became less secure. However, a suitor, Eugene Maurice, Prince of Savoy-Carignan, later Count of Soissons, was at hand. Graciously accepting his overtures, Olympia and the Count were married on 21 February 1657.

The couple had five sons and three daughters – Eugene was the youngest boy. Neither parent spent much time with the children: his father, a brave, uncomplicated soldier in the French army, spent much of his time in service with his regiment, whilst their mother’s unsated passion for court intrigue and extravagant parties, meant the children received little attention. Family stability, therefore, was provided by their father’s French mother, Marie de Bourbon, Princess of Carignan, and her daughter, the Margravine of Baden, mother of Prince Louis of Baden.

The death of her husband in 1673, however, completely undermined Olympia’s position. Deprived of her marital status, she was forced to give up her post in the Queen’s Household; she also managed to fall foul of Louis’ new mistress, the Marquise de Montespan. Desperate to restore her position, Olympia turned to Catherine Deshayes (known as La Voisin), and the arts of black magic and astrology; but it was a fatal relationship. Embroiled in the affaire des poisons, suspicions now abounded of her involvement in her husband’s premature death, and even implicated in a plot to kill the King himself. But whatever the truth, Olympia, rather than face trial, subsequently fled France in 1680, leaving behind the sixteen year-old Eugene in the care of his grandmother.

Formative years

From the age of ten, Eugene had been brought up for a career in the church. His vocation was a personal choice of the King, basing the decision on his opinion of the young Prince’s poor physique and bearing – a stature that led Louis to label the boy, not without mockery, the ‘little Abbé’. Certainly, Eugene’s appearance was not impressive – "He was never good looking …" wrote the Duchess of Orleans, "It is true that his eyes are not ugly, but his nose ruins his face; he has two large teeth which are visible at all times."

In February 1683, to the surprise of his family, Eugene declared his intention of joining the army. Now nineteen years old, Eugene applied directly to Louis for command of a company in French service, but the king – who had shown no compassion for Olympia’s children since her disgrace – refused him out of hand. "The request was modest, not so the petitioner," remarked Louis. "No one else ever presumed to stare me out so insolently."

Thus denied a military career in France, Eugene decided to seek service abroad. One of Eugene’s brothers, Louis Julius, had entered Imperial service the previous year, but had been almost immediately killed fighting the Turks in 1683. When news of his death reached Paris, Eugene decided to flee to Austria in the hope of taking over his brother’s command. It was not an unnatural decision: his cousin, the Margrave of Baden, was already a leading general in the Imperial army, as was a more distant cousin, Maximilian Emmanuel, Elector of Bavaria. On the night of 26 July 1683, Eugene left Paris and headed east.

Extent of the Ottoman Empire in 1683. The Siege of Vienna (14 July–12 September) was the high water mark of Ottoman ambition in the west.

Great Turkish War

Since their victory at the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the Ottoman Turks had occupied most of Hungary, creating a direct threat to Austrian Habsburg rule. The Ottoman peril had ensured the Habsburgs successive elections as Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, since it was their hereditary lands that enabled them, alone of the German rulers, to make an effective resistance. The threat had also induced Bohemia and Hungary to accept a Habsburg as their king, but autocratic rule had led to disorder and, in turn, rebellion.

By 1678, the ‘Malcontents’ had chosen the influential Magyar nobleman, Imre Thököly, to lead them in revolt against Emperor Leopold I. Taking advantage of the upheaval in Habsburg Hungary, Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha invaded in May 1683 with between 100,000–200,000 men; within two months, they were beneath the walls of Leopold’s capital, Vienna. With the ‘Turks at the gates’, the Emperor fled his city for the safe refuge of Passau, a more distant and secure part of his dominion. It was here, at Leopold’s camp, where Eugene arrived in mid-August.

Eugene was entirely non-Austrian, but he did have Habsburg antecedence. His grandfather, Thomas Francis, founder of the Carignan line of the House of Savoy, was the son of Catherine – a daughter of Philip II of Spain – and the great-grandson of the Emperor Charles V. But of more immediate consequence to Leopold was the fact that Eugene was the second cousin of Victor Amadeus, the Duke of Savoy; a connection that the Emperor hoped may prove useful in any future confrontation with France. These ties, together with his ascetic manner and appearance (a positive advantage to him at the sombre court of Leopold), ensured the refugee from the hated King Louis a warm welcome at Passau, and a position in Imperial service.

