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 MEMOIRS 
 
 or 
 
 PRINCE EUGENE, 
 
 OF SAVOY. 
 
 TRANSLATE» FROM THE FRENCH BY 
 
 WILLIAM tylUDFORD, 
 
 AND CONTAINING ALL THOSE OMISSIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN 
 
 DETECTED IN THE RECENT PARISIAN EDITIONS. 
 1/ 
 
 Men*****!* 
 
 9 
 
 
 KEW.YORK: 
 
 PRINTED FOR EZRA SARGEANT, 
 
 '* r*0. £6 BROADWAY. 
 
 1811. 
 
 
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 Printed by D & G. BRUCE, No. ï» Slote-lane. 
 
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PREFACE 
 
 BY THE TRANSLATOR. 
 
 JL HOUGH I should be far from seeking 
 to deprecate the severity of critieism by 
 the usual cant of literary delinquents, I 
 think it a justice which I owe to myself 
 to state, that the following Translation 
 was begun, carried on, and completed, in 
 intervals of a painful disorder, which left 
 me little opportunity for the exertion of 
 mental vigour, and which necessarily re- 
 tarded the appearance of the work. Let 
 this be some palliation of any negligences 
 which may have escaped me: the mens 
 sana is seldom possessed but in the corpore 
 sano. 
 
 I have sometimes, also, and very natu- 
 rally, been in doubt respecting the exact 
 signification of military terms : where such 
 has been the case, I have preferred using 
 the French expressions, that they who 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 know better than myself may not be mis- 
 led by my ignorance. 
 
 The language of Prince Eugene I 
 have not always found perspicuous, whe- 
 ther arising from any obscurity of his own, 
 or from any inaccuracy in copying his 
 manuscript for the press. As often as I 
 met with a passage that was not exactly 
 intelligible, I have endeavoured to make 
 it so in the translation, by a careful consi- 
 deration of the context. 
 
 W. M. 
 
Advertisement of the Bookseller 
 
 TO THE 
 
 FRENCH EDITION. 
 
 XT would be superfluous to enter, here, 
 into any praises of the Memoirs of Prince 
 Eugene: they will recommend them* 
 selves : and besides, we will leave them 
 to biographers who are accustomed to 
 discuss such topics. We shall confine 
 ourselves to observing, that the edition, 
 which we now offer to our readers, has 
 the merit of being purged from the nu- 
 merous faults which disfigured that of 
 Weimar, published by the Office of Indus- 
 try in 1809. We have corrected the names 
 of persons, towns, rivers, &c. according to 
 the best historical and geographical dic- 
 tionaries: we have rectified innumerable 
 errors of punctuation,* which totally al- 
 tered the sense, and injured a production 
 
 * Many, notwithstanding, still remain.-*- Trans. 
 
 a2 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 so curious and original. In short, with- 
 out seeking to correct the style of Prince 
 Eugene, who did not intend to write a 
 book, we have sometimes, though rarely, 
 felt the necessity of changing a few words, 
 the repetitiou of which, too near each 
 other, would have disgusted the reader^ 
 
 i 
 
PREFACE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 WEIMAR EDITION, 
 
 (1809.) 
 ALL those who have known Vienna, 
 know that the Count de Can ales was the 
 Sardinian minister there, during near 
 thirty years. One of his daughters mar- 
 ried there the Count de Hard egg, the 
 Grand-veneur, and one or two others were 
 Canonesses. During the time which 
 elapsed between the death of Prince Eu- 
 gene, and the arrival of the Count de Ca- 
 nales, a niece of Prince Eugene's mar- 
 ried the Prince de Hildbourghausen ; she 
 was heiress to her uncle, had an excellent 
 house, and maintained almost a small 
 court in that garden of the Prince, which 
 is now called La Belvedere. The Count 
 de Can ales was presented to her the 
 day after his arrival; she soon attached 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 herself to him, not only as the minister of 
 the King her cousin, but also, as a very 
 amiable, and well instructed man, and 
 one who always sought to be more so Î 
 the Memoir of Prince Eugene being yet 
 fresh, many of its expressions, anec- 
 dotes, and characters, were floating in 
 society. 
 
 The Count de Canales collected all 
 with avidity. An editor, of the modern 
 species, who abuses the credulity of the 
 living, by putting words into the mouth of 
 the dead, would have a fine field for his 
 talent in making the Count say all that he 
 might himself wish. I know not whe- 
 ther the Count de Canales wrote what he 
 had learned by a very recent tradition ; 
 but nothing was found in his papers. It 
 was in those of another, that what is now 
 going to be read was found, and this was 
 the manner : 
 
 The Princess of Hildbourghausen, af- 
 ter having related to him a variety of 
 things respecting her uncle, said to him, 
 " As to warlike matters, you must excuse 
 " me from them. Here is a small abridg- 
 
PREFACE. 9 
 
 " ment, written partly in the Prince's own 
 " hand, in the period between his last cam- 
 " paign, and his death. Do not keep it : 
 " read it with attention, and return it to 
 " me again." 
 
 I believe the Count de Canales was in 
 no hurry to do this. One thing is certain, 
 that the MS. was still in his hands, when 
 the Princess died, about the year 1752 or 
 1753. 
 
 For a long time there was nothing said 
 about it ; he lent it, and it was returned 
 to him. The general of cavalry, Count de 
 O'Donel, uncle, à-lcc-mode de JBretagne^ to 
 Count O'Donel, who is at present at Vien- 
 na, told me, that he had read it. 
 
 During more than twenty years, the 
 Count de Canales passed all his evenings 
 with the celebrated Metastasio, and the 
 Baron de Hagen, who died president of 
 the Aulic Council, about seven or eight 
 years ago. Sometimes they were occupi- 
 ed with the classics, and sometimes they 
 discoursed upon whatever was pleasing in 
 the literature and languages with which 
 they were acquainted. 
 
10 PREFACE. 
 
 A friend of Montesquieu's, the Abbé 
 Guasco, as a Piedmontese, and a man of 
 letters, was admitted, when he returned 
 from Paris, or from Tournay, where he 
 had a canonry, to the evenings of the 
 Count de Canales. One day, when they 
 were discoursing upon history, the con- 
 versation turned upon Prince Eugene : 
 " Here," said the Count de Canales, " is 
 " what I have collected of his private and 
 " military life ; you shall hear it, but not 
 " take it away. I will not show you the 
 " Prince in his morning gown ; but I will 
 " display him to you in his helmet and cui- 
 " rass," said he, addressing himself to the 
 Abbé de Guasco, " for the instruction of 
 " your brother : let him study him ; he 
 " will need it, as he has been appointed 
 " quarter-master-general in the army of 
 " Marshal Daun.' , — Consequently, this 
 conversation must have taken place in the 
 month of February, 1757. 
 
 Many persons, who are still alive, can 
 certifv the truth of what I advance, and 
 particularly that of the dates : for I am 
 particularly exact upon that point. There 
 
PREFACE. 11 
 
 is one to whom I will venture to appeal 
 if he be alive, as I hope he is : for he 
 recovered from a severe illness about 
 two years ago, at Moron, a small town 
 in the Tyrol, whither, driven from Italy, 
 I had conveyed my small baggage, 
 there to pass my miserable existence 
 and my emigration. If he be dead, his 
 daughter is not : they had promised to 
 make her canoness of Halle. She will 
 not refuse to testify all that I have advan- 
 ced here : for she was present at all my 
 conversations with her respectable fa- 
 ther, in his ninety-second year, M. de 
 Ferraris, formerly aide-de-camp to the 
 general of infantry, Count de Guasco. 
 The reader now begins to see the 
 genealogy of what I have printed, and 
 how it has happened to be given to the 
 world. Want of money on my part, a 
 long existing military curiosity, gratitude 
 for mv attentions on his side, and the 
 indifference of a dying man to all that is 
 passing round him, procured me the 
 possession of this invaluable gift, which 
 he presented to me with a voice scarcely 
 
12 PREFACE. 
 
 audible. Besides, there was nothing to 
 be sold in a small town of the Tyrol : no 
 purchasers ! This good man gave, or per- 
 mitted to be taken, every thing. Some 
 of his old friends, retired officers like 
 himself, fixed upon his books ; an Aus- 
 trian general, employed at Inspruck, 
 upon his maps : and I, though I did not 
 expect to have armies to command, pos- 
 sessed myself of a manuscript, the title of 
 which was precious to me. It was writ- 
 ten in a long and small hand, the authenr 
 ticity of which may be testified by looking 
 at his signature in the Aulic Council of 
 War, at Vienna. 
 
 Further, only the conversations which 
 he had with various individuals, the re- 
 flexions, and the last year, are in his own 
 hand-writing. It appears that he dicta- 
 ted the rest to a secretary. 
 
 This Major Ferraris was a man of great 
 merit, who possessed the confidence of 
 his general, whose dangers he participated, 
 and whose labours he assisted at the sie e 
 of Schweidnitz in 1762. He repaired 
 thither the more willingly, because he of- 
 
 < 
 
PREFACE. 18 
 
 ten succeeded in restoring harmony be- 
 tween M. de Guasco and M. de Gribeau- 
 val, a celebrated French engineer, on 
 those occasions of disagreement which so 
 often happen between commanders, the 
 limits of whose authority are hardly ever 
 accurately defined: and he inherited all 
 the plans and books of his general, when 
 he died a prisoner, one or two years after- 
 wards, I believe, at Konigsberg. The de- 
 positary of this manuscript, I have placed 
 it in the hands of George Conrad Wold- 
 burg, a bookseller and printer at Klagen- 
 furth, where any one may see and consult 
 the writing of Prince Eugene, and thus 
 testify its authenticity. This is the ac- 
 knowledgment which I received from him 
 for this invaluable manuscript. 
 
 " I acknowledge, with gratitude, that 
 
 " Mr. N , a French emigrant officer, 
 
 " has placed this manuscript of Prince 
 " Eugene, in my possession. 
 
 '*' George Conrad Waldburg. 
 f Klagenfurth, the 1st of January, 1807." 
 
14 PREFACE. 
 
 I know not whether some persons in 
 the Prince's service, did not take a copy 
 of this excellent work, which served as 
 the basis of a history that was reprint- 
 ed at Vienna, by Briffant, in 1777. There 
 is mention made in the preface, of some 
 manuscripts that had been found at Vien- 
 na: and this was probably among thé 
 number. I know not what the author 
 meant by these words: " I could avail 
 " myself of what had been written by 
 " Prince Eugene in the German language/' 
 Did he mean to say, or did he wish it 
 to be believed, that the Prince wrote in 
 German? I have already proved, that he 
 did not know it enough for that. I believe 
 it was a Mr. Lazzay, who was the author 
 or printer of a history in live volumes, or 
 a Mr. Rousset. 
 
 There is perceptible, however, in the 
 
 style of the Prince, a military air which 
 coincides well with his actions and cha- 
 racter. Another proof of the authenticity 
 of this manuscript, is the tautologies of 
 an old man; the repetitions, which an au- 
 thor could aot commit; the negligences* 
 
PREFACE. 15 
 
 whichdo not belong to a man of letters : 
 while there is nothing which does not agree 
 with the soldier: a tone which would ill 
 become another, but which is pardonable 
 in a military man ; not always excellent, 
 and sometimes too familiar. His style, 
 such as it is, is clear and concise, like his 
 conversation, as the Prussian general, Len- 
 tulus told me, who had retired to Neuf- 
 chatel, where he died at a very advanced 
 age. He served under him in his last 
 campaign on the Rhine, whither he ac- 
 companied the great Frederic, then Prince 
 Royal. These are sufficient facts, dates, 
 and names, all of which may be testified : 
 mine43nlj shall be wanting. 
 
i 
 
THE 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 OF 
 
 PRINCE EUGENE 
 
 X HERE are, as I have been told, many 
 Italian and German manuscripts respec- 
 ting me, which I have neither read nor 
 written. A panegyrist, whose name is 
 DuMONT,has printed a large folio volume, 
 which he calls, My Battles. This gentle- 
 man is sufficiently turgid : he ingratiates 
 himself at the expense of Turenne, who, 
 according to his assertion, would have 
 been taken at Cremona, in 1703, or killed 
 at Hochstet, in 1704, if he had been oppo- 
 sed to me. — What stuff ! 
 
 Some future historians, good or bad, 
 will perhaps take the trouble to enter into 
 the details of my youth, of which, I 
 scarcely recollect any thing. They will 
 certainly speak of my mother; somewhat 
 too intriguing indeed, driven from the 
 court, exiled from Paris, and suspected, I 
 
 b 2 
 
18 PREFACE. 
 
 believe, of sorcery, by persons who were 
 not, themselves, very great conjurors. 
 They will tell, how I was born in France, 
 and how I quitted it, my heart swelling" 
 with enmity against Louis XIV. who re- 
 fused me a company of horse, because, 
 said he, I was of too delicate a constitution 5 
 and an abbey, because he thought, (from 
 I know not what evil discourse respecting 
 me, or false anecdotes current in the gal- 
 lery of Versailles,) that I was more formed 
 for pleasure than for piety. There is not 
 a Huguenot, expelled by the revocation of 
 the edict of Nantz, who hated him more 
 than I did. Therefore, when Lou vois, 
 hearing of my departure, said, " so much 
 " the better; he will never return into this 
 " country again," — I swore never to enter 
 it, but with arms in my hands. 1 have 
 
 KEPT MY WORD. 
 
 I have penetrated into it on many sides, 
 and it is not my fault that I have not gone 
 further. But for the English, I had given 
 law in the capital of the Grand 31onarque y 
 and made his Mainte non shut herself 
 up in a convent for life. 
 
A SKETCHf 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UFE OF PRINCE EUGENE 
 
 (1683.) 
 
 IHE Court was never more melancholy 
 than in this year. It was that of the devo- 
 tion of Louis XIV. for the loss of his two 
 sons, the Count de Vexin, the Duke de Ver- 
 mandois, Colbert, and the Queen. 
 
 His Most Christian Majesty who, 
 before he turned to devotee, assisted 
 the Christians in 1664 against the In- 
 fidels, becoming afterwards a very pious 
 man, excited them against the Emperor, 
 and aided the Rebels of Hungary. Eut 
 for him neither of them would ever have 
 reached the gates of Vienna. To maintain 
 
20 THE LIFE OF 
 
 appearances, he did not venture to prohi- 
 bit, entirely, the young Princes of the 
 blood from going and distinguishing them- 
 selves in that war. I accompanied them, 
 tired of being called the little abbé of Louis 
 XIV. He had some regard for me, and 
 probably he refused me the abbey from 
 conscientious motives. I cared neither 
 for the success of the church, nor of the 
 court. I had enough of society ; but I 
 wished to follow the war. In short, at 
 twenty years of age, behold me in the ser- 
 vice of Leopold Ï. without his knowing it. 
 He had fled from his capital, both at the 
 siege and at the battle of Vienna. I was 
 of opinion, at first, that it would be better 
 to attach myself to the Duke of Lorraine, 
 and to Prince Louis of Baden, rather than 
 to the two electors of Bavaria and Saxo- 
 ny, to learn my trade. They both kept me 
 in constant action, from one attack to an- 
 other, and carrying orders into the hottest 
 parts of the battle. 
 
 I had been told that the Duke of Lor- 
 raine never employed, during the time of 
 action, any but generals to convey or even 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 21 
 
 to alter an order, if he needed it. I was 
 duly sensible of the honour therefore, and 
 he appeared satisfied with me. The confu- 
 sion of this day can only be confusedly 
 narrated. Sobiesky celebrated mass with 
 his arms folded like a cross, in the church 
 of Leopoldsberg. The Poles, who had 
 climbed up thither, I know not why, des- 
 cended like fools, and fought like lions. 
 
 The Turks, who were encamped on the 
 spot where I threw up my lines in 1703, 
 not knowing which way to front, having 
 neglected the heights, conducted them- 
 selves like ideots. 
 
 The Emperor returned. I was present- 
 ed to him. Not being yet familiar with 
 German manners, I was much amused at 
 his haughty interview^ with the king of Po- 
 land. As a volunteer, I was among the 
 foremost in the pursuit of the Turks. 
 
 We performed this with great celerity ; 
 and, for my recompense, KufFstein being 
 dead, they gave me his regiment of dra- 
 goons on the 11th December. For three 
 months after this great victory, I was the 
 happiest of men, and I continued to serve 
 under the Duke of Lorraine. 
 
22 THE LIFE OF 
 
 (1084.) 
 
 After having taken, with him, Vice- 
 grad, Gran, and Weitzen, and sustained a 
 glorious combat near this last place, we 
 had a more desperate one near the Isle of 
 St. Andre. They say that I performed a 
 very skilful manœuvre at the head of my 
 regiment, which entirely routed the Turks. 
 They cut them down at pleasure. The 
 Duke of Lorraine had secured his centre 
 by a marsh, his left by the Danube, and 
 liis right by an inaccessible mountain. 
 
 Behold us at the siege of Buda. Many 
 sanguinary sorties by eighteen thousand 
 men. In the meanwhile, twelve thousand 
 arrive (twice or thrice our number) to at- 
 tack us. The Duke is eager to beat them, 
 and has the goodness to write to the Em- 
 peror that I contributed the most towards 
 the execution of that design. Prince Louis 
 of Baden devoured me with caresses. 
 
 The siege was carried on vigorously. 
 It was there I received my first wound, 
 a ball through the arm, while inspect- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 23 
 
 ing the trench by the side of the Prince 
 of Salm. 
 
 It was thought that the moment for a 
 generaL assault had arrived ; but it did 
 not succeed : each attack was repulsed. 
 There was some sort of misunderstanding 
 between the principal generals. This 
 often happens through their partisans. 
 In short, after having lost thirty thousand 
 men, the Duke of Lorraine raised the 
 siege on the 1st of November. 
 
 They reasoned and they raved at Vi- 
 enna. It was for want of good engineers, 
 said one : no, said another, it was owing 
 to the knavery of Guido Stahrenberg, 
 who had advised against the siege. A 
 third talked of the malice of the commis- 
 sariat or of ministers, who withheld every 
 thing that was most necessary from the 
 besiegers, in order to weaken the author 
 rity of the Duke of Lorraine, of whom 
 fhey were jealous. As for myself, quite 
 an insignificant person as yet, and thus 
 upon good terms with every one, (which 
 is more particularly the case when we are 
 very young,) I preserved the friendship 
 
24 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of both my masters, Lorraine and Baden, 
 though the latter was at enmity with the 
 former, seconded by the Elector, who was 
 no less attached to me ; and I went to pass 
 the winter at Vienna, where I was receiv- 
 ed with remarkable distinction. 
 (1685.) 
 The marriage of an arch-duchess with 
 the Elector of Bavaria retarded the open- 
 ing of the campaign. Excellent reason ! 
 The Duke of Lorraine went to examine 
 Novigrade. The princes- of the blood 
 of France and Lorraine and volunteers 
 in their train, who arrived from Paris, 
 mingled with the escort. There they 
 were to irritate the spahis with the 
 pistol in their hands ; and French heads 
 fell beneath the sabres of the Turks. 
 I saved the rest with my dragoons, whom 
 I brought up most opportunely. Delight- 
 ed to find myself among all those young 
 men, my former friends, and too young 
 myself to scold them, I did nothing; 
 but the Duke of Lorraine attacked 
 them. He rated them soundly, though 
 approving, in the bottom of his heart, the 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 25 
 
 fine and noble courage of his cousins, 
 Commerci and Thomas de Vaudemont, 
 who afterwards served under me with so 
 much celebrity. 
 
 After remaining a month entrenched 
 before Neuhausel, as it was intended to 
 make the assault by the covered way, in- 
 formation was brought that a Serasquier 
 had arrived with sixty thousand men ; that 
 he had retaken Vicegrad, and that he was 
 besieging Gran. We marched thither im- 
 mediately, and he raised the siege at the 
 approach of the Duke of Lorraine, who 
 had left Caprara before Neuhausel. But 
 here was the consequence. 
 
 The Serasquier took up a most excel- 
 lent position. The Duke had him in- 
 formed, by some persons of the country, 
 that he had only twenty-thousand men, 
 and that he was retreating half dead with 
 fear. The good Turk believed it. The 
 Duke halted in a fine position. I was in 
 the centre, under the Prince of Baden 
 with my dragoons dismounted. The elec- 
 tor of Bavaria commanded the left, the 
 Duke the right, in the front of which the 
 
 c 
 
26 THE LIFE OF 
 
 brave but rash and hot-headed youths, of 
 whom I have already spoken, obtained, 
 with much difficulty, permission to range 
 themselves in a small squadron. They 
 anticipated the Turks, who attacked them 
 furiously and with horrid yells : but they 
 were surrounded, and relieved by our 
 cuirassiers. The Duke himself supported 
 them, and his wing was victorious, as was 
 also that of the Elector of Bavaria ; so 
 likewise was the centre under the com- 
 mand of Prince Louis, where I seconded 
 him to my utmost. The Prince of Ha- 
 nover and the Count de la Lippe drove 
 the Turks head over heels into a marsh. 
 It was three or four important battles 
 in one. The Serasquier was wounded in 
 the thigh : he tore out the arrow, because 
 he was obliged to flee. 
 
 We were once more before Neuhausel, 
 on the 19th of August. The breach 
 was made. Commerci followed the young 
 volunteers, who appeared the first at the 
 entrance which had been effected, and 
 planted, with the Baron d'Asti, the im- 
 perial standard. The Pacha and the car* 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 27 
 
 rison were massacred. The Serasquier 
 burned and ravaged Novigrade, Vicegrad, 
 and Weitzen: and, for myself, I set off to 
 pass the winter at Vienna. 
 
 (1686.) 
 
 It was then the Prince of Baden, 
 taking me by the hand, said to the Em- 
 peror, " Sire, here is a young Savo- 
 yard ." The rest my modesty forbids 
 
 me to repeat. The trick of the pre- 
 ceding year made them take care of this 
 one; we were admirably supplied. On 
 the 13th of June we began the siege, the 
 Prince of Baden and myself, under the 
 Elector of Bavaria. We all attacked an 
 important fortress, and rendered ourselves 
 masters of it. 
 
 On the 26th of July we endeavoured 
 to make a breach, from this fortress, in 
 the castle of Buda : we expected to suc- 
 ceed; but it was no such thing. Thirty 
 thousand Turks issued out from it: I had 
 a horse killed under me. Twice we pe- 
 netrated, sword in hand, into the inte- 
 rior of the castle; twice we were re- 
 
28 THE LIFE OF 
 
 pulsed. Prince Louis and myself were 
 wounded ; a Stahrenberg, a Herberstein, 
 and a Kaunitz, were killed! and we were 
 obliged to defer the general assault to ano- 
 ther day. Unfortunately I was not of the 
 number that day. I was employed to protect 
 the lines, which were threatened by a nume- 
 rous army, — a post of confidence indeed 
 as they told me. But the cursed Grand 
 Vizier, quiet on a height, not daring to 
 attack me, (I know not why,) beheld, with 
 more coolness than I did, this most im- 
 portant place taken and sacked before his 
 face. 
 
 Prince Louis and myself went, by or- 
 der of the Duke of Lorraine, to take 
 Cinq-Eglises, Calocza, Simonthorna, Ka- 
 poswar, and Sicklos ; and afterwards to 
 burn, at Eoseck, the bridge, which was 
 about six thousand paces in length by 
 twenty-four in breadth. The army went 
 into winter-quarters. 
 
 I went to pass the Carnival at Venice 
 with my dear youths the volunteers and 
 the French princes, together with almost 
 all the other princes who were in our army, 
 and a great number of generals. 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. "29 
 
 While there, almost all of them be- 
 came amorous: the Duke of Mantua, in- 
 deed, worse than that, for he was quite a 
 libertine. I was neither one nor the other, 
 however: and was much amused with see- 
 ing this prince as brave among the Vene- 
 tians as he was cowardly among the Turks. 
 
 The Elector of Bavaria was so tender, 
 that he would have disgusted me with 
 being so, had I been inclined to it. This 
 fickleness of heart had an influence upon 
 the fickleness of his mind and opinions 
 respecting whatever party he adhered to; 
 and I judged from that time, (nor was I 
 wrong in my judgment,) that important 
 amours are insipid and ridiculous, only 
 fit for idlers ; and meaner ones have too 
 little glory in them. 
 
 Morisini treated us admirably. Every 
 day there were magnificent and charming 
 entertainments, both on land and on the 
 water. I saw women there more enter- 
 prising than generals. As every thing 
 has an end, however, 1 went to pass the 
 rest of the bad season at Vienna. 
 
 c2 
 
30 THE LIFE OF 
 
 (1687.) 
 
 It was in this year that the Duke of 
 Lorraine crushed the enemies of Jesus 
 Christ, and those which he had in the 
 army and at the court, among whom I 
 was not, though on the best terms with 
 the Elector and Prince Louis, who were 
 of the party against him. The Duke 
 inarched towards the Grand Vizier to at- 
 tack him. His prudence was no less con- 
 spicuous than his valour. He availed 
 himself of both. Being too far advanced, 
 considering the excellent position of the 
 Turks, (for they fell back greatly at first,) 
 he did not blush to retreat. That is a 
 ticklish business in the sight of those de- 
 vilish people. I covered, with my dra- 
 goons, the march of the rear guard ; and Ï 
 preserved them untouched, by charging, 
 several times, the spahis, who annoyed me 
 very much. At the end of some time 
 the matter became more serious. Ligne- 
 ville, Thungen, ZinzendorfF, were killed» 
 The Duke of Lorraine formed himself 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 31 
 
 ably and luckily, with his wings well sup- 
 ported, near Mount Hersan. The Duke 
 of Mantua, who ascended the mount, saw; 
 in perfect safety, the whole of the battle 
 in that plain of Mohatz where king Louis 
 had perished ; which was a subject of ge- 
 neral laughter among the soldiers, who, 
 thanks to him, ran gaily into the mouth 
 of death. The enemy came to attack us : 
 the battle was desperately fought on both 
 sides. Piccolomini conquered, was con- 
 quered, and was aided by the brave Elec- 
 tor. His artillery effected a breach ; my 
 dragoons availed themselves of it ; and I 
 had the good fortune to pursue the Turks 
 even to their entrenched camp. I stop- 
 ped, and, after a moment's consideration, 
 I ordered my dragoons to leap over, some 
 on foot, and some on horseback with me. 
 They say that I was the first : it is true 
 that I tore down a crescent, and planted 
 in its place the Imperial Eagle. It was 
 ©n that account, probably, that I was 
 -appointed to carry the news of the victory 
 to the Emperor. He. presented me with 
 his portrait set ^ith diamonds. I reached 
 
3*2 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Vienna in a very few days ; and, after 
 having passed three other there, I return- 
 ed with equal celerity to the army, where 
 I was also very well received ; for I had 
 then, apparently, too little merit to have 
 any enemies. 
 
 History will record, I hope, the noble 
 conduct of Commerci at this battle of 
 Hersan. Nothing considerable occurred 
 afterwards ; and the campaign being en- 
 tirely finished, I passed a splendid winter 
 at Vienna, in consequence of the corona^ 
 tion of the King of Hungary. The Duke 
 of Lorraine and many other generals re- 
 paired thither also : some of them enga- 
 ged in intrigues, others in pleasure : — I 
 was among the latter. 
 
 (1688.) 
 
 A colonel at twenty, a major-general 
 at twenty-one, I was made a lieutenant- 
 general at twenty-five. I conducted a 
 reinforcement to the Prince of Baden in 
 Sclavonia, and returned quickly, because 
 there was a talk of besieging, or to speak 
 more properly, of seizing Belgrade. The 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 33 
 
 command of the five points of assault was 
 given, on the 6th of September, to other 
 generals. I complained of this. The 
 Elector said to me, — " You shall remain 
 " with me in the reserve ; and I do not 
 " think that, in so doing, I either give you, 
 " or take upon myself, a bad commis- 
 " sion. God knows what may happen to 
 " us !" He had justly anticipated the 
 matter: the attack was repulsed on every 
 side. This brave prince and myself 
 (sword in hand,) rallied them, and 
 animated them to advance. I mount- 
 ed the breach. A janissary cleft my hel- 
 met with a blow of his sabre ; I ran him 
 through the body; and the Elector, who 
 had received a musket ball in his hand the 
 preceding campaign, was also wounded by 
 an arrow in the right cheek. Nothing 
 could be more glorious or more bloody. 
 How we sometimes find, by the side of the 
 most horrible events, something that 
 amuses us ! I did so, in the looks and 
 gestures of the Jews, whom we compelled 
 to throw into the Danube the twelve thou- 
 sand men killed on both sides, to save 
 
34 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the trouble and expense of burying them, 
 I set off for Vienna. 
 
 (1689.) 
 
 I regretted much that I did not remain 
 with the army : then, perhaps, they 
 would have thought neither of me, nor of 
 my name. In fact, after the finest possi- 
 ble defence, I sacrificed my glory to my 
 zeal. That cost me much ; my three com- 
 manders, masters, and friends, Lorraine, 
 Bavaria, staid in Germany ; Baden in Hun- 
 gary ; and behold me as a negotiator in 
 Italy. The French ambassador at Turin 
 was not the dupe of my journey. To see 
 my family and the Duke cle Savoy, (said 
 they ;) he knew him (the Duke) to be avari- 
 cious, ambitious, false, revengeful, fearing 
 and detesting Louis XIV. not loving Leo- 
 pold, yet not hating him personally, always 
 ready to betray both ; and led by his mistres- 
 ses and his ministers in every thing, which 
 did not closely affect him. 
 
 Not being able, however, to derive any 
 advantage from either, I said frankly 
 ts> him, " My cousin, you will always 
 
PRINCE EUGENE, 35 
 
 c< be the slave of your mortal enemy, if you 
 * do not declare yourself for the Emperor, 
 " who will make you a Royal Highness, 
 " a generalissimo, and give you all that you 
 " may conquer in Dauphiny and Pro- 
 " vence ; and, by hiding your intentions 
 '• until every thing is quite ready, you will 
 " succeed." 
 
 This was attacking him by the four 
 predominant qualities which I have un- 
 derlined above, (viz. the words in Italics!) 
 
 " Where and when can I conclude this 
 " treaty ?" said Victor Amadeus. " Not 
 " at Turin, for the French ambassador will 
 " suspect the business." — " At Venice," 
 said I. " At the approaching carnival, the 
 " Elector of Bavaria, who, as well as your 
 " Royal Highness, (I hastened to give him 
 "this title,) loves to amuse himself, will 
 " be there to sign it. I engage for this, 
 " and would suggest to you forthwith, to 
 " write to the King of France, to deceive, to 
 "make excuses, to promise, and to gain 
 " time." 
 
 The four reasons for these proceedings 
 which I have enumerated above, being a 
 security for his conduct, though not for his 
 
36 THE LIFE OF 
 
 good faith which I would not answer for, 
 touching the issue, I engaged my word 
 to the Emperor, on returning quickly to 
 Vienna, that my cousin, this once, would 
 be on our side. Leopold thanked me much, 
 and permitted me as a recompense, to go 
 and see the conclusion of the siege of May- 
 ence, defended by Uxelles, which had 
 been carried on for six months. I arrived 
 precisely at the attack of the covered way, 
 when I received a musket wound, and re- 
 fumed to Vienna. 
 
 (1690.) 
 
 Twenty thousand crowns per month 
 from England, twenty thousand more from 
 Holland, four millions for the expenses of 
 the war, and a kind of subscription by all 
 the petty Italian Princes, effected more 
 than all my eloquence ; and behold the 
 Duke of Savoy, for a little time, the best 
 Austrian in the world. His conduct, which 
 I will not pretend to justify, reminds me 
 of that of the Dukes of Lorraine formerly, 
 as well as the Dukes of Bavaria. Geogra- 
 phy prevented them from being men of 
 honour. 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 37 
 
 The Ministers of the Emperor pro- 
 mised me seven thousand men, with which 
 to assist Victor Amadeus. I knew the 
 tardiness with which they ordered and ex- 
 ecuted at Vienna ; and, eager to engage 
 the French, whom I had never yet had 
 opposed to me, I T vent to join the Duke 
 of Savoy at his camp of Villa Franca. 
 
 " You are come in good time," (said 
 u he;) " 1 am just going to give battle to 
 " Catinat." — " Be careful, (I replied ;) he 
 " is an excellent general, with old regi- 
 " ments serving under him, the very flow- 
 " er of the French infantry. Yours are 
 " new levies, and mine are not yet arri- 
 " ved. — " What does that signify ?" (said 
 " the Duke.) I know my country better 
 " than Catinat: to-morrow I shall advance 
 " with my army as far as the abbey of 
 " StafFarde." 
 