Eugene was in no doubt where his new allegiance lay – " … I will devote all my strength, all my courage, and if need be, my last drop of blood, to the service of your Imperial Majesty." This loyalty was immediately put to the test. By September, the Imperialist forces under the supreme command of the Charles V, together with a powerful Polish army under King Sobieski, were poised to strike the Sultan’s army investing Vienna. On the morning of 12 September, the Christian forces drew up in line of battle on the south-eastern slopes of the Weiner Wald, looking down on the massed enemy camp. After a day-long struggle, the Battle of Vienna was a complete success, and the 60-day siege was lifted. The Sultan’s forces, routed, fell pell-mell into retreat. Serving under the immediate command of Louis of Baden, Eugene distinguished himself in the battle, earning personal commendation from Lorraine and the Emperor; he later received the nomination for the Colonelcy of the Regiment of Dragoons of Kufstein.

Holy League

Recapture of Buda castle in 1686 by Gyula Benczúr. Eugene can be seen on the white horse centre-left.

In March 1684, Leopold formed the Holy League with Poland and Venice to counter the Ottoman threat. For the next two years, Eugene continued to distinguish himself on campaign against the Turks, and established himself as a dedicated, professional soldier; by the end of 1685, still only 22 years old, he was made a Major-General. However, little is known of Eugene’s life during these early campaigns. Contemporary observers make only passing comments of his actions, and his own surviving correspondence, largely to his cousin Victor Amadeus, are typically reticent about his own feelings and experiences.

In June 1686, the Duke of Lorraine besieged Buda, the centre of the Ottoman occupation in Hungary; after resisting for 78 days, the city fell on 2 September. With the loss of their main garrison, Turkish resistance collapsed throughout Hungary as far as Transylvania and Serbia. Further success followed in 1687 where, commanding a cavalry brigade, Eugene made an important contribution to the victory at the Battle of Mohács on 12 August. Such was the scale of the Ottoman defeat their army mutinied, a revolt which spread to Constantinople – the Grand Vizier was executed, and Sultan Mehmed IV deposed. Once again Eugene’s courage earned him recognition from his superiors who granted him the honour of personally conveying the news of victory to the Emperor in Vienna. He was promoted to Lieutenant-General in November 1687.

Eugene was beginning to gain wider recognition: the King of Spain, Charles II, bestowed upon him the Order of the Golden Fleece, whilst his cousin, Amadeus, provided him with money and two profitable abbeys in Piedmont. However, Eugene’s military career suffered a temporary setback at the end of 1688. During the Siege of Belgrade the Prince suffered a severe wound and was forced from active duty. In addition, he began to suffer from bronchitis and sinusitis, ailments that would trouble Eugene during most winters for the rest of his life. His convalescence lasted throughout the winter of 1688-89, but he was soon again called to arms, not against the Turks, but against his former king.

Interlude in the west: Nine Years War

King Louis XIV had watched anxiously Leopold’s successes in Hungary. The Emperor’s victories against the Mohammedan invader had increased his prestige as the saviour of Christendom. Conversely, Louis’ revocation of the Edict of Nantes and subsequent persecution of his own protestant subjects, together with his refusal to help repel the Ottomans in the east, had earned the French King the epithet, ‘Christian Turk’. With his aggressive moves on his northern and eastern borders, Louis actions had convinced William of Orange, the German princes, and the Emperor, of the need to form a coalition – the Grand Alliance – to oppose the ambitions of the French king. When Louis’ forces crossed the Rhine in September 1688 – an intimidatory move to frighten the German states back into submission – he had unwittingly begun the longest of his wars to date, the Nine Years War.

Prince Eugene by Jacob van Schuppen.