 Instead of giving battle, we had to re- 
 ceive it. The right wing, which the Duke 
 of Savoy commanded, was attacked in 
 front. The right wing of the French 
 crossed some marshes which were thought 
 impassable, turned and beat ours, and 
 
 D 
 
38 THE LIFE OF 
 
 then both the wings joined and fell up- 
 on our left wing, which I commanded. 
 I retired in as good order as I could, 
 and, in the rear guard, composed of 
 the gens-d '-armes and the life-guards of 
 Savoy, I was slightly wounded by a spent 
 ball. I did not recall, to my dear cousin, 
 either his presumption, or my prediction; 
 I endeavoured to repair the error a little, 
 at least on the side of glory; for, some 
 time afterwards, I had the good fortune to 
 cut off a large detachment which had pil- 
 laged Rivoli. It fell into an ambuscade, 
 in which while we lay, we heard the French 
 advance singing aloud; and we rushed out 
 upon them, giving no quarter. I was very 
 angry with the soldiers for treating all the 
 prisoners à la Tur que. ^They had forgot- 
 ten that quarter was granted to Christians. 
 I went to punish my old acquaintance the 
 Duke of Mantua, the hero of Hersan. I 
 bade adieu to the Duke of Savoy, to whom 
 nothing remained but Turin, and I set off 
 for Vienna. 
 
 (1691.) 
 I availed myself of my interest to car- 
 ry reinforcements to the Duke of Savoy; 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 39 
 
 but I detected him when I arrived, in gi- 
 ving a secret audience to a French emis- 
 sary. "Why were you denied to me?" 
 said I as I entered. " What man is 
 " this ?"— " I confess ?" said the Duke to 
 me, quite embarrassed, " that I am treat- 
 " ing a little with Catinat through him; but 
 " it is only to cheat him the better. Here 
 " is the original of his letter, (added he,) 
 " and there is the copy of my answer." — 
 " I conceive," said I, " that you are 
 "willing to retain the large subsidies 
 " which I have obtained for you. It is 
 " very embarrassing for your Royal High- 
 " ness." I observed him more closely than 
 ever, knowing well my man. I saved hi» 
 honour this time, assisted his glory, and 
 spoiled his projects by surprising Balonde, 
 who besieged Coni; and, thanks to a let- 
 ter which I foresaw would be intercepted 
 by a party of the French, he raised the 
 siege. Catinat repassed the Po. I har- 
 assed his rear-guard ; he commanded there 
 himself, and performed wonders both as a 
 general and as a soldier. I had only a 
 few squadrons with me. Catinat, stronger 
 
40 THE LIFE OF 
 
 than myself, animated his men by his 
 presence. I became indiscreetly eager, 
 and I got so entangled in the battle, that, 
 after having received several cuts in my 
 clothes, a French horseman was about to 
 despatch me with a pistol, when a dragoon 
 of my regiment saved me; this action 
 pleased him no less than it did me, for I 
 was much beloved by those brave fellows. 
 Reinforcements arrived from all sides. I 
 went to take Carmagnole, where all my 
 soldiers conducted themselves again ra- 
 ther too much à la Turque; but I made 
 some examples of them. Catinat manoeu- 
 vred wonderfully; he would have beaten 
 us if we had not retired. Langalleric, in- 
 deed, obtained a considerable advantage 
 over our rear guard ; it was this that in- 
 duced me, afterwards, to take him into 
 the Emperor's service. 
 
 I accompanied the Elector of Bavaria, 
 who had been one of us this campaign also, 
 to Venice, and I visited my former ac- 
 quaintance with great pleasure. More 
 amours took place; and, even with regard 
 to myself, had I been so inclined, there 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 41 
 
 were some very complaisant husbands who 
 would fain have had me displace some Ci- 
 cisbeos who displeased them; too many 
 Potiphars, of whom I was the Joseph, be- 
 cause I had other things to do. I return- 
 ed to Vienna at the commencement of 
 January. 
 
 (1692.) 
 
 I was soon sent back again to observe 
 the motions of Catinat, but still more te 
 watch those of the Duke of Savoy. To 
 keep him, I carried with me the diploma 
 of generalissimo, with which he was much 
 pleased. He wanted to go immediately 
 and attack Catinat at Pignerol; all his 
 generals and those of the allies agreed 
 with this proposition ; but I did not. I 
 said to him, "Catinat is skilful: if he 
 " should be beaten, he will have reinforce- 
 " ments; and if then, he beats us, adieu 
 " to Italy. Let us make him lose his 
 " conquests by an able diversion, which 
 " will humiliate the great Louis. Let us 
 " amuse him in this country, and pene- 
 
 d2 
 
42- TH& k*F& o*. 
 
 " traie into Dauphiny, in spite of every 
 " obstacle." 
 
 My* opinion prevailed, I went to take 
 Quillestraand Embrun. I received there 
 a contusion on the shoulder while in the 
 trench, by the side of the Duke of Savoy; 
 and Commerci a ball, which knocked out 
 three of his teeth. I lost Leganes and 
 fifteen hundred men; but still I was in 
 France. Afterwards, I took Gap, and the 
 Duke of Savoy was just about to march 
 by Sisteron to Aix, and perhaps as far as 
 Lyon, without the smallest difficulty, 
 when the small-pox seized him, which re- 
 duced him to the very verge of the grave, 
 and saved France. In his will he assigned 
 to me the regency of his states. When 
 the Duchess arrived, she found him some- 
 what better, and conveyed him to Turin. 
 Checked by this disaster, which made us 
 lose so much time, and embarrassed by 
 the indecision of his generals, who, not 
 being able to say exactly what were the 
 real intentions of their master, knew not 
 how far they ought to obey me, I was' 
 obliged to retreat with the army by the 
 
PRÏttCÈ Wgèkë. 43 
 
 same road ; for Catinat was waiting for us 
 near Briançon. 
 
 "At least/' said the soldiers, " we have 
 " revenged the horrors of the French in. 
 " the Palatinate : without doing it as they 
 " did, we have pillaged well, and levied a, 
 " million in contributions." 
 
 " Why did the king exile my mother ?" 
 said I to Commerci; " I have exiled now 
 " some thousands of his subjects." They 
 sent me the order of the Golden Fleece to 
 Turin ; and, arriving at Vienna, I was 
 created a Field Marshal ten years after 
 mv entrance into the service. I was suf- 
 ficiently delighted with this, as may be 
 easily conceived : but still I regretted that 
 Commèrci was nothing more than a major- 
 general. 
 
 (1693.) 
 
 Victor Amàdéus wished to take Pig- 
 nerol, and to wait for Catinat in the plain 
 of Orbassan. I advised him not. " At 
 "least," said I, " since you will fight near 
 " Marsaille, possess yourself of the heights 
 
44 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " of Piosasque." He was displeased that 
 they had burnt, in the way of retaliation, 
 La Veneri, a house belonging to him, and 
 another belonging to his minister St. Tho- 
 mas ; and he had it intimated to the French, 
 that he would give no more quarter to the 
 soldiers. That was a practice, however, 
 but too well established. 
 
 Catinat exhibited, on this day, all his 
 skill, and the Duke of Savoy his ineffect- 
 ual bravery. The former, master of the 
 heights, made fine work with our two 
 wings, galled in flank likewise by his ar- 
 tillery. What could I do in the centre ? 
 I fought with considerable advantage for 
 some time; but, overwhelmed on both 
 sides, I retired as decently as I could. — 
 Catinat disapproved of the fury of his sol- 
 diers, who cried out, Let us serve the Ger- 
 mans à la Tartare. 
 
 It was always difficult to decide whe- 
 ther this indefinable Duke wished or did 
 not wish to gain the battles which he com- 
 menced : but these last two served me for 
 a lesson ; and, as it was known that I had 
 advised against both, I was not very com- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 45 
 
 fbrtable, either in the army, in the city, 
 or at court. It was then, however, that 
 I first perceived that I had enemies. Ca- 
 para was the first ; and, jealous of me, 
 not very prudently, (for he had merit of 
 his own,) he was at the head of the Aus- 
 trian and Spanish cabal, which endeavour- 
 ed to vex me all my life, and which I al- 
 ways despised. 
 
 (1694.) 
 
 I went to demand succour at Vienna. 
 1 obtained it ; but very tardily. Italy 
 was no longer in fashion. They thought 
 more of Turkey, of the empire, and of the 
 Low Countries. They were without mo- 
 ney too. I returned to the Duke of Savoy, 
 and said to him, when I arrived, " My 
 " cousin, you cannot escape me again this 
 " campaign. The siege of Cassel shall be 
 " the pledge of your conduct. Are you will- 
 " ing ? Let us commence immediately." — 
 " Alas ! lam willing enough," he replied, 
 " but that will take a long while ; believe 
 * me, it will be better to blockade this 
 
46 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " fortress all the winter that we may take 
 " it in the spring.'' " At least," said I, "let 
 "us take the castle of St George ;" and 
 it was taken. What a gloomy campaign ! 
 and what a man my cousin ! 
 
 (1695.) 
 
 I obliged him at last to make this siege. 
 The snow compelled us to relinquish 
 it until the end of June. I made great 
 progress when 1 was entrenched. Prince 
 Charles of Brandenburg, who relieved 
 me one day, received a musket ball 
 through his body. Crenon capitulated 
 at length : I wished to besiege Pignerol ; 
 every day there was some new pretexts 
 to oppose this, under the semblance of 
 consent. We went into winter quarters. 
 What a gloomy campaign ! and what a 
 man my cousin ! 
 
 (1696.) 
 
 He did not lose his time : to escape 
 from those spies over his conduct whom 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 47 
 
 I had left at Turin, the carnival of Ven- 
 ice appearing too suspicious, he invented 
 a journey to our Lady of Loretto. A 
 vow, he alleged, which he had made when 
 he had the small-pox. Knowing the pil- 
 grim to be any thing but devout, I soon 
 heard that he met there the agents of the 
 Pope, of the Venetians, and of the French, 
 and of the conditions of the treaty. " I 
 have already told you," said I, when 
 I returned to Turin, " that I would ob- 
 " serve you more closely than Catinat. 
 " You shall impose upon me no more." 
 " It is very hard," replied he, " to be sus- 
 " pected by a relation." Hardly had I 
 quitted his closet, when I heard of the 
 publication of his truce with the French : 
 and wishing to honour him no more by 
 speaking to him, I expressed my indig- 
 nation in a letter the most severe that 
 ever I wrote in my life. Commerci, 
 more impetuous, sent him a challenge. 
 The Duke accepted it, and repaired to 
 the appointed place, but his minister 
 and his generals prevented him from fight- 
 
 ing. 
 
48 THE LIFE OF 
 
 He was now no longer under any con- 
 straint. He confessed that, not wishing to 
 be at war with anv one, and desirous of 
 its termination in Italy, he had signed a 
 treaty of neutrality with Louis XIV. and 
 that as the allies would not accede to it, 
 he should unite himself to the French. 
 As a commencement, Catinat and the 
 Duke of Savoy went to lay siege to Va- 
 lence. The generals of the allies and 
 myself, finding that, in consequence of 
 this junction, we were too weak to con- 
 tinue the contest, and fearing for the 
 Milanese, we accepted the neutrality : 
 and each, after having evacuated Italy, 
 returned either into Germany, or to 
 attend the French on the, other side of the 
 Alps. 
 
 Frustrated in the campaign and in 
 the negotiation, I returned to Vienna to 
 represent to the Emperor the sad condi- 
 tion of myself and of our affairs. He 
 saw that I was free from all reproach ; 
 and as a proof of it, he gave me the com- 
 mand of his army in Hungary. " After 
 " all, Sire," said I to him, for Italy was 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 4& 
 
 still at my heart, " the only way to 
 " have the Duke of Savoy for us, is to 
 " have him declare against us : he does 
 " not care for generalissimo. He is the 
 " same among the French. In a little 
 " time he will be with us." # 
 
 (1697.) 
 
 The Turks are never in a hurry. The 
 Grand Signior himself, Kara Mustapha, 
 did me the honor to arrive at Sophia with 
 his army in the month of July. I mar- 
 shalled mine at Verismarton ; I recalled 
 to me Vaudemont and Rabutin, for it ap- 
 peared that the Grand Signior intended to 
 possess himself of Titul, in order to carry 
 on the siege of Peterwaradin. I encamped 
 on the 26th August, at Zenta. General 
 Nehm was attacked. I arrived too late to 
 his assistance, at the head of seven squad- 
 
 * Louis XIV. thinking, perhaps, that I was discontented, or 
 that they were discontented with me, made a proposal to me 
 to enter into his service. I received gaily the person who 
 brought the proposal, and he did not surely dare to deliver my 
 answer exactly as I spoke it. 
 
 E 
 
50 THE LIFE OF 
 
 rons; I do not censure him, for he could 
 not hold out any longer, overpowered by 
 numbers. Thank heaven, I have never 
 complained of any one, nor have I ever 
 thrown upon another the odium of a fault 
 or a misfortune. Titul was burned. The 
 Grand Vizier remained on this side of the 
 Danube, which the Grand Signior had to 
 cross to go and besiege Peterwaradin ; but, 
 after coasting it along, and concealing my 
 intentions by my skirmishes with the spa- 
 his, I anticipated him, and passed the 
 bridge before him. It was thus I saved Pe- 
 terwaradin. This march, which I confess 
 was a brilliant one, was worth a battle gain- 
 ed. I soon entrenched myself, and they 
 did not venture to attack me. Among some 
 prisoners which we took, there happened 
 to be a Pacha, whom I interrogated, but, 
 invain,respecting the designs of Cara Mus- 
 tapha; but four hussars, with drawn 
 swords, ready to hew him in pieces, soon 
 made him confess that it was intended to 
 approach Segedin: that afterwards the 
 Grand Signior, changing his opinion, he 
 had already begun to pass the Teisse, and 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 51 
 
 that a great part of the army under the 
 orders of the Grand Vizier was already 
 strongly entrenched near Zenta. I was 
 marching to attack him, when a cursed 
 courier arrived, and brought me a letter 
 from the Emperor, ordering me not 
 to give battle under any circumstances 
 whatever. 
 
 I was already too far advanced. By 
 stopping, I should have sacrificed a part 
 of my troops and my own honour. I put 
 the letter into my pocket. And, at the 
 head of six regiments of dragoons, I ap- 
 proached near enough to the Turks to 
 perceive that they were all preparing to 
 pass the Teisse. I returned to my army 
 with an air of satisfaction, which was, 
 they told me, a good presage to the sol- 
 diers. I began the battle by rushing on 
 two thousand spahis, whom I forced to 
 fall back within the entrenchments. There 
 were a hundred-pieces of cannon, which 
 incommoded me greatly. I bade Rabutin 
 advance his left wing, inclining a little to 
 the right; and Stahremberg, who com- 
 manded the right, to make the same 
 
52 THE LIFE OF 
 
 motion on the left, thus to embrace, by 
 a semicircle, the whole entrenchment: 
 a thing which I would not have dared to 
 do before Catinat, who would have in- 
 terrupted me in so tardy and somewhat 
 complicated a movement. But the Turks 
 left me alone. They attacked my left 
 wing too late: however, it would have 
 turned out but badly, without four bat- 
 talions of the second line, and the artil- 
 lery, which I sent very opportunely to 
 disperse their cavalry and to make a breach 
 in thé entrenchments. It was six o'clock 
 in the evening: we commenced the as- 
 sault. The Turks, attacked at all points, 
 threw themselves in crowds on the bridge 
 «Which we blocked up, so that they were 
 forced to throw themselves into the Teisse, 
 where all those who could not swim were 
 massacred. On all sides were heard the 
 cries of Aman/ Aman! which signifies quar- 
 ter. The slaughter continued till ten 
 o'clock: I could not make more than 
 four thousand prisoners; for twenty thou- 
 sand men remained in the field, and ten 
 thousand were drowned. I did not lose a 
 
PRÏNCË EUGENE. 53 
 
 thousand men. The first run-aways, at 
 the commencement of the battle, succeed- 
 ed in joining the corps which remained 
 ôii the other side of the river. This was 
 oh the 1 1 th of Sept. I sent Vaudemont to 
 carry the intelligence to Vienna. I pro- 
 ceeded to capture two phalanxes and some 
 castles in Bosnia, to burn Seraglio, and re- 
 turned to my winter-quarters in Hungary. 
 I set off for Vienna, where I expected to 
 be received a hundred times better than 
 I had ever been yet. Leopold received me 
 in the coldest manner; more austere than 
 ever, he heard me without replying by a 
 single word. I saw, immediately, that I had 
 been circumvented during my absence; 
 and that, while I was getting rid of the 
 Turks, the good Christians at Vienna were 
 endeavouring to get rid of me. I retired 
 indignantly from the audience. I was still 
 more indignant, when Schlick came to me, 
 full of alarm, to demand my sword. I put 
 it into his trembling hand, with a look of 
 the most profound disdain, which alarmed 
 him still more. It has been asserted that 
 I said, "There it is, still smoking with the 
 
 e 2 
 
54 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " blood of Lis enemies; I consent never to 
 " take it again, unless to be useful in the 
 " service of his Majesty." The one half 
 of this sentence would have been a gascon- 
 ade, and the other half a base resignation. 
 My rage was mute. I was put under an 
 arrest in my own house. I now learned 
 that Gaspard Kinsky, and some others, 
 would have had me brought to trial for 
 disobedience, and for having performed a 
 bold and hazardous action; that I should 
 be tried before a council of war, and that my 
 head should pay the forfeit. The rumour 
 of this soon spread through the capital. 
 Thepeople assembled round my house, and 
 deputies from the citizens offered to guard 
 me, and to prevent me from being removed, 
 in case it was attempted to carry me to my 
 examination, as had been talked of. I. en- 
 treated them not to swerve from their duty 
 of fidelity and tranquillity. I thanked 
 them for theiT zeal ; and I was so much 
 touched that I wept. The city of Vienna is 
 small and this assembly of the people was 
 known at court a few minutes afterwards. 
 Whether from fear or repentance, the Em- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 55 
 
 peror sent my sword back, and begged of 
 me to resume the command of his army 
 in Hungary. I returned, in reply, that I 
 would, " on consideration of having ple- 
 nary powers, and being no more exposed 
 to the malice of his generals and minis- 
 ters." The poor Emperor did not dare 
 give me this full authority publicly ; but 
 he did it secretly, in a note signed by 
 himself, and I was contented with it. 
 
 This anecdote of Leopold, whom I 
 condemned for not feeling that I merited 
 a more signal reparation, sufficiently proves 
 the falsity of an assertion that has been 
 attributed to me — that, of the three Em- 
 perors whom I had served, the first had 
 been my father, the second my brother, 
 and the third my master. Pleasing mark 
 of parental fondness, to cut of my head 
 for having saved his empire ! It was neces- 
 sary that I should look elsewhere for en- 
 ergy. Behold it in the North. Charles 
 the Xllth, king of Sweden, is, at the age 
 of fifteen, the mediator of peace between 
 the European powers : it was signed at 
 Ryswick on the 21st of September. 
 
56 THE LIFE OF 
 
 >J 
 
 (1698.) 
 
 Thus my army received reinforcements 
 from that of Germany ; but still the Turk- 
 ish forces were four times stronger. I 
 wanted to win another battle at Zen ta. 
 It was in vain that I marched and counter- 
 marched ; the Infidels were every where 
 entrenched. I then retired, in hopes to 
 entice them out of their holes ; all tempta- 
 tions were vain. I wished to march into 
 Bosnia : they had received a reinforce- 
 ment of forty thousand Tartars, and all 
 the passages were guarded. I wished to 
 besiege Temesw'ar ; they would have made 
 me raise the siege. Before they had time 
 to assemble for that purpose, I thought I 
 might possess myself of it, by intercept- 
 ing an immense convoy ready to enter. 
 I marched thither myself at the head of 
 my cavalry ; my infantry I placed in am- 
 bush. A hussar, who deserted from me, 
 niade my whole scheme miscarry. This was 
 the most infamous campaign, for my own 
 glory, that I ever made. I only put to 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 57 
 
 death thirty-two ringleaders of a conspi- 
 racy, to revolt, in seven regiments, who, 
 not having received any pay during four 
 months, (for the court kept me without 
 money,) intended to desert to the Turks. 
 On the 26th of January, peace was signed 
 at Carlo witz, to make war in some other 
 place, as is usually the custom. 
 
 (1699.) 
 
 Ï sent back my army, and setoff for 
 Vienna. It was during this year that I 
 began to collect my fine library, and that 
 I conceived a taste for gardens and pa- 
 laces. 
 
 I purchased, from time to time, some 
 fine cabinet pictures, and some drawings 
 not generally known. I was not rich 
 enough to form a gallery ; and I did not 
 like engravings, because others could have 
 the same as myself. I never loved imita- 
 tions of any sort, nor talents which con- 
 sume valuable time. Some wind-instru- 
 ments, marches, warlike or hunting airs, 
 
58 THE LIFE OF 
 
 trumpet calls, or agreeable times of comic 
 operas, dispensed me from the necessity, 
 during dinner, of talking, or of hearing 
 idlers talk. 
 
 (1700.) 
 
 Here terminated a century of continual 
 warfare. The celebrated peace of West- 
 phalia, in 1648, whose effects were to 
 have been felt by the whole continent, 
 did not accomplish that object. The good 
 counsellors of Leopold, and Leopold him- 
 self, not corrected by my example, wish- 
 ed to bring Prince Louis of Baden be- 
 fore a council of war for his campaign 
 on the Rhine. Sal m and Kaunitz were 
 the only two honest men who opposed 
 this design: they would have been subdu- 
 ed, however, but for me, who, more from 
 justice than from any connexion of blood, 
 or intimacy of friendship, which, how- 
 ever, I preserved all my life, spoke vi- 
 gorously upon the point, and proved I had 
 not forgotten Zènta. 
 
PKINCE EUGENE. 59 
 
 After this peace of Carlowitz, France 
 did us the honour to seud M. de Villars 
 as an ambassador, who was enthusiasti- 
 cally received by all his acquaintance in 
 Hungary, where he had served gallantly 
 as a volunteer, and by all the city, who 
 found him extremely amiable. But they 
 intrigued at his court against ours, without 
 his knowledge. He was very much as- 
 tonished at the coolness with which he 
 was treated all at once. Notwithstand- 
 ing the friendship of the King of the Ro- 
 mans for me, yet I could effect nothing 
 from his reserve in his favour. " To what 
 " good purpose is it," said I- to him, as well 
 as to the courtiers and generals who imita- 
 ted him, " this personal acerbity towards 
 " M. de Villars, who does not merit it? 
 " I shall continue to see him, and behave 
 " the same to him, until we begin to level 
 ** musquetry at him." Prince Louis of 
 Baden did the same : and, in spite of eve- 
 rything, we all three separated very good 
 friends. It was a great loss to society; 
 but at length, when Louis XIV. had 
 finished all his machinations, and dis- 
 
?HE LIFE Off 
 
 closed his intentions openly, he departed. 
 Previously, however, we received this ex- 
 planation. "It is not my fault," said he, 
 " if, without having terminated your re- 
 " bellion in Hungary, you make war up- 
 " on us. I should have preferred, my lord, 
 " if you had done like those gentlemen 
 " who have turned their backs upon me 
 " here, and would turn them elsewhere 
 " also, if I commanded an army." This 
 indeed was a sarcasm à la Villars. " You 
 " expect," continued he, " that the Turks 
 " will interfere, because the Abbé Joa- 
 " chim has predicted that the Empress 
 " will be delivered of twins, one of which 
 " will sit upon the throne of Constantino? 
 " pie." — " I harbour no resentment towards 
 " you, M. de Villars," I replied ; " for, in 
 " your correspondence, somewhat light, 
 " in the French manner, you have drawn 
 " a portrait of me, at your court, traced by 
 " the hand of friendship : others com- 
 " plain of some imprudences ; and the 
 " court, of having read, in your dis- 
 " patches, We shall see if the Christ of the 
 " Chapel of Leopold will speak to him as 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 61 
 
 " he did to Ferdinand the second. It is 
 " thus ; for it has been shown me. Private 
 " individuals do not forgive ridicule ; judge, 
 " therefore, of the effect which a sarcasm 
 " against a monarch must produce upon 
 " him." — " I have been able to preserve 
 " myself in this country," said he, " only 
 " by the greatest reserve in conversation : 
 " I am angry with you Austrians, who, 
 " among the other tales fabricated at 
 " my expense, say that I conspired with 
 " Ragotzi against the person of the 
 " Emperor." — "That is another piece 
 " of folly," said I to him ; " this was 
 " the cause of it. They remembered a 
 " phrase of yours in an intercepted let- 
 " ter, when you were a volunteer among 
 "us. I am an Austrian in the army, but a 
 u Frenchman at Vienna. That implies a 
 " great deal, said the blockheads. There 
 "has never been any conspiracy against our 
 " Emperors; they have never been assas- 
 " sinated. We have no Jacques Clement 
 " nor Ravaillac among us. The people are 
 " not enthusiastic, as among you : but they 
 * do not, therefore, pass easily from one 
 
 F 
 
62 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " opinion to another. There are scarce! y 
 " any crimes committed in Austria. They 
 " endeavoured to persuade Leopold, the 
 " preceding year, that there was a design 
 " to kill him, because a ball went through 
 " his hat when he was hunting. Let the 
 u man be found, said he, with his Spanish 
 " air, he is a bungler qfso%ie kind or other ; 
 " he is dying with fear or with hunger ; let 
 " a thousand ducats be given to him." 
 
 (1701.) 
 
 War being upon the point of breaking 
 out, on account of the Spanish succession, 
 a grand council of conference was held. 
 My advice was, that the Archduke should 
 be sent into Spain immediately, to lead an 
 army into Lombard y ; but it was rejected 
 by the wise counsellors of Leopold. They 
 were offended at it. Prince Louis was 
 appointed commander in the Empire, and 
 I in Italy. 
 
 I had thirty thousand men of good and 
 ancient troops. The Duke of Mantua, 
 consenting or not consenting to receive a 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 63 
 
 French garrison in his capital, I pretend- 
 ed that it was a commencement of hostil- 
 ities on the part of Catinat, which served 
 me as a pretext for commencing mine. Let 
 me say a few more words respecting this 
 Duke, of whom I have already spoken so 
 much. Formigha was almost his prime mi- 
 nister. The Abbé Fantoni, his gentleman 
 of the chamber, sometimes procured him 
 girls, like a certain Mathia ; sometimes a 
 mistress, like the Countess Calori ; some- 
 times a wife to marry, to be on the part 
 of Louis the XlVth. like a Condé and 
 a d'Elbœuf. The one and the other, re- 
 tained by France, hindered him from 
 espousing an Aremberg, who would have 
 rendered him favourable to us. The Duke, 
 also, had a seraglio guarded by eunuchs. 
 Never was there such an original seen. 
 In short, thanks to him, behold me deep 
 in war, at the end often days of incredible 
 labour and fatigue, over mountains and 
 precipices, with two thousand pioneers ; 
 and a part of my success certain, because 
 I did not respect the neutrality of the Ve- 
 netian Republic. 
 
64 THE LIEE OF 
 
 Catinat, having received the most dis- 
 tinct orders from his court not to vio- 
 late it, could not dispute my entrance in- 
 to the Veronese. When I left Trentin, 
 I sent my excuses to the most serene re- 
 public, by a Major, and proceeded on my 
 road. Catinat waited for me in another 
 place where I must have entered by de- 
 files, and where I should have been beat- 
 en but for the step (not very delicate, I 
 confess) which I had adopted. That was 
 the moment for playing off the sounding 
 words of imperious circumstances, of mis- 
 understandings, and of the uncertainty of 
 a general assent in a republic : all which 
 I did not fail to do. By my passages of 
 the Adige and the Po, I obliged Cati- 
 nat to extend himself: I attacked and 
 forced St. Fremont at Carpi. Tessé 
 came to his support, and prevented his 
 total ruin, which would have been inevi- 
 table, had not the badness of the roads 
 hindered Commerci from advancing with 
 my cavalry : I routed, however, these two 
 generals, and separated them from Cati- 
 nat, who was waiting for me at Ostiglia ; 
 and, while pursuing and charging them at 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 65 
 
 the head of my curassiers, I received a 
 severe musquet wound in my left knee. 
 Being joined by Commerci, Catinat did 
 not dare to give me battle, or rather to con- 
 tinue that one, which was nearly the 
 same thing. He availed himself of the 
 night to pass the Mincio. I followed 
 him on the other side of the river, be- 
 cause he had not had time to withdraw 
 all his ^detachments ; and the Duke of 
 Savoy, who had begun his tricks, was 
 not willing to send him his troops. Cati- 
 nat retired upon Chiesa, and I became 
 master of all the country between the 
 Adige and the Adda, except Mantua. I 
 had entertained a regular correspondence 
 with Victor Amadeus, from whom I had 
 no doubt I should derive some advantage. 
 We must be cunning in Italy. I bribed 
 a Recolkt of Mantua : and he bribed the 
 whole convent. Under the pretext of 
 confessing us in our camp, the monks 
 took away with them arms under their 
 robes, with which to slaughter the life- 
 guards at the nearest gate, and to open it 
 to my soldiers, disguised as peasants : 
 
 f 2 
 
66 THE CIPE OF 
 
 th is was to have taken place one day, when, 
 with a numerous escort, I was to have 
 gone and heard mass at Notre- Dame-de- 
 Grace. They had even bribed over the in- 
 habitants. They were discovered however, 
 disarmed, and punished as they deserved. 
 Ï lost Mantua. 
 
 The Duke of Savoy, content with 
 becoming again a generalissimo, and with 
 marrying his daughter to the Duke of 
 Burgundy, arrived at the army of the two 
 crowns. I presented him my compliments, 
 from respect ; and I made him a present, 
 from friendship, of some beautiful Turk- 
 ish horses which I had captured at Zenta. 
 He dared not accept but one. Louis 
 XIV, displeased that I had cheated Ca- 
 tinat, gave me great pleasure by appoint- 
 ing the presumptuous and ignorant Vil- 
 leroy to succeed one of the best generals 
 that France ever had. When the Duke 
 of Savoy wished to do any thing, and 
 said to him, " I am generalissimo," Vil- 
 leroy replied, "I have an order from 
 '« the King ;" and indeed he had one, to 
 seek me wherever he could, and to fight 
 
 M 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 67 
 
 me. My cousin had the goodness to in- 
 form me of this. I wanted Chiari, for the 
 head of my camp. The Venetian comman- 
 der talked to me of neutrality ; I told him 
 I laughed at it ; he begged me to accept 
 his submission, and I signed whatever he 
 wished. The enemy played me a trick ; 
 I was their dupe for once ; I am compel- 
 led to own it. Prawntal, with all the 
 drums in the army, made so much noise 
 at the bridge of Palazzuolo, that the corps 
 which was intended to prevent the passage 
 of the Oglio remained still ; and the ene- 
 my passed it at another place. I took up 
 a position fronting with three sides. The 
 honest Catinat, instead of rejoicing to see 
 his commander beaten, said to him, " Do 
 " not fight ; let us retire." The Duke of 
 Savoy, who wished that Villeroy might 
 receive a severe check, said, "Fight! let 
 " us attack ! Catinat is timid, as you 
 " know." 
 
 On the 1st of September my post at 
 Chiara, towards my left, excellent as it 
 was, was almost driven in, by an unheard- 
 of instance of French intrepidity : all my 
 
68 THE LIFE OF 
 
 outposts were already gone. I never wit- 
 nessed such an effort of courage. Daun 
 drove them off. My right, hidden behind 
 our entrenchment, lying flat on their faces, 
 rose suddenly, and fired Villeroy at- 
 tempted the centre: that seldom succeeds 
 where the wings are beaten. 
 
 The dignified, the admirable Catinat, 
 rallied, brought back the troops to the at- 
 tack, received a serious contusion in the 
 breast, and a musquet shot in the hand. 
 As for Victor Amadeus, he was every 
 where ; he exposed himself like the most 
 desperate of the soldiery : he had a horse 
 killed under him. What a singular cha- 
 racter ! This time he wished to lose the 
 battle : but the habit of courage extin- 
 guished his policy. 
 
 Notwithstanding the loss of the army 
 of the two crowns, it was still stronger 
 than mine. I took up a good position 
 again : my double success had abated a 
 little the confidence and the vaunting tone 
 of Villeroy. They fought only at the 
 advanced posts, and in small detachments. 
 Mine had always the advantage, because 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 69 
 
 my spies, to whom I often gave three 
 hundred ducats, for slight information, 
 warned me of the least motion of the 
 enemy. The whole had to decamp: the 
 first ran a risk of being beaten ; it was 
 necessary, however, to take up our winter- 
 quarters. 
 