The war was professionally and personally frustrating for the Prince. Eugene was present at the Siege of Mainz - receiving a slight wound - before transferring to Piedmont after his cousin, Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, had joined the Grand Alliance. Promoted to general of cavalry, he arrived in Turin in 1690; but it proved an inauspicious start. Against Eugene’s advice, Amadeus insisted on engaging the French at Staffarda, and suffered a serious defeat; only Eugene’s handling of the Savoyard cavalry in retreat saved his cousin from disaster. Indeed, Eugene remained unimpressed with the men and their commanders throughout the war in Italy. "The enemy would long ago have been beaten," he wrote to Vienna, "if everyone had done their duty." So contemptuous was he of the Imperial commander, Count Caraffa, he threatened to leave Imperial service.

In Vienna Eugene’s attitude was dismissed as the arrogance of a young upstart. Nevertheless, so impressed was the Emperor by Eugene’s passion for the Imperial cause, in 1693 he promoted him to Field-Marshal (although this had as much to do with the lack of good Imperial commanders, as much as Eugene’s proven ability thus far). When Caraffa’s replacement, Count Caprara, was himself transferred in 1694, it seemed that Eugene’s chance for command, and decisive action, had finally arrived. The Duke of Savoy, however, doubtful of victory and now more fearful of Habsburg influence in Italy than he was of French, had begun secret dealings with Louis aimed at extricating himself from the war. By 1696 the deal was done, and Amadeus transferred his troops, and his loyalty, to the enemy. Eugene was never to trust his cousin again; although he continued to pay due reverence to the Duke as head of his own family, their relationship would forever remain strained.

Military honours in Italy undoubtedly belonged to the French commander Marshal Catinat, but Eugene, the one allied general determined on action and decisive results, did well to emerge from the Nine Years War with an enhanced reputation. With the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick, the desultory war in the west was finally brought to an inconclusive end, and Leopold could once again devote all his martial energies into defeating the Ottoman Turks in the east.

Zenta

The distractions of the war against King Louis had enabled the Turks to recapture Belgrade and reinvade Hungary. On the advice of the President of the Imperial War Council, Rüdiger Starhemberg, Eugene was eventually offered supreme command of Imperial forces to face the threat from the new Sultan, Mustafa II. This was Eugene’s first truly independent command – no longer need he suffer under the excessively cautious generalship of Caprara and Carafa, or be thwarted by the deviations of Amadeus – but on joining his army he found it in a state of 'indescribable misery'. Confident and self-assured, the Prince of Savoy (ably assisted by his second-in-command the Prince of Commercy) set about restoring order and discipline.

Eugene, horse rearing, at the Battle of Zenta. Oil by Ferencz Eisenhut.

Newly inspired, Eugene’s army intercepted the Ottoman Turks crossing the river Tisza at Zenta on 11 September 1697. The ensuing battle soon turned the Ottomans to rout; the rout, into merciless slaughter. Caught between Imperial pincers, few of the Sultan’s men escaped; for the loss of some 500 men, Eugene had inflicted over 30,000 casualties, annihilating the Turkish army. Although the Ottomans lacked western organisation and training, the Savoyard Prince had revealed his tactical skill, his capacity for bold decision, and his ability to inspire his men to excel in battle against a dangerous foe.

Zenta turned Eugene into a European hero, and with victory came reward. Land in Hungary, given him by the Emperor, yielded a good income, enabling the Prince to cultivate his newly-acquired tastes in art and architecture (see below); but for all his new-found wealth and property, he was, nevertheless, without personal ties or family commitments. Of his four brothers, only one was still alive at this time. His fourth brother, Emmanuel, had died aged 14 in 1676; his third, Louis Julius (already mentioned) had died on active service in 1683, and his second brother, Philippe, died of smallpox in 1693. Eugene’s remaining brother, Louis Thomas - ostracized for incurring the displeasure of Louis XIV - travelled Europe in search of a career, before arriving in Vienna in 1699. With Eugene’s help, Louis found employment in the Imperial army, only to be killed in action against the French in 1702.

Of Eugene’s sisters, the youngest had died in childhood. The other two, Marie Jeanne-Baptiste and Louise Philiberte, led dissolute lives. Expelled from France, Louise joined her mother in Brussels before eloping with a renegade priest to Geneva with whom she lived, unhappily, until her premature death in 1705. Of the other sister, little is known after her early salacious life in Paris, but in due course she lived for a time in a convent in Savoy before her death in 1722.