 My horses, quite worn out, had not suf- 
 ficient to feed them ; they were supplied 
 with dead leaves : my soldiers visibly grew 
 thin; but they loved me, and suffered pa- 
 tiently: those of Villeroy, suffering also, 
 but much less, deserted by hundreds, I 
 gave an example of sobriety and patience. 
 To relieve our ennui, my Vaudemont wish- 
 ed to surprise his father in his quarters : 
 awakened by a musquet shot, he sa- 
 ved himself on horseback in his night- 
 gown ; and this stroke of filial piety fail- 
 ed. So did mine ; for Catinat, during the 
 night, effected his decampment and the 
 repassage of the Oglio. Deceived, or ra- 
 ther badly served that day, (which, howev- 
 er, was an important one to me,) I ran thi- 
 ther, notwithstanding the obscurity, and, 
 instead of destroying Villeroy, I made 
 
70 THE LIFE OF 
 
 only four hundred prisoners ; I killed, 
 however, a great number on the other 
 side of the river, by my artillery, which 
 followed me at full gallop. 
 
 The French, dying with hunger and 
 fatigue, entered into quarters. The Vene- 
 tians would not grant me any in the Bres- 
 san : to fight to be beaten, and to retire 
 into the Tyrol, appeared to me to be 
 equally hard. Where then was I to win- 
 ter ? I considered the most hazardous 
 step to be the most prudent one : I threw 
 myself into the Mantuan, and I took, by 
 assault, Canette, the ancient Bedriacum, 
 thanks to a soldier of Daun's, who, in 
 spite of a heavy discharge of musquetry, 
 cut the ropes of a draw-bridge : and then, 
 Mascaria, Rodolesco, and the bridge of 
 Gazolo. 
 
 Two little accidents befel my detach- 
 ments ; but I know not w r hether it was 
 my fault, or that of Drack, who command- 
 ed on the one occasion; or of Mered, who 
 commanded on the other. This latter 
 was made prisoner ; and, at the moment 
 when he was going to be cut to pieces, by 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 71 
 
 way of retaliation, he was saved by a 
 French officer : he fell into an ambuscade 
 of Tessé, who" issued out of Mantua for 
 this expedition, which did him great ho- 
 nour. Still, however, I was in possession 
 of the whole of the Mantuan, except Goi- 
 to and Mantua, which I blockaded. I know 
 not whether it was the heart or the genius 
 of the Princess of Mirandole, which spoke 
 in my behalf to her, but she gave a grand 
 supper to all the French officers, that I 
 might surprise the place. I took Berulo 
 in spite of the Duke of Modena, who 
 feigned to oppose it : the Duke of Parma 
 objected wholly to the entrance of my 
 troops into his country : I laughed at his 
 protestations, and at those of the Pope, 
 whose feudatory he said he was. Gustalla 
 had already surrendered to me; and, after 
 having disposed so well of all these petty 
 Italian princes, I occupied three provinces, 
 to give repose to my troops during the 
 winter. 
 
72 THE LIFE Ot 
 
 (1702.) 
 
 For myself, however, I took none : I 
 ran from one quarter to another, and re- 
 marked with pleasure the negligence which 
 prevailed among the French. " I must," 
 said Villeroy, " make these three princes 
 " dance therigadoon during the carnival." 
 This made us desirous to prevent him, 
 by surprising Cremona, on one side by 
 Commerci, and on the other by Vaude- 
 mont. The latter missed his way during 
 the night : one of my detachments enter- 
 ed by a sewer. I was already master of one 
 ef the gates, and some streets. This 
 couplet of the French soldiers describes 
 the rest; besides, that it is read every 
 where. 
 
 Par une faveur de BdUne, 
 Et pur un bonheur sum égal, 
 Nous avons retrouvé Crémone, 
 Et perdu notre général. 
 
 Villeroy, taken by our soldiers, who 
 had thrown him under his horse, not 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 73 
 
 easily recognized without his hat, his wig*, 
 and his sword, said to Macdonel, " I am 
 " the marshal, save me, I will give you a 
 " regiment of cavalry, and a pension of two 
 " thousand crowns." The streets were 
 stained with blood. To finish all these 
 small battles, I sent word to Villeroy by 
 Commerci, to stop them, and to let the 
 French surrender. He had the spirit to 
 reply, " they must not obey a prisoner!" 
 and he said, seeing Crenau brought in, 
 who was killed, " I envy his fate!" I re- 
 paired to the hotel de ville, and endeavour- 
 ed to excite the citizens. Mahoni said to 
 one of my officers, " a good quarter for 
 " M. Friedberg." The officer replied, 
 " It is not a day of clemency; do your 
 " duty, and I shall do mine." Friedberg 
 was killed. Our soldiers, and especially 
 the cuirassiers, with whose courage and 
 order I was not very well satisfied, were 
 repulsed on all sides. Before being totally 
 driven from the city, I went to see Villeroy, 
 who excited my pity; I sent him off to 
 Inspruck, and began to order the retreat, 
 which would have been very embarrassing, 
 
 G 
 
74 THE LIFE OF 
 
 if Crequi had cut me off from -the rest of 
 my army. I admired the bravery of the 
 French, awakened out of their sleep and 
 half naked, resisting lis every where with 
 ferocity, and the intelligence of their offi- 
 cers. Mine were very deficient; I had the 
 glory of having surprised, and the shame 
 of not having kept; but, in fact, when we 
 do not succeed, it is the same as if we had 
 not undertaken. I went to invest more 
 closely Mantua, whose Duke was dying 
 with fear and hunger, in spite of all the 
 efforts of Tessé who conducted himself 
 wonderfully; sometimes he even eluded 
 the vigilance of my parties, and conveyed 
 provisions into the town. 
 
 The skilful, the intrepid, the good, 
 the amiable, the generous, the quick in 
 penetrating the designs of others, the in- 
 discreet, with respect to his ow n sometimes, 
 the affable, the indolent Vendôme, suc- 
 ceeded Villeroy ; when he arrived, he made 
 several movements with his army, arid I 
 did the same with mine, for I saw, plainly, 
 that he wished to attack me, or to relieve 
 Mantua, The court of Vienna not hav- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 75 
 
 ing supplied me with a sufficiency of troops, 
 either from malice or from want of means, 
 this commencement of Vendome's was 
 very brilliant; he took from me all my 
 small towns and my communications. I 
 entrenched myself wherever I retired to ; 
 and, the better to observe him, I pitched 
 my camp very near his. 
 
 Certain splenetic persons have blamed 
 me, for having endeavoured to carry off 
 Vendôme from his house at Rival to, on 
 the borders of the lake of Mantua, (where 
 were his head quarters,) by Davia, whom 
 I caused to embark with fifty men. One 
 of the soldiers killed the sentinel whom 
 Davia ordered to be seized. The guard 
 ran out. Davia re-embarked, and was 
 certainly wrong to fire into the windows 
 of Vendôme, as he departed. 
 
 The first thing in war is, seize who can; 
 and, beside, it was doing him honour; for 
 Catinat him self could not have used such 
 rapidity in his manœuvres. At all events 
 we were soon even with each other. Ven- 
 dôme had twelve pieces of cannon placed 
 on a height, whence he battered my 
 
76 THE LIFE OP 
 
 house in day -light. I hastened out of it, 
 for it was ready to fall upon my head. 
 That of Commerci was burned with red 
 hot balls, and others were shattered down ; 
 the tents of my guard perforated, and a 
 hundred men killed. All that was natural 
 enough I thought, but rather tedious, for 
 the cannonade lasted during three hours, 
 and I did not complain. 
 
 Not wishing to recede from Mantua, 
 I threw up entrenchments round my camp, 
 twenty feet in height. Who would have 
 thought that I had learned something 
 from the Turks, and that the Turks had 
 learned something from the Romans? 
 That has been transmitted to them, in my 
 opinion, by colonies, like the Etruscan 
 forms of vases and pitchers,which are found 
 in the house of every peasant. I return to 
 my subject. 
 
 I could not boast of the smallest advan- 
 tage over Vendôme. A large detachment 
 which was sent to observe him, command- 
 ed by Viseonti, who had three horses 
 killed under him, was surprised and beat- 
 en. Commerci, though with his legs na- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 77 
 
 ked in his boots, arrived too late, and 
 also without being obliged to do it, for he 
 was .sicK. I saw plainly that I should 
 be forced to raise the siege of Mantua, 
 collect my detachments and small garri- 
 sons, and give battle with my twenty-six 
 thousand men. I marched towards Sera- 
 glio, and Vendôme to Luzara, whence my 
 small garrison, which I still retained 
 there, retired into a tower ; from Sera- 
 glio I went to pass the Po, at the com- 
 mencement of the canal of Zero, and I hid 
 all my infantry, with their faces on the 
 ground, behind a large dike, near the 
 camp which the enemy had marked 
 out. At the moment when the army of 
 the two crowns, deceived by my spies, 
 were about to enter it, we were discovered 
 by the merest accident. I made my sol- 
 diers climb over the dike as well as they 
 could, and they rushed upon the enemy, 
 who had not time to range themselves in 
 order of battle. The cavalry, «with fas- 
 cines which I had given them for the oc- 
 casion, opened themselves a passage to 
 sustain my infantry. The brave Com- 
 
 g 2 
 
78 THE LIFE OF 
 
 merci, the best of my friends and of my 
 generals, was killed while fighting in the 
 left wing. Lichtenstien took his place, 
 and was killed also. Langallerie rallied 
 them, who, desperate with the loss of their 
 two commanders, at length repulsed the 
 victors. They returned to the charge, 
 and took up their former ground. Dur- 
 ing this time my left wing was beaten. 
 Stahremberg rallied it. Vaudemont came 
 to his assistance and performed won- 
 ders. I was prosperous in the centre, 
 notwithstanding the presence of Vendôme, 
 who was also in the centre of his army ; 
 and yet, in spite of this, I should have 
 been beaten, if I had not observed that a 
 part of my cavalry, hitherto useless, as 
 well as that of the allies, on account of 
 the ruggedness of the ground, by cross- 
 ing some smaller ditches and penetrating 
 through some thinner hedges, might de- 
 cide the success of my left and secure 
 mine. #t appeared to me that the only 
 way to render my success certain, was 
 to sleep on the field of battle. It was, 
 I suppose, out of politeness to the King 
 
PRINCE EUGENE, 79 
 
 of Spain, that Vendôme had the Te Deum 
 sung. I have been told that the Duke 
 of Mantua kept constantly by the side of 
 this monarch during the battle, which 
 gave me a good idea of his prudence. 
 As for the Duke of Savoy, he had none 
 of that kind of prudence ; he fought as 
 usual, but displeasing every one by too 
 much finesse. He was ill received when 
 he joined the army of Philip V. who 
 returned into Spain two days after the 
 battle. Before finally abandoning Man- 
 tua, I wished to enter it by my spies. 
 But it did not succeed a second time ; 
 a deserter saved me from being sur- 
 prised just as I was on the point of 
 falling into an ambuscade. I had done 
 all I could ; I had acquired some glo- 
 ry, and had lost some ground. It was 
 not my fault; let it be remembered that 
 the army of Vendôme was double the 
 number of mine. Of all my posts I re- 
 tained only Ostiglia, and I would not 
 take up my winter quarters until I had 
 seen the French enter into theirs. I 
 sent Solari to cover Trentin, and I set 
 
80 THE LIFE OF 
 
 off for Vienna, where I had not been for 
 two years. 
 
 (1703.) 
 
 The emperor made me president of 
 war in the place of Mansfeld. I told 
 him that it was impossible to carry on 
 war without troops and without money, 
 that they had been wanting for the last 
 six months, as well as every other neces- 
 sary; I wished that the other military 
 commanders might be better supplied 
 than I had been, which accordingly took 
 place. I put a stop to peculation in all 
 the different departments. I said to the 
 Emperor, " Your army, Sire, is your 
 "monarchy ; without that it will revert 
 " to the Turks, to the French, or per- 
 ie haps, one clay or other, to the Hunga- 
 " rians. Your capital is a frontier town ; 
 " your Majesty^ has no fortress on any 
 " side ; every one is payed except those 
 " that serve you. Make peace, sire, if 
 " you cannot make war ; which is impos- 
 " sible without the money of England. 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 81 
 
 " What are your ministers doing that 
 " they take no advantage of the hatred 
 " against France, but involve you in a 
 " war with all France, and even with 
 " your own subjects. Further, if your 
 " Imperial Majesty do not empower me 
 " to draw over entirely the Duke of Savoy, 
 " who is already half with us, there can 
 " never be any success in Italy." I suc- 
 ceeded ; and this was the only minis- 
 terial success I had that year ; and the 
 only military success was to repulse the 
 rebels of Hungary, so effectually and so 
 quickly as to prevent Vienna from being 
 disturbed, and to save Presburg. Al- 
 though I was President, I could not even 
 give myself the army which Leopold had 
 promised me, and therefore I could do 
 no more, 
 
 (1704.) 
 
 That indeed was not much : but at 
 last, as I had foreseen, Ca'roli entered, 
 at the head of the insurgents, on Easter 
 Sunday, the suburbs of Vienna. I know 
 
 
82 THE LIFE OF 
 
 not why they feared to advance as far as 
 the court ; for I had great difficulty in as- 
 sembling the small garrison and the citi- 
 zens, whom I placed behind an entrench- 
 ment which I hastily threw up at St. 
 Marck's, which I extended from thence, 
 on the right and left, as far as the Dan- 
 ube. The few troops that we had between 
 Vienna and Presburg, and between Pres- 
 burg and Raab, had been dispersed. It 
 was in vain that I had begged to have rein- 
 forcements sent them. Thanks to this 
 lesson, they granted them to Heister, who 
 cut off the retreat of those who had enter- 
 ed Vienna, and routed the detachments 
 which came to their help. I myself went 
 into Hungary to make war for a short 
 while, and afterwards ensued the accom- 
 modation with Ragotzi, Berezeni, &c. 
 
 It was necessary that Leopold should 
 be in fear before it could be ventured to 
 tell him strong truths. Where is the 
 mistress or the friend to whom we can 
 tell such with impunity ? Still less can 
 we expect to do it to a powerful sove- 
 reign spoiled by slaves, who accompany 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 83 
 
 iiim, every day, to church, but not his 
 generals to war. I demanded of him an 
 audience extraordinary, on urgent occa- 
 sions, as if I had been an ambassador 
 from a foreign power; this seldom hap- 
 pened to me, however. 
 
 " Recruit, raise a militia," said I to 
 him this time, " borrow from Holland, 
 " which is good for nothing else. Let 
 " there be no taxes, but a sort of capi- 
 " tation ; and no largesses to monks and to 
 " persons of the court, which, notwith- 
 " standing, should be splendid. In a con- 
 " ference with monied people, who know 
 " the resources of the state, and the quan- 
 " tity of circulating specie, let there be 
 " memoirs read and discussed before your 
 " Majesty. They laugh at our finances; 
 " and for myself, I weep at them: find 
 " a Colbert in the country, if it be pos- 
 " sible." 
 
 What I gained by this was, the power 
 to treat alone; and I confederated with 
 us Queen Anne and Marlborough. I went 
 to find him at Hailbronn, to concert mea- 
 sures with himand Prince Louisof Baden, 
 
84 THE LTFE OF 
 
 whom I had not seen for a long while. I 
 assigned to myself the lines of Behel to 
 defend ; and I issued from them to follow 
 Tallard, who wished to join the Elector 
 of Bavaria. Should I not be so fortu- 
 nate as to succeed, said I, in the worst 
 extremity I shall only have to beat them 
 together, which will save me the trouble 
 of doing it singly. Tallard and Marsin 
 possessed two sorts of presumption, very 
 different from that of Villeroy, and with 
 more of mind in them. The one founded 
 his upon his spire, and the other on the 
 divine protection; which, indeed, by the 
 cabal of devotees, had benefited him as 
 much as that of the court. Tallard's 
 moral vision was no less short than his 
 physical. Marsin saw better, and had 
 more talent, but luckily he lost his head 
 suddenly. 
 
 With patience, and abstaining from 
 combat, they might have obliged me to 
 abandon Bavaria ; for I could have no 
 other place to establish my stores and 
 magazines at, than Nordlingen; but these 
 gentlemen were in a hurry; and the Elec- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 85 
 
 tor was furious, because of some pillaging 
 which I had permitted Marlborough to 
 make, who, in consequence, was entirely 
 devoted to me. We truly loved and es- 
 teemed each other. He was a great states- 
 man and warrior. 
 