After the victory at Zenta, Eugene led his army into Bosnia before returning to Vienna. The Imperial successes had revived the Turks desire for peace, but Leopold’s exhausted treasury, and the prospect that the Spanish throne would soon become vacant, induced the Emperor to terminate the Turkish war. The Treaty of Karlowitz was signed on 26 January 1699.

Mid life (1700–18)

War of the Spanish Succession

Italian campaigns of Prince Eugene during the War of the Spanish Succession.

With the death of the infirm and childless King Charles II of Spain on 1 November 1700, the succession of the Spanish throne, and subsequent control over her empire once again embroiled Europe in war – the War of the Spanish Succession. On his deathbed Charles had bequeathed the entire Spanish inheritance to King Louis XIV's grandson, Philip, duc d'Anjou. This threatened to unite the Spanish and French kingdoms under the House of Bourbon – something unacceptable to England, the Dutch Republic, and Leopold, who had himself a claim to the Spanish throne. From the beginning Leopold had refused to accept the will of Charles II, and he did not wait for England and the Dutch Republic before opening hostilities. Before a new Grand Alliance could be concluded, the Emperor prepared to send an expedition, commanded by Eugene, to seize the Spanish lands in Italy.

Eugene crossed the Alps with 30,000 men in May/June 1701. After a series of brilliant manoeuvres the Imperial commander defeated Catinat at Carpi on 9 July – "I have warned you,” wrote King Louis, “that you are dealing with an enterprising young prince: he does not tie himself down to the rules of war …" Eugene gained further success against Catinat’s successor, Marshal Villeroi, at Chiari on 1 September, but, as so often, the Imperial Prince faced war on two fronts: the enemy in the field, and the government in Vienna. Starved of supplies, money and men, Eugene was forced into unconventional means against the vastly superior enemy. During a daring raid on Cremona on the night of 31 January/1 February 1702, Eugene’s forces captured the French commander-in-chief, but the coup was less successful than hoped: Cremona remained in French hands, and Marshal Vendome, whose talents far exceeded Villeroi’s, became the theatre’s new commander-in-chief. Nevertheless, Villeroi’s capture caused a sensation in Europe, and had a galvanising effect on English public opinion – "The surprise at Cremona," wrote the diarist John Evelyn, "… was the greate discourse of this weeke."

Appeals for succour from Vienna remained unheeded. Desperation drove Eugene to seek battle and gain a 'lucky hitt' but the resulting battle at Luzzara on 15 August proved somewhat indecisive. Although Eugene’s forces inflicted double the number of casualties on the French, the battle settled little except to deter Vendome trying an all-out assault on Imperial forces that year, enabling Eugene to hold on south of the Alps. With his army rotting away, and personally grieving for his long standing friend Prince Commercy who had died at Luzzara, Eugene returned to Vienna in January 1703.

File:II-rakoczi-ferenc.jpg

Francis II Rákóczi

President of the Imperial War Council

Eugene’s European reputation was growing – Cremona and Luzzara had been celebrated as victories throughout the allied capitals – yet, because of the condition and morale of his troops, the 1702 campaign had not been a success. Eugene was in no doubt the blame lay with Leopold and his ministry, namely Henry Mansfeld, President of the Imperial War Council (Hofkriegsrath), and Gotthard Salaburg, President of the Treasury (Hofkammer). "If these people who run this country are not traitors," wrote Eugene to Guido Starhemberg in Italy, "then assuredly they are the biggest asses I have ever seen in my life."

Austria itself was now facing the direct threat of invasion from across the border in Bavaria where the state’s Elector, Maximilian Emanuel, had declared for the Bourbons in August the previous year. In Hungary, meanwhile, a small-scale revolt had broken out in May and was fast gaining momentum. With the monarchy at the point of complete financial breakdown (the situation severely aggravated by the sudden bankruptcy of the Emperor’s banker and army contractor, Samuel Oppenheimer), Leopold was at last persuaded to change the government: Gundaker Starhemberg replaced Salaburg, and Prince Eugene succeeded Mansfeld as the new Hofkriegsratspräsident.