 They had eighty thousand men, and 
 so had we. Why were the French sepa- 
 rated from the Bavarians. Why did they 
 encamp so far from the rivulet, which 
 would have embarrassed our attack? Why 
 did they put twenty-seven battalions and 
 ten squadrons into Blenheim? Why, also, 
 did they disperse so many troops in other 
 villages? Marlborough was more fortu- 
 nate than I in his passage of the rivulet, 
 and in his noble attack : a small escarp- 
 ment delayed me half an hour. My in- 
 fantry did well ; my cavalry very bad. I 
 had ahorse killed under me : Marlborough 
 was checked, but not repulsed. I suc- 
 ceeded in rallying the regiments, who 
 were, at first, shy of attacking. I led 
 them back to the charge four times. Marl- 
 borough, with his infantry and artillery, 
 and sometimes with his cavalry, dispersed 
 
 H 
 
86 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the enemy, and advanced to take posses- 
 sion of Blenheim : we were driven back, 
 for a moment, by the gendarmerie \\ but we 
 finished, by pushing them into the Da- 
 nube. I was under the greatest obliga- 
 tions to Marlborough, for his changes of 
 position, according to each circumstance. 
 A Bavarian dragoon took aim at me, but 
 one of my Danes luckily prevented him. 
 We lost nine thousand men ; but twelve 
 thousand eight hundred Frenchmen killed, 
 and twenty thousand eight hundred pri- 
 soners, prevented them, this time, from 
 singing their customary Te Deum, which 
 they always do when defeated, but which 
 they never acknowledge. I wrote to the 
 King of Prussia, respecting the noble con- 
 duct of Anhalt and his corps. 
 
 The poor Elector joined himself to Vil le- 
 roy,who had marched to favour his retreat. 
 They embraced each other mournfully. 
 " I have sacrificed," said the Prince," my 
 " estates to the King, and I will also 
 v sacrifice my life to him." My Lord 
 Duke, (for Marlborough had become so 
 then) Prince Louis of Baden, and myself, 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 87 
 
 went to Stutgard, to amuse ourselves. 
 The second took Landau, the first Trar- 
 bach, and I missed the two Brisachs ; 
 the one, because the Governor of Fribourg 
 lost himself, and the other, from the false 
 delicacy of the Lieutenant-Colonel of Bay- 
 reuth, whom I had caused to enter as a 
 courier along with the rest, and who, not 
 enduring patiently a sound drubbing with 
 a stick from an overseer of the works in 
 the place, commanded to fire. This, in 
 truth, was honour very much misplaced ; 
 and this was the onlv occasion on which 
 it would have been very laudable to re- 
 ceive a good beating. Had we proceeded, 
 the blows would have been envied, rather 
 than stigmatized. I went before Ingold- 
 stadt, ready to surrender, but for the in- 
 trepidity of a French regiment, composed 
 of brave deserters in the service of Bavaria. 
 They spurned my promises and my me- 
 naces ; but, astonishing them by my gen- 
 erosity, in sending them back safely 
 convoyed, that nothing might happen to 
 them, they evacuated Ingoldstadt; and, 
 except Munich, the whole of Bavaria was 
 
88 *He life of 
 
 in our possession, thanks to the treaty 
 which I made witjh the Electress. The 
 conditions were harsh : she refused them : 
 but by the interposition of Father Schuh- 
 macher, a good Jesuit, her confessor, I 
 succeeded in making her sign them ; and 
 I set off for Vienna. 
 
 (1705.) 
 
 Affected by the situation of the Duke 
 of Savoy, who had now reformed, and 
 become again a good Austrian, and 
 who had lost almost every thing, for which 
 the Court of Vienna had not indemnified 
 him, I represented his case to the Em- 
 peror. " Very well," said he to me ; 
 ' take reinforcements to him ; command 
 " the army in Italy." — " I remember, 
 " Sire," I replied, " my last campaign, 
 k ' when, from stupidity, or knavery, or 
 " malice, or jealousy, leaving me without 
 " money, and without troops, I was forced 
 r to give up the blockade of Mantua, lose 
 "all the towns I had taken, and render 
 "my victory of Luzara useless. They 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 89 
 
 "intercepted my letters to your Majesty, 
 " and endeavoured to tarnish my honour. 
 " I would rather lay all my employments 
 " at your feet, and lead, I know not 
 " where, a life of retirement. I have gone 
 " through twenty- two years of labour, of 
 "which the last ten have been disturbed 
 " by court-storms and intrigues. I had 
 " hoped to re-conquer one-half of the 
 " Spanish succession ; but, notwithstand- 
 " ing my victory at Hochstet, I still 
 " feared for your majesty's states, which 
 " had been lost, if I had been beaten." 
 
 Leopold promised me twenty-eight 
 thousand men, regularly payed, and well 
 appointed. I would not set off, however, 
 till after they had, and I repaired to 
 Rov.eredo. The Mirandole had surren- 
 dered : I entered into the Bressan. Ven- 
 dôme marched to attack me; but, anti- 
 cipating him in occupying the height of 
 Gavardo, he did not venture to do it. 
 It was while there that I beard of the 
 death of the Emperor : I loved Joseph 
 better, who succeeded him ; but I feared, 
 as sons generally adopta directly contrary 
 
 h 2 
 
90 THE LIFE OF 
 
 course of proceeding to their fathers, that 
 he would abandon the Duke of Savoy, 
 to whom, in truth, I was responsible. It 
 was not so, however : he wrote to me 
 to continue, and sent me, immediately, 
 100,000 florins, for the payment of the 
 troops. 
 
 Leopold was not without good quali- 
 ties ; but I cannot conceive how any Span- 
 ish and Austrian flatterers could attempt 
 to call him Leopold the Great. It did not 
 succeed, however. He detested the French 
 so much, that he had forbidden a single 
 word of that language to be spoken in his 
 court. I got out of the difficulty, by 
 speaking Italian, which I knew better 
 than German, though I easily understand 
 it, and can give orders in that tongue. 
 
 Vendôme went into Piedmont, and 
 charged his brother, the Grand Priori to 
 make me quit the Bressan by starving me. 
 I wished to dislodge him from the Cassine 
 de la Couline, an important post. An in- 
 credible combat in courage and in resour- 
 ces ensued ; seven grenadiers defended 
 the pigeon house. If Wurtemberg had 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 91 
 
 wished to set fire to the cassine, when he 
 first arrived, he could have done it. The 
 Grand Prior came to assist ; not daring to 
 risk a general engagement, I attempted 
 the passage of the Oglio. That was neces- 
 sary ; for nothing remained to the Duke 
 of Savoy but Turin. I succeeded ; but 
 how? I used trick upon trick, and avail- 
 ed myself of the sloth of the Grand 
 Prior, whom I knew to be a great sleeper, 
 and effected my march in the middle of the 
 night. He endeavoured to repair this fault, 
 when he^awoke, by an incredible degree 
 of diligence : just on the point of rejoining 
 me, I wheeled about to attack him. The po- 
 sition which he took, gave me some alarm, 
 and, contrary to my usual practice, I as- 
 sembled a council of war. I suspected that 
 they would decide against attacking him. 
 I suspected also, that the Spaniard 
 Toralba was nothing very formidable. I 
 drove him from Palazzuolo, and threaten- 
 ed to shoot him, if he threw into the Oglio 
 the provisions of which 1 had so much 
 need. He took flight to Bergama. Vis- 
 conti and Joseph of Lorraine, who was 
 
02 THE LIFE OF 
 
 wounded there, overtook him, and, in- 
 stead of defending the height where he was 
 very well posted, a few cannon balls made 
 him surrender, with nine hundred men. 
 The rage and astonishment of the Grand 
 Prior may be easily guessed. Palazzuolo 
 and the bridge of Oglio having yielded, I 
 advanced to pass the Adda, the only bar- 
 rier of the Milanese. 
 
 I went to take Soncino ; and, hearing 
 that the head-quarters of the French were 
 at Solesino,! said tomy generals, " Alber- 
 " gotti has certainly joined Ûie Grand 
 " Prior, and I will lay any thing, from this 
 " bold movement, that Vendôme has ar- 
 " rived at the army." I was more convin- 
 ced of this afterwards/ when, occupying 
 the post of the fourteen Naviles, by Vet- 
 zel, Vendôme himself came to dislodge 
 him. His grenadiers attacked the bridge 
 while others threw themselves into the wa- 
 ter on the right and left, to take my de- 
 tachment in flank on both sides. There 
 were bravery, skill, and enthusiasm! there 
 were French soldiers ! 
 
 Vendôme wished to right, and I did 
 
FRINCE EUGENE. 98 
 
 not. I wished to assist theDukeof Savoy 
 in the Mantuan, and Vendôme did not wish 
 it. Vendôme, though not so negligent 
 as his brother,had a little of his indolence. 
 I stole a march upon him during the night, 
 and reached, by two forced marches, the 
 banks of the Adda. I possessed myself 
 of a magnificent country house belonging 
 to the Jesuits of Bergama, called The pa- 
 radise. I passed the Adda quietly; but 
 one of my waggons, laden with bridges, 
 broke down on the road. 
 
 The Adda, almost a perfect torrent 
 at that time, was not very easy to pass; 
 its rapidity prevented the quick junction 
 of the boats. Vendôme had time to ar- 
 rive ; but a sort of amphitheatre formed by 
 my grenadiers, to protect the labourers, 
 disinclined him to interrupt their proceed- 
 ings. The Spaniard, Colmenero, inform- 
 ed me of all. I intended to go and 
 fight the Grand Prior; but he slowly de- 
 camped by a positive order from his bro- 
 ther. I thought to pass the Adda by the 
 bridge of Cassano. Vendôme opposed 
 himself: the question was, who should 
 
94 THE LIFE OF 
 
 deceive the other. I wished to bring the 
 matter to a conclusion by a battle. 1 had 
 been told thatVendome generally slept in 
 the afternoon, without any one daring to 
 wake him, lest it should put him in an ill 
 humour. Linange possessed himself of 
 the Cassine&nd of the bridge of Ritorto; he 
 was repulsed. I arrived there : I retook 
 all, and I drove in the left of the French. 
 Vendôme arrived, also, with his troupe 
 dorée, which soon returned a dazzling gleam 
 from our lire. He had a horse killed un- 
 der him,, and received a musket shot in 
 his boot. I received a musket shot in 
 the throat ; and, in spite of the blood which 
 flowed copiously, I still continued, till a 
 second ball, which struck me above the 
 knee, obliged me to retire to have my 
 wounds dressed. It would be all over 
 with the French, if I took a redoubt. I 
 had Anhalt told to finish a smart firing 
 which harassed me in the centre and on 
 the left. Brave and active as he was, he 
 drove his horse into the Ritorto.followed bv 
 the Prussians, who were in the water up to 
 the chin: he was wounded. Wurtemberg. 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 95 
 
 did the same on the right : he was killed. 
 The arms and ammunition of both detach- 
 ments were wetted : they could no longer re- 
 turn the fire of the French. They pos- 
 sessed themselves of the castle of Cassano. 
 Bebra, Rewentlau, and Joseph of Lor- 
 raine, a young prince of nineteen years of 
 age, were killed in checking the enemy, 
 and keeping firm on this side the Ritorto, 
 which they had been obliged to repass, 
 and which the enemy respected as a bar- 
 rier that I had marked out to them. They 
 declined to pass it, as I declined the pas- 
 sage of the Adda. If that be what is cal- 
 led losing a battle, I confess it. I went 
 to take up an excellent post at Trevigio. 
 The pretended conquerors were, apparent- 
 ly, in much greater confusion than the 
 conquered ; for not one ventured to ap- 
 proach my rear-guard. These conquerors, 
 indeed, lost more men than the pretended 
 vanquished, left behind them standards 
 and prisoners, and threw a great quantity 
 of baggage into the canal. Though Ven- 
 dôme had been joined by his brother, who 
 fell asleep at Rivalti, two leagues from 
 
96 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the field of battle, (for which he was 
 cashiered the army,) he demanded rein- 
 forcements from La Feuillade, because 
 he thought that I intended to attack him. 
 I did not, indeed, join myself to the Duke 
 of Savoy ; but in consequence of these 
 reinforcements which I compelled Ven- 
 dôme to exact of La Feuillade, I spoiled 
 the project of besieging and taking Tu- 
 rin. Did I lose the battle ? I know 
 not. At all events, I do not reproach 
 myself for having fought. A signal suc- 
 cess would have rendered me master of 
 Italy ; and a failure, which is different 
 from a reverse, and which I may attribute 
 to my two wounds, did not prevent me from 
 still manceuvering before Vendôme all the 
 rest of the campaign, and to take up my 
 winter quarters quietly behind the moun- 
 tains, at Cabsinato, Lunato, &c. Before 
 entering them* .however, I attempted some 
 small enterprises, all of which were frus- 
 trated by Vendôme. Not to be beaten 
 by a man like him is more glorious than 
 to beat another. I set off for Vienna. 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 97 
 
 (1706.) 
 
 Marlborough arrived at Vienna. I 
 had written to him, that his presence 
 would be necessary to me : I presented 
 him to the Emperor, who received him as 
 might be expected. He assisted me in 
 obtaining succours for the Duke of Savoy. 
 " Queen Anne," said he, " sent me for 
 "that purpose. We will lend 25,000 
 " sterling to your Imperial Majesty, and 
 " I calculate upon beating the enemy in 
 " the Low Countries." Thither he went, 
 and I into Italy. I arrived at Roveredo at 
 the same time as the runaways of my ar- 
 my, which was entrusted to Rewentlau, 
 who had been beaten at Cabsinato. I had 
 but too well corrected Vendôme for his 
 sloth. Informed of my departure from Vi- 
 enna, he was before me with his army. He 
 had feigned sickness, and took, in public, 
 remedies as if he had been really ill ; but 
 throwing off, all at once, his barley-water, 
 his ni^ht-gown and cap, he remounted his 
 horse, on the night of the 18th or 19th of 
 
 i 
 
1 
 
 $8 THE LIFE Or 
 
 April for his grand expedition. I rallied 
 the runaways, and I hastened to Gavardo, 
 to hinder Vendôme from cutting of my 
 communication with Trentin. Vendôme 
 employed an astonishing celerity in all 
 his marches : I had great difficulty in es* 
 capiiig him. Never before had I such 
 labour. I succeeded, however, in possess- 
 ing myself of several posts, which secu- 
 red to me the side of the Adige. That 
 was necessary, in order to make the siege 
 of Turin be raised. 
 
 Happily, (thanks to the discernment of 
 Louis XIV.) Feuillade was entrusted 
 with this business. It had been very badly 
 invested ; two posts were free : Vendôme 
 observed me on the other side of the 
 Adige ; it was necessary, however, to pass 
 that river. A Venetian commander took 
 it in his head to intercept my passage to 
 Badia. I caused the gate to be hewn down 
 by my grenadiers ; and, perceiving that 
 Vendôme was no longer with the army, 
 the command of which he went to re- 
 sign, at Milan, to the Duke of Orleans, 
 I returned thanks, first of all, to God ; 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 09 
 
 and, without much difficulty, I deceived 
 the French, who secured three posts, and 
 passed the Adige, where they did not ex- 
 pect me. 
 
 Tessé had lost Spain at Barcelona; 
 Villeroy, the Low Countries at Ramilies: 
 it was necessarv that La Feuillade should 
 lose Italy. I passed theTanaro and thePo. 
 Vendôme had carried with him the love, 
 t}ie heart, and the spirit of the French. 
 I passed the Secchia and the canal of Le- 
 do, and I again thanked God for remov- 
 ing Vendôme. The Duke of Parma sent 
 me his compliments,fodder,and provisions. 
 The Duke of Savoy, sent me a nobleman 
 from his court, to conjure me to go to him. 
 He was rather uneasy, with his small corps 
 out of the town, the command of which he 
 had left to Daun. I wrote to the former, 
 that it would all be over very soon ; and to 
 the latter, that, reckoning to be at Nice-de- 
 ia-Paille on the 30th of the month of Au- 
 gust, I should soon present to him in Tu- 
 rin, as a recompense for his gallant defence, 
 the patent of general of infantry, which 
 the Emperor had given me for him. I 
 
J 00 THE LIFE OF 
 
 caused Goito to be taken by the Prince of 
 Hesse, and Astradella by Kirscbaum. 
 I marched only during the night, on ac- 
 count of the intense heat, which greatly in- 
 commoded us. I passed the Bormida, and 
 I halted on the 27th quite near the Ta- 
 naro, to arrive in Piedmont, at the place 
 which I had specified to the commandant 
 of Turin, two days before I had fixed ; and, 
 fifteen days before the time, I discharged 
 my promise, with an order to thank his 
 brave garrison for me. " The great calcu- 
 l - lator Catinat," said I to myself, " and 
 " the fiery and rapid Vendôme, (when he 
 " should be so) would not have suffered me 
 " to do all this." I returned thanks to 
 heaven also, for we are devout when we 
 ae happy. " Apparently," said I also 
 to myself, " the extensive power, and the 
 " narrow mind of Marsin, will check the 
 " talents and bravery of the Duke of Or- 
 " leans." I went to visit the Duke of Sa- 
 voy beneath Carmagnole, and our soldiers, 
 when thev saw us embrace each other, 
 threw their caps in the air, and cried out, 
 Long live Joseph I. and Victor Amadeus! 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 101 
 
 and 1 believe also a few, JLongiive Eugene ! 
 La Feuillade made an assault on the 
 30th, and was repulsed with great loss. 
 The Duke of Orleans, more skilful than 
 his two colleagues, wished to march to me. 
 Marsin said to him, in the council of war, 
 that probably I only thought of throwing 
 succours into the city ; and that, with the 
 rest, I should be a spectator of its capture. 
 All the generals were of the same opinion 
 as the Duke of Orleans. Marsin shewed a 
 writing signed by the King. " The Prince 
 " is angry," said he to them ; " gentlemen, 
 " I have a tutor. My post-chaise : I shall 
 " set off." He did not, however, because 
 he was anxious to fight. I sent Visconti 
 to cut off a considerable convoy. 
 
 Turin held out for four months, and 
 could do no more : we marched at last, 
 to deliver it. The Duke of Savoy and 
 myself mounted on a height, whence we 
 saw various irregular movements in the 
 enemy's camp. " These people, my cou- 
 " sin," said I, " are already half beaten." 
 Our whole artillery gave a terrible coup d 9 
 archet. The battle commenced; the Duke 
 
 i 2 
 
iO£ THE LIFE OP 
 
 of Savoy and myself, ran where we thought 
 our presence most necessary. This 
 time we fought sincerely and heartily ; 
 there can be no doubt of it ; it was pro do- 
 mo sua. The right wing was repulsed first, 
 because it could not attack so soon as the 
 left. Anhalt remedied all with his brave 
 Prussian infantry, and myself at the head 
 of four squadrons : during an hour and a 
 half, advantages were gained on both sides ; 
 we killed, but we did not conquer. We 
 succeeded in leaping into the entrench- 
 ments of the French, but they separated 
 in pursuing. Three pieces of cannon, well 
 posted, checked the carabiniers, who, 
 otherwise, would have made bad work with 
 m y cuirassiers, and perhaps with my infan- 
 try : it was in rallying them who had been 
 already put into confusion, that one of my 
 pages and a valet-de-chambre were killed 
 behind me, and that my horse, wounded 
 by a musket shot, threw me into a ditch. 
 They thought I was dead, and they say, 
 that this belief caused a momentary sensa- 
 tion among the troops. The order which I 
 gave, remounting on horseback, covered 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 103 
 
 with dust, uiud, and blood, totheregiment 
 of Stahreberg, to fire a volley upon the 
 French cavalry, relieved my infantry, who 
 kept themselves firm on the part of the 
 lines which they had forced. The centre 
 preserved itself well. Rehbinder was re^ 
 pulsed three times by the Duke of Orleans, 
 who received two musket shots. The Duke 
 of Savoy entered, at length, himself, into 
 the trenches. 
 
 We were then able to give some help 
 to the Prince of Saxe-Gotha, who perform- 
 ed wonders on the right, but could not 
 succeed, because of the Castle of Lucento. 
 The Saxons leaped into the trenches, 
 forced Pont Cassine, and the battle was 
 thought to be gained on all sides; but 
 they all rallied again, and attacked us on 
 the field of battle which we had won. 
 Daun, though pressed by La Feuillade, 
 made a sortie at this interesting moment, 
 and decided the victory. I know not what 
 might have happened, if Albergotti hud 
 not been so silly as to remain a spectator 
 on the hill of the Capucins with forty 
 battalions. One thing is certain— that the 
 
104 THE LIFE OF 
 
 most obstinately disputed battle which I 
 ever saw, ought to have continued longer; 
 however, not calculating upon such a piece 
 of folly, I had troops disposed to take 
 him in flank, if he had attempted to de- 
 scend to me. This was the 7th of Sep- 
 tember. 
 
 My good fortune would have it, that 
 Marsin, who was killed there, waited for 
 me with his eighty thousand men behind 
 the lines : if he had come to attack me, 
 before hand, and to turn me, I should have 
 been greatly embarrassed with my thirty 
 thousand. I was under many obligations, 
 on this occasion to two Frenchmen, Bon- 
 neval and Langallerie — bad heads, and 
 who finished badly, but whom I loved 
 greatly then for their valour and spirit. 
 I had some influence with the Emperor 
 Joseph, and I had taken them both, as 
 generals, into the Imperial service. It was 
 a pity that they turned thus : they pre- 
 tended to be free-thinkers, who are almost 
 always unsteady characters. The affec- 
 tation of irreligion is, independently of its 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 105 
 
 foolish impiety, always the mark of a bad 
 taste. 
 
 Before giving myself up entirely to 
 joy, fearing lest the conquered besiegers 
 should endeavour to cover the Milanese, 
 I drew out my telescope, which I never 
 use but when I cannot reconnoitre close, 
 and seeing them fly towards Pignerol, ra- 
 ther than retire, I said to the Duke of Sa- 
 voy, " My cousin, Italy is ours !" 
 
 It may be easily imagined how we 
 were both received in Turin, where the 
 little powder that remained in the city 
 hardly served to make a general salute of 
 artillery, during the Te Deum. " I do not 
 " think," said I to Daun, whom I embra- 
 ced with great sincerity, " that Louis 
 " XIV. will have one sung in Paris this 
 
 " time." 
 
 The next day after the great battle, the 
 
 Prince of Hesse lost a little one against 
 Medavi ; but that did me no harm : I con- 
 tinued to pursue. The Vaudois massacred 
 the runaways. We took Chivas, Nova- 
 re, Milan, the citadel of which last place 
 we blockaded ; Lodi, Pizzighitone, Tor- 
 
106 THE LIFE OF 
 
 tone, Alexandria, Seravalla, and Casel. 
 Going to reconnoitre the post of Cara- 
 corta, I received a severe contusion in my 
 left arm by a musket-ball. 
 
 (1707.) 
 
 Our generalissimo remained at Turin, 
 very well contented, and I took up my 
 winter-quarters : we both of us thought 
 of making the siege of Toulon, after hav- 
 ing taken the citadel of Milan and of Mo- 
 dena, and some other little posts, when 
 Louis XIV. offered to evacuate all Italy. 
 We consented, upon condition that some- 
 thing should be given to the Duke of 
 Mantua, Mirandole to its duke, and 
 much to the Duke of Savoy, as a re- 
 compense to him. Daun signed the con- 
 vention on our part, and St. Pater on that 
 of the French, on the 7th of March. 
 
 I know not what possessed Joseph I. 
 to send me to the Rhine in the place of the 
 Prince of Baden. I wrote to him, that 
 this was certainly some trick of my ene- 
 mies, that I did not wish it, and that I 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 107 
 
 was going on prosperously where I was. 
 I did not expect indeed to have missed 
 Toulon ; we should indubitably have ta- 
 ken it, if we had not been made to lose 
 time, in the conquest of the kingdom of 
 Naples, where there was a conspiracy in 
 favour of the House of Austria. Two cursed 
 cïfcrdinals, Grimani and Pignatelli, who 
 were there, prevailed against the advice 
 of the Duke of Savoy and of myself: there 
 is no influence at court which can exist 
 in absence. Louis XIV. would have 
 been much more humiliated by the loss of 
 Dauphiny, Languedoc, and Provence. 
 Tessé opposed, in vain, our passage of the 
 mountains. I passed them on the 4th of 
 July, at the Col de Tende, and the Duke 
 of Savoy and the other corps elsewhere : 
 the Var was crossed t, some entrenchments 
 were taken ; we marched to Frejus ; we 
 arrived before Toulon. 
 
 The Duke of Savoy urged me to carry 
 the height of St. Catharine. I placed 
 there the young Prince of Saxe-Gotha, 
 and the Duke of Savoy proniised him a 
 reinforcement of four battalions, if he 
 
108 THE LIFE OF 
 
 should be attacked ; they could not possi- 
 bly arrive in time. Never did the French 
 attack with such rapidity and fury. This 
 prince, only twenty years of age, and al- 
 ready lieutenant-general of the armies of 
 the Emperor, of England, and of Holland, 
 of a charming figure, and accomplished 
 at all points, defended himself like a lion. 
 He had already lost a number of men : 
 of the two hundred who still remained, 
 not above thirty or forty w r ere with him, 
 to whom he said, " My friends, let us, 
 " at least, die like men of honour." At 
 that instant he was killed with two mus- 
 quet shots. Works, entrenchments, bat- 
 teries, every thing was ruined and de- 
 stroyed, every thing was to be begun 
 again. I was inconsolable for the loss 
 of the young prince : but I was a little 
 comforted by the destruction of St. Catha- 
 rine, and by the capture of the two forts 
 of St. Margaret and St. Louis. Notwith- 
 standing, I could not help secretly ask- 
 ing myself, where will be the utility ? 
 Tessé made most excellent arrange- 
 ments in the place, and I strongly sus- 
 pected that the expedition to Naples, which 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. ]09 
 
 had retarded the arrival of the English 
 and Dutch fleet before Toulon, would have 
 made us lose it. But these are the effects 
 of cabinets, parliaments, states-general, 
 and coalitions. We should have marched, 
 as I proposed, directly to Toulon after the 
 expulsion of the French from Lombardy. 
 Notwithstanding that, however, but for the 
 bravery and genius of Tessé, and the un- 
 happy day which witnessed the death of 
 my dear Prince of Gotha, we should have 
 succeeded. 
 
 I left to the Duke of Savoy the honour 
 of proposing to raise the siege ; I took care 
 not to contradict him : I suspected that 
 the English would accuse him of having 
 been in concert with the French. They 
 were vexed at having incurred so much 
 expense uselessly : and they may be for- 
 given. I wrote to Marlborough that they 
 were wrong, and that this once, by chance, 
 the Duke of Savoy was the most sincere 
 man in the world with regard to us : but 
 he had not been too much so towards the 
 Provençeaux upon whom he had practised 
 violent extortions, and cut up and destroy- 
 
 K 
 
1 10 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ed their olive trees : taking away plants 
 and seeds to carry them into his own 
 country. Detested as he was, he was 
 often embarrassed in his retreat : mine 
 was executed easier. On the 25th of July 
 my army arrived at Frejus : I frus- 
 trated the intentions of Medavi, who 
 thought to harass my march through the 
 defiles' and in the passages of the Var, 
 which I executed without any difficulty. 
 
 Angry, however, at having passed a 
 campaign without any success, I went to 
 take Suza, the only place which the 
 French retained on this side the moun- 
 tains : I Avent to Turin to take up my 
 winter-quarters ; to Milan to regulate the 
 contributions of the princes of Italy ; and 
 to Vienna to arrange the plans of the en- 
 suing campaign. 
 
 We must not be discontented at court : 
 I hate grumblers, even when they have 
 reason to grumble. Idle sallies pass 
 from the closet to the parlour, from the 
 parlour to the dining-room, and, from 
 the imprudence of speaking before ser- 
 vants, from thence to taverns ; and all this 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. Ill 
 
 gradually makes an impression upon the 
 people which may become dangerous. Be- 
 ing certain that Joseph I. would be em- 
 barrassed in my presence, for not hav- 
 ing believed me, I maintained a respect- 
 ful but easy carriage towards him. He 
 behaved kind to me, and scolded me be- 
 cause I had exposed myself too much. 
 The reply which I made to this amiable 
 reproach may easily be surmised. " You 
 "have," said he to me, " driven the French 
 " from Bavaria and Italy ; go and drive 
 " them from the Low Countries. Rest 
 " yourself, and set offon the 26th of March 
 " for several courts, and give the coalition 
 " that aspect which you and I wish it to 
 " have." 
 
 (1708.) 
 
 On the 31st, I was at Dresden : and I 
 obtained from King Augustus, a promise 
 that he would send me a corps of his 
 troops : I went to Hanover, the Elector 
 promised me one also. I set off for the 
 Hague, where I eagerly embraced Marl- 
 
112 THE LIFE OB 
 
 borough, who had come there for the 
 same purpose. We both of us urged 
 Heinsius and Fagel to assist us, assuring* 
 them, that, to prevent the enemy from 
 besieging places, we would gain a battle 
 as soon as possible. I appeased these 
 gentlemen as well as I could, who were 
 discontented because the Emperor had not 
 made peace with the rebels of Hungary, 
 and because he had appropriated to him- 
 self the revenues of Naples, of the Mi- 
 lanese, and of Bavaria. I then went to 
 Dusseldorff, to appease, also, the Elector 
 Palatine, who was displeased with Joseph 
 I. respecting the Upper Palatinate. I re- 
 turned to Hanover with Marlborough, to 
 urge the Elector. 1 passed through Leip- 
 sic, to urge also King Augustus, whom I 
 found there ; and, after having given an ac- 
 count at Vienna of my successful negotia- 
 tions, they sent me immediately to Franc- 
 fort, to confer with the Elector of May en ce, 
 that of Hanover, and Rechteren, who was 
 minister of Holland. I spread the report 
 that it was merely a journey of health, and 
 that the doctors had prescribed to me the 
 baths of Schlangenbad. And 1 said, to each 
 
a 
 
 a 
 
 PRINCE EUGENE. 113 
 
 of these petty allies, " It is for your 
 " own interest : a great Emperor would 
 " live at your expense, were you not, 
 " and perhaps would find himself better 
 off. One is obliged to preserve your 
 country thus. If you do not protect 
 yourselves in defending it, take care 
 " that another Lonvois does not give the 
 " whole Empire to fire and blood." 
 
 I have always taken, as the basis of 
 my politics, the interest of the persons 
 with whom I had to deal, and have de- 
 tested the flatterers of the court, who 
 say, These Princes are personally attached 
 to your Majesty. Thus they fool the self- 
 love of monarchs, who like, besides, to 
 be told — all goes on well, or excellent, or 
 is improving. 
 
 Villars was not the dupe of the orders 
 of the faculty for the cure of ills which I 
 had not. He wrote to a prisoner, whom 
 he sent back to me. " If you are in the 
 " army which is abv ut to be commanded 
 " by Prince Eugene, assure him of my 
 "respects. I understand that he is going 
 u to the baths on the 20th of June: 
 
 k 2 
 
114 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " methinks he was not always so attentive 
 u to his health. We shall soon see what 
 " sort of baths he wished to visit." I 
 assembled my army of Austrians and of 
 allied Germans at Coblentz, where I had 
 a long conference with the Elector of 
 Treves. The French had a hundred thou- 
 sand men in the Low'Countries : Marlbo- 
 rough had only sixty thousand. They 
 ordered me to march to his assistance: I 
 sent my troops by forced marches, and 
 went myself, post, fearing lest they should 
 fight without me. Cadogan waited upon 
 me with his compliments at Maestricht. 
 He told me that the French had surprised 
 Ghent, Bruges, and Plaskendael, and that 
 they had need of me. I went through 
 Brussels, where my interview with my mo- 
 ther, after twenty-five years of separation, 
 was very affecting, but very short ; and 
 I found Marlborough encamped at Aseh, 
 between Brussels and Alost ; and hear- 
 ing that the enemy had their left on the 
 other side of the Dender, I demanded of 
 Marlborough, when I arrived, if it was , 
 not his intention to give battle. " It is 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 115 
 
 4 my intention," he immediately replied* 
 4 and I perceive with pleasure, but not 
 'with surprise, that we are both of opin- 
 ■ ion, that without that, they would cut oft' 
 ' our communication with Brussels : I 
 8 wish, however, to wait for your troops." 
 ' I would advise you hot," I replied, " for 
 * the French will have time to retire." 
 
 Vendôme wished to dispute the passage 
 of the Pender with us. He said to the 
 Duke of Burgundy, whom bad counsellors 
 had advised to march towards Ghent, 
 "When you shew Prince Eugene any de- 
 " sire to avoid an engagement, he knows 
 " how to force you to it." I saw this sen- 
 tence in the exculpatory letter which he 
 published on his return to Paris. 
 