As head of the war council Eugene was now part of the Emperor’s inner circle, and the first president since Montecuccoli to remain an active commander. Immediate steps were taken to improve efficiency within the army: encouragement and, where possible, money, was sent to the commanders in the field; promotion and honours were distributed according to service rather than influence; and Eugene also tried to use the council to crack down on army discipline. But the Austrian monarchy faced severe peril on several fronts in 1703: by June Marshal Villars had reinforced the Elector of Bavaria on the Danube thus posing a direct threat to Vienna, whilst Vendome remained at the head a large army in northern Italy opposing Guido Starhemberg’s weak Imperial force. Of equal alarm was Francis II Rákóczi’s revolt which, by the end of the year, had reached as far as Moravia and Lower Austria.

Joint victor at Blenheim

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough by Adriaen van der Werff.

Dissention between Villars and the Elector of Bavaria had prevented an assault on Vienna in 1703, but in the Courts of Versailles and Madrid ministers confidently anticipated the city’s fall. The Imperial ambassador in London, Count Wratislaw, had pressed for Anglo-Dutch assistance on the Danube as early as February 1703, but the crisis in southern Europe seemed remote from the Court of St James where colonial and commercial considerations were more to the fore of men’s minds. Only a handful a statesmen in England or the Dutch Republic realised the true implications of Austria’s peril; foremost amongst these was the English Captain-General, the Duke of Marlborough.

During the War of the Spanish Succession Eugene formed a close professional and personal bond with the Duke, the two men becoming, in the words of Thomas Lediard, ‘Twin constellations in glory’. Marlborough, who had personally asked for the presence of Eugene for the campaign, so as to have, “a supporter of his zeal and experience”, met him for the first time at the small village of Mundelshiem on 10 June 1704, where the Duke was en route south seeking to bring the enemy to battle. The clash finally came on 13 August 1704 near the small village of Blindheim (Blenheim) on the Danube. Eugene had commanded the right wing of the allied army, holding the Elector’s and Marshal Marsin’s superior forces, whilst the commander-in-chief broke through Marshal Tallard’s centre. Inflicting over 30,000 casualties, the Battle of Blenheim proved decisive: Vienna was saved and Bavaria was knocked out of the war. Both Marlborough and Eugene were full of praise for each other’s performance; Eugene’s holding operation, and his pressure for action leading up to the battle proved crucial for the allied success.

In Europe Blenheim is regarded just as much a victory for Eugene as it is for Marlborough, a sentiment echoed by Sir Winston Churchill who pays tribute to – “the glory of Prince Eugene, whose fire and spirit had exhorted the wonderful exertions of his troops.” France now faced the real danger of invasion, but Leopold in Vienna was still under severe strain: Rákóczi’s revolt was still a threat, and Guido Starhemberg and the Duke of Savoy (who had once again switched loyalties and rejoined the Grand Alliance in …) had been unable to halt the French under Vendome in northern Italy – only the Duke’s capital, Turin, held on.

Turin and Toulon

On 18 April 1705, Eugene left Vienna and returned to Italy, but the Imperial army’s shortages of men, equipment and forage was more acute than ever. Although Eugene’s manoeuvrings had managed to relieve some pressure on Amadeus and Starhemberg in Turin, the subsequent Battle of Cassano on 16 August was a bloody defeat for the Imperial forces.

Joseph had earlier succeeded his father Leopold as Emperor on 5 May 1705. Joseph’s chief advisor, Prince von Salm, was highly critical of Eugene’s 1705 campaign; as was Guido Starhemberg who had returned to Vienna at the end of the year to replace Count Heister as Imperial commander in Hungary. For his part, Eugene – who had returned to Vienna at the beginning of 1706 – accused Salm of failing to back his Italian campaign and of interfering in the running of the Hofkriegsrat. Fortunately for the Prince of Savoy, Joseph paid scant attention to Salm’s military advice; supporting Eugene’s requests for help, Joseph persuaded him to return to Italy and restore Habsburg honour.

Eugene returned to the Italian theatre to find the small Imperial army in full retreat after Vendome had defeated them at Calcinato on 19 April 1706; Eugene arrived just in time to organize an orderly retreat of what was left of Count Reventlau’s inferior army. With Turin now under serious threat from the Marquis de la Feuillade, Vendome attempted to keep Eugene cooped up in the Alps in the east and prevent his coming to Turin’s relief; but by mid-July, Eugene’s army had crossed the Po and began its move westwards to Piedmont. Outmanoeuvred, Vendome was forced to retreat.

Prince of Anhalt-Dessau attempting to breakthrough the French defences at the Battle of Turin, 7 September 1706.

Events elsewhere were now to have major consequences for Italy. With Villeroi’s crushing defeat by Marlborough at the Battle of Ramillies on 23 May, King Louis recalled Vendome north to take command of French forces in Flanders. It was a transfer that Saint-Simon considered something of a deliverance for the French commander, for Vendome was " … now beginning to feel the unlikelihood of success [in Italy] … for Prince Eugene, with the reinforcements that had joined him after the Battle of Calcinato, had entirely changed the outlook in that theatre of the war."

Vendome was replaced by the duc de Orléans and his advisor, Marsin, but indecision and disorder in the French camp led to their undoing. Uniting his forces with the Duke of Savoy, Eugene attacked, overwhelmed, and decisively defeated French forces at Turin on 7 September; subsequently King Louis lost control of northern Italy, marking the beginning of Austria’s 150 year hegemony. Although Eugene’s victory had overshadowed his own success at Ramillies, Marlborough was quick to praise the Imperial commander – “It is impossible for me to express the joy it has given me; for I not only esteem but I really love the prince.” The Emperor rewarded Eugene with the Governorship of Milan.

After the death of Prince Louis of Baden in January 1707, Eugene replaced him as Imperial Field-Marshal, but the year was to prove a disaster for Eugene and the Grand Alliance as a whole. The Emperor and Eugene reluctantly agreed to the allied proposal for an attack on Toulon – the seat of French naval power in the Mediterranean – but the main Austrian goal after Turin was the reduction of Naples. However, disunion between the allied commanders – Eugene, Amadeus and the English Admiral Shovell – doomed the enterprise to failure. It was a campaign that from the start Eugene had shown little enthusiasm. “Eugene, instead of the alacrity which he had displayed on other occasions,” wrote historian William Coxe, “increased the indecision of the Duke of Savoy, by continually expatiating on the difficulties and dangers of the enterprise.”

To Eugene, however, the siege of Toulon was wholly impracticable, and by 21 August, the Imperial army began its retirement. The subsequent capture of Susa could not compensate for the total collapse of the Toulon expedition, and with it any hope of an allied war-winning blow that year.

Oudenarde and Malplaquet

Prince Eugene at Oudenarde (detail) by Jan van Huchtenburgh.

At the beginning of 1708 Eugene successfully evaded calls for him to take charge in Spain (in the end Guido Starhemberg was sent), thus enabling him to take command of the Imperial army on the Moselle and unite once again with Marlborough in the Spanish Netherlands. Eugene (without his army) arrived at the allied camp at Assche west of Brussels on 9 July 1708, providing a welcome boost to morale after the early allied losses of Bruges and Ghent. The two leaders decided to act immediately. After a forced march covering fifty miles in sixty hours, the Allies crossed the river Scheldt at Oudenarde just as the French army, under Vendome and the duc de Burgundy, was crossing farther north. Marlborough – with renewed self-assurance – moved decisively to engage them. The ensuing Battle of Oudenarde on 11 July was a resounding success for the Allies which Marlborough – although in overall command – magnanimously considered a joint achievement with Eugene who commanded the right and centre, “ … Prince Eugene and I,” wrote the Duke, “shall never differ about our share of the laurels.”

Marlborough now favoured a bold advance along the coast to bypass the major French fortresses, but fearful of unprotected supply-lines, the Dutch and Eugene favoured a more cautious approach. Marlborough acquiesced and resolved upon the siege of Vauban’s great fortress, Lille. Whilst Marlborough commanded the covering force, Eugene oversaw the siege of the stronghold which surrendered on 22 October; however, it was not until 10 December that the resolute Marshal Boufflers yielded the citadel. But for all the difficulties of the siege (Eugene even survived an attempt to poison him), the campaign of 1708 had been a remarkable success. The French were driven out of almost all the Spanish Netherlands: “He who has not seen this,” wrote Eugene, “has seen nothing.”

File:Prince Eugene of Savoy - Johann Kupetzky.jpg

Prince Eugene by Johann Kupetzky. Shown here in late middle age.

The recent defeats, together with the severe winter of 1708-09, had caused extreme famine and privation in France; but the exacting conditions demanded by the Allies during the subsequent peace talks were completely unacceptable to King Louis. Lamenting the collapse of the negotiations, and aware of the vagaries of war, Eugene wrote to the Emperor in mid-June 1709, “There can be no doubt that the next battle will be the biggest and bloodiest that has yet been fought.” After the fall of Tournai on 3 september the allied generals now turned their attention towards Mons. Marshal Villars, recently joined by Boufflers, moved out of his defensive lines to make his stand and await the allied onslaught. As Eugene prophesised, the ensuing Battle of Malplaquet, 11 September 1709, was the costliest engagement of the War of the Spanish Succession. Whilst the Prince of Orange led his Dutch infantry to annihilation on the left wing, Eugene attacked the right. Sustained pressure on this wing, however, forced Villars to weaken his centre enabling Marlborough to breakthrough and claim victory. Although Villars was unable to save Mons, which subsequently capitulated on 21 October, his resolute defence at Malplaquet – inflicting a 25% casualty rate on the Allies – may have saved France from destruction.

Later life (1719–36)

Assessment

Trip to Venice. H & M H p.32 Siege warfare. H. p33 treatment of populace in Italy H Tactics in Italy NYW p.32 Military Assess Henderson p81+ McKay p.93 – Bavarian revolt 1705 McKay p100 Turin prevents massacre Hend p.156: & McKay 112: Giving courage to Marlborough before Oudenarde Mckay p114 Hender p.157 His mothers death Simon treatment of Boufflers p.294 Hender courage at lille p165 - 168 Mckay p126 after Malpl Euge and Marls reactions.

References

Primary

• Lediard, Thomas. The Life of John, Duke of Marlborough vol.i. (1743)
• Saint-Simon. Memoirs of the Duc De Saint-Simon: 1691-1709 vol.i. Prion Books Ltd., (1999). ISBN 1-85375-352-1

Secondary

• Chandler, David G. Marlborough as Military Commander. Spellmount Ltd., 2003. ISBN 1-86227-195-X
• Childs, John. Warfare in the Seventeenth Century. Cassell, (2003). ISBN 0-304-36373-1
• Churchill, Winston. Marlborough: His Life and Times. University of Chicago Press, (2002). ISBN 0-226-10633-0
• Coxe, William. History of the House of Austria, vol.ii & iii. Henry G. Bohn (1864)
• Heer, Friedrich. The Holy Roman Empire (trans. George Weidenfield & Nicolson). Phoenix Press, (2002). ISBN 1-84212-600-8
• Henderson, Nicholas. Prince Eugen of Savoy. Weidenfield & Nicolson, (1966). ISBN 1-84212-597-4
• Lynn, John A. The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714. Longman, (1999). ISBN 0-582-05629-2
• MacMunn, George. Prince Eugene: Twin Marshal with Marlborough. Sampson Low, Marston & CO., Ltd., (1933).
• McKay, Derek. Prince Eugene of Savoy. Thames and Hudson Ltd., (1977). ISBN 0-50087-007-1
• McKay, Derek & Scott, H. M. The Rise of the Great Powers: 1648–1815. Longman, (1984). ISBN 0-582-48554-1
• Somerset, Anne. The Affair of the Poisons: Murder, Infanticide and Satanism at the Court of Louis XIV. Phoenix, (2004). ISBN 0-753-81784-5
• Stoye, John. The Siege of Vienna. Berlinn Ltd., (2000). ISBN 1-84341-037-0
• Wolf, John B. The Emergence of the Great Powers: 1685–1715. Harper & Row, (1962). ISBN 0-061-39750-9