 Cadogan went to Oudenarde, and, in a 
 few hours, he threw a bridge over the 
 Scheldt. " It is yet time enough," said 
 Vendôme to the Duke of Burgundy, " to 
 " countermand your march, and to attack, 
 " with those which we have here, that part 
 " of the allied army which has passed the 
 "river." The Duke hesitated, halted on 
 the height of Garves, lost time, wished to 
 
116 THE LIFE OF 
 
 return, sent eight squadrons to dispute 
 the passage, recalled them, and said, " Let 
 " us inarch to Ghent."—" There is no lon- 
 " ger time for it," said Vendôme, " voit 
 * cannot do it now ; in half an hour 
 " you will have the enemy upon your 
 " hands." — " Why did you stop me 
 " then ?" said the Duke. " To attack im- 
 " mediately," he replied. "There isCado- 
 M gan already master of the village of 
 " Hurne, and six battalions. Let us at 
 " least form ourselves as well as we can." 
 Rantzau began the attack. He routed a 
 column of cavalry, and would have been 
 routed himself, but for the Electoral 
 Prince of Hanover, who, in the charge, had 
 his horse killed under him. Grimaldi com- 
 manded a charge to be made too soon and 
 improperly. " What are you about ?" said 
 Vendôme, riding up to him at full gal- 
 lop ; " you are doing wrong." — " The 
 " Duke of Burgundy ordered it," said he, 
 This latter, vexed at being contradicted, 
 thought only of contradicting others. Ven- 
 dôme wished to charge with the left. 
 " What are you about ?" said the Duke of 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 117 
 
 Burgundy to him; " I forbid you: there 
 " is a ravine and an impassable marsh/' 
 We may easily judge of the anger of Yen- 
 dome, who had passed over it only a mo- 
 ment before. But for this misunderstand- 
 ing, we should have been beaten perhaps ; 
 for, our cavalry was more than half an hour 
 in order of battle, before the infantry could 
 join it. It was on this account, that I or- 
 dered the village of Hurne to be abandon- 
 ed,that I might send the battalions to sup- 
 port the squadrons on the right wing. But 
 the Duke of Argyle came up, with all pos- 
 sible speed, at the head of the English in- 
 fan try, then the Dutch,though much more 
 slowly. " Now," said I to Marlborough, 
 " we are in a state to fight." It was six 
 o'clock in the evening, on the 1 1th of July; 
 we had three hours of day-light before us. 
 I was on the right, at the head of the Prus- 
 sians. Some battalions turned their backs, 
 after being attacked with unexampled fury. 
 They rallied, repaired their fault, and were- 
 gained the ground which we had lost. The 
 battle no vvex tended along the whole length 
 of the line. The spectacle was a grand 
 
118 THE LIFE OP 
 
 one. It was one sheet of fire. Our ar- 
 tillery did great execution: that of the 
 French, from the uncertainty which reign- 
 ed in the army, (the consequence of the 
 disunion between the chiefs,) being badly 
 posted,did not do much. Among us it was 
 just the contrary: we loved and esteemed 
 each other: even Marshal Ouverkerke 
 commanding the Dutch, venerable from 
 his age, and services, obeyed us willingly, 
 and fought wonderfully. 
 
 I will give a proof of our perfect har- 
 mony. My affairs were going on badly 
 on the right, which I commanded. 
 Marlborough, who perceived it, sent me a 
 reinforcement of eighteen battalions ; but 
 for that I should hardly have been able to 
 keep my position. I then advanced, and 
 made the first line give way; but I found, 
 at the head of the second, Vendôme on 
 foot, with a pike in his hand, animating 
 his soldiers. He made such a vigorous re- 
 sistance, that I should never have succeed- 
 ed, but for INatzmer, at the head of the 
 Prussian gendarmerie, who pierced, broke 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 119 
 
 the enemy, and made me obtain a com- 
 plete victory. 
 
 Marlborough purchased his more dear- 
 ly on the left, where he attacked in front, 
 while Ouverkerke dislodged the enemy 
 from the hedges and villages. Nassau, 
 Fries, and Oxenstiern, drove the infantry 
 beyond the denies, but they were roughly 
 handled by the household troops who 
 came to its assistance. I now returned my 
 obligation to my Lord Duke. I sent Tilly, 
 who, making a great circuit, took these 
 brave household troops in the rear, who 
 were just snatching the victory from us ; 
 but then, it was tinally decided . The ob- 
 scurity of night prevented us from pursu- 
 ing, and suggested to me a scheme for in- 
 creasing the number of prisoners which we 
 had made. I sent drums to various places, 
 with orders to beat the French retreat ; and 
 I posted my French refugee officers, to cry 
 on all sides, Here, Picardy! here, Cham- 
 pagne! here, Piedmont /TheFrench soldiers 
 flocked in, and I made a famous harvest; 
 in all, we took seven thousand. The 
 Duke of Burgundy, and his ill advisers,had 
 
120 THE LIFE OF 
 
 retired long before. Vendôme collected 
 the wrecks, and took charge of the rear 
 guard. 
 
 As they had already began to retreat 
 from each other, as soon as it grew dark, 
 Marlborough waited for day-light to over- 
 take the enemy before they should be 
 able to reach Ghent. His detachment 
 found them soon enough. Vendôme had 
 posted his grenadiers to the right and left 
 of the high road, and they routed our ca- 
 valry which was pursuing. Vendôme thus 
 saved the wreck of the army, which en- 
 tered Ghent in the greatest confusion with 
 the Dukes of Burgundy and Berri, and 
 the Count of Toulouse : his presence, 
 soothed, consoled, and checked the sol- 
 diery. 
 
 They all held a council of war, in the 
 tavern called the Golden Apple. The advice 
 of the Princes and of their courts was as 
 usual detestable. Vendôme was angry, ex- 
 pressed his indignation to them for having 
 thwarted him, and told them, that,resol vin ^ 
 to be so no longer, he had ordered the ar- 
 my to encamp behind the canal of Bruges 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 121 
 
 at Lovendeghem. I pitied him from the 
 bottom of my heart, as I did the Elector 
 of Bavaria in Î704, and the Duke of Or- 
 leans in 1706. 
 
 As I was certain that Marlborough 
 could not do otherwise than make good 
 arrangements, the day after the battle 
 I went to see my mother again at Brus- 
 sels. How many tears of tenderness did 
 she shed, in beholding me once more with 
 additional glory. I told her that the part 
 of Marlborough, as well now as at Hoch- 
 stet, appeared to me much greater. — 
 The joy of vengeance was a little inter- 
 mingled with that of victory: she was 
 well pleased to see a King humbled who 
 had quitted her in her youth for another 
 woman, and who had exiled her in her 
 old age. What was sufficiently singular 
 was, that, when advanced in years, she 
 married the Duke of Ursel, without ta- 
 king his name. This is what no one ever 
 knew: it could not be a marriage of 
 conscience nor of convenience, but pro- 
 bably of listlessness and mere vacuity. 
 
 We could not help amusing ourselves 
 
 L 
 
122 THE LIFE OF 
 
 a little, upon the former devices of the 
 monarch and his Place des Victoires. The 
 fifteen days which I thus passed with her 
 were the most agreeable ones of my whole 
 life. I separated from her with the more 
 sorrow, as it was most probable I should 
 never see her again; but, luckily, she was 
 not told this. During the last day of my 
 abode there, the troops of the Moselle ar- 
 rived. We were then as strong as theFrench. 
 I sent eight battalions to reinforce Marl- 
 borough, who covered Flanders. I left 
 the rest to cover Brussels, and I rejoined 
 him at the camp of Elchin. He, Ouver- 
 kerke, and myself, were of opinion that it 
 would be well to send a large detachment 
 to waste Artois and Picardy, in order to 
 oblige Vendôme to quit his camp. Ven- 
 dôme, who penetrated our designs,remain- 
 ed immoveable. I proposed the siege of 
 Lisle. Deputies from the States-General 
 took it in their heads to be of a différent 
 opinion. Marlborough concurred with 
 me, and they were obliged to be silent. I 
 was charged with the siege, and Marlbo- 
 rough undertook to cover it from the 
 
PRINCE EUGEN£. 123 
 
 army of the Duke of Burgundy. This 
 last had encamped with sixty thousand 
 men near the Pont-des-pierres ; and, I with 
 forty thousand, after having invested the 
 city, took up my head-quarters at the 
 Abbey of Loos, on tne 13th of August. 
 The brave and skilful Boufflers, with a 
 garrison of sixteen battalions and four re- 
 giments of dragoons, prepared a good deal 
 of embarrassment for me. The labour, 
 far from being easy, was dangerous ; for 
 Mons did not belong to us. My first 
 attack upon fort Catelen was repulsed. 
 My enterprise, on the same day, to drain 
 off a stagnant pond which incommoded 
 me, succeeded no better. I had bastions 
 constructed, for the firing from the place 
 inconvenienced me so much, that a cannon 
 ball took off the head of the Prince of 
 Orange's valet de chambre just as he was 
 handing him his shirt. It was thought 
 that he would be obliged to change his 
 quarter, and remove it further off. I open- 
 ed the trenches ; and, on the 23d, the 
 besieged made a sortie, when Betendorff, 
 the lieutenant-general commanding, was 
 
124 THE LIFE OF 
 
 made prisoner. Boufflers treated him re- 
 markably well. The festival of St. Louis, 
 which he celebrated by three general dis- 
 charges of his whole artillery, cost us 
 some men. On the nights of the 26th 
 and 27th, the besieged made-a terrible sor- 
 tie ; I captured the post of the mill of St. 
 Andre. Boufflers took it from me again, 
 and I lost six hundred men. 
 
 Marlborough sent me word, that Ber- 
 wick, having reinforced the Duke of Bur- 
 gundy, the army, which was now a hun- 
 dred and twenty thousand strong, had 
 marched to the assistance of Lisle. The 
 deputies from the States-General, always 
 interfering, and always dying with fear, 
 demanded of me a reinforcement for him. 
 I repaired to his camp to offer it to him : 
 lie said to me, " Let us go together and 
 u reconnoitre the ground between the 
 " Deule and the Marek ;" and, after hav- 
 ing examined it, he said, " I have no need 
 " of reinforcements : I shall merely ap- 
 proximate my camp to yours." Vendôme 
 proposed not to lose a day in attacking 
 the army of observation, and that of the 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 125 
 
 siege. " I cannot," said the Duke of Bur- 
 gundy : " I have sent a courier to my 
 " grandfather, to know if he approves of 
 "it. v# Conferences were held at Ver- 
 sailles, and the king sent his blockhead 
 Chamillard to the camp of his grandson. 
 He ascended, with him, the steeple of the 
 village of Sedin, to observe our two ar- 
 mies ; and he decided that it would be 
 prudent to renounce giving battle. 
 
 I wonder that Vendôme did not go 
 mad ; any other man, less zealous than he 
 was, would have sent them all to the de- 
 vil ; but he, a much better grandson of 
 the king of France than the other, ap- 
 proached the night before so near to re- 
 connoitre the position of Marlborough, 
 that he was grazed by a cannon ball. I 
 had returned to Marlborough's camp 
 again, to serve him as a volunteer, if he 
 had been attacked. 
 
 * In the second volume of Bausset's Life of Fenelon, trans- 
 lated by Mr. Mudford, the reader will find several letters from 
 the Duke of Burgundy to Fenelon, illustrative of various partic- 
 ulars touched upon by Prince Eugene.— Trans. 
 
 l2 
 
 * 
 
126 THE LIFE OF 
 
 But, (when I think of it again,) a 
 Chamillard, (that is saying every thing,) 
 a young prince without character* and 
 an old king who had lost his, it was 
 enough to fill the heart of Vendôme with 
 rage, when they made him retreat, as if he 
 had been beaten. I continued the siege, 
 very certain of not being interrupted ; and 
 I took the redoubt of the gate of Flanders, 
 and some others ; but, after three hours 
 fighting for one that was more essential, 
 I was driven off, and pursued even to my 
 entrenchments. I did not move much, 
 nor the King of Poland and all my young 
 princes by my side, for I had to set an 
 example and to give orders. I directed 
 two assaults to be made, to facilitate the 
 taking of the covered way : always re- 
 pulsed, but a horrible carnage. Five thou- 
 sand English, whom Marlborough sent to 
 recruit my losses, performed wonders, but 
 they were routed. The cries of Long live 
 the King andJBottfflers ! were heard. I said 
 a few words in English to these brave 
 fellows, who rallied around me: I led them 
 into the midst of the fire ; but a ball 
 
 * 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 127 
 
 above the left eye overthrew me, in a state 
 of insensibility. They thought me dead, 
 and I thought so too. They found a tum- 
 brel, on which they conveyed me to my 
 quarters : they despaired of my life, and 
 afterwards of my sight ; but neither hap- 
 pened ; I returned to myself. The ball 
 had struck me obliquely. This was also 
 a fruitless attack : out of five thousand 
 men, not fifteen hundred returned, and 
 twelve hundred workmen were killed. 
 
 Obliged to have my wounds attended 
 to, and to be kept quiet for some time, I 
 left the command of the siege to Marlbo- 
 rough, who resigned his post to Ouver- 
 kerke. He succeeded in making a lodg- 
 ment, en tenaille, to the left : but a dreadful 
 mine blew up the attack and the besiegers. 
 Marlborough counter-mined some, and did 
 every thing in his power to save me trou- 
 ble when I returned. He compelled me 
 to eat in public, to revive the confidence 
 of my army, and then he returned to 
 his. 
 
 The Chevalier de Luxembourg eluded 
 me by introducingmilitary stores, of which 
 
 ♦ 
 
128 THE LIFE 01** 
 
 the besieged stood in great need ; and a 
 captain, called Dubois, by swimming, 
 eluded me also, and carried a note from 
 Boufflers to the Duke of Burgundy, to 
 assure him, that, during forty days that 
 the trenches had been opened, I had not 
 made myself completely master of any 
 one work. " Notwithstanding that, how- 
 " ever," he continued, " I cannot hold out 
 * longer than till the 15th or 20th of Oc- 
 " tober." 
 
 I wanted powder. A single letter from 
 Marlborough to his friend Queen Anne, 
 caused it to be sent to me, with fourteen 
 battalions, in the fleet of Vice- Ad mirai 
 Bings, who landed them at Ostend. Every 
 one is acquainted with the stupidity of 
 Lamotte, who not only suffered this con- 
 voy to reach me, but let his whole corps 
 be completely beaten, which was destined 
 to intercept it. Entirely recovered from 
 my wound, I visited, day and night, the 
 works, which Boufflers, also constantly 
 present, every where, repeatedly checked 
 or destroyed. 
 
 * 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 129 
 
 I took it in my head to give repeated 
 alarms, during several nights, the moon 
 being in her second quarter, and to attack 
 them afterwards in full day ; being per- 
 suaded that the soldiers, fatigued, would 
 take that time to repose themselves. This 
 succeeded : I caused an assault to be 
 made upon a saliant angle, which succeed- 
 ed also : I had the covered way attacked, 
 and that succeeded. Afterwards, I made a 
 breach in the curtain, and enlarged one in 
 a bastion ; I succeeded : and when, at 
 length, I was working at the descent of 
 the ditch, the Marshal, who had invented 
 some new artifice every day, and had done 
 all that valour and science could effect, 
 demanded to capitulate on the 22d of 
 September. 
 
 I made no other conditions than pro- 
 mising to sign whatever ones he might 
 propose to me. " This is to testify to you, 
 " M. le Marshal," I wrote to him, " my 
 " perfect esteem for your person, and I am 
 " sure, that a brave man like you, will 
 " not take advantage of it. I felicitate 
 " you upon your noble defence.'' 
 
 *&*& 
 
130 THE LIFE OF 
 
 My council of war, whom I assembled 
 from politeness, made some representa- 
 tions to me, touching the article that the 
 citadel should not be attacked on the side 
 of the city. I yielded, having my project 
 in my head, and I wrote to Boufflers. 
 " Some reasons prevent me, M. le Marshal, 
 "from signing that article, but I give you 
 " my word and honour to observe it ; I hope, 
 " in six weeks, to give you, myself, fresh 
 " proofs of my admiration." Boufflers re- 
 tired into the citadel, and I entered into 
 the town with Marlborough, the King of 
 Poland, the Landgrave of Hesse, &c. We 
 went in the morning to church, and in 
 the evening to the theatre, and, all mat- 
 ters respecting the capitulation being 
 finished on the 29th of October, I opened 
 the trenches, on the same day, before the 
 citadel. 
 
 Before I speak of this siege, let me 
 relate what happened to me during that of 
 the town. A clerk of the post-office wrote 
 to the secretary of General Dopf, to carry 
 two letters to me, one of which came from 
 the Hague, and the other from I know 
 
 * 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 131 
 
 not where. I opened this letter, and found 
 nothing in it but a piece of greased paper ; 
 persuaded, as I am, even yet, that it was a 
 mistake, or some useless piece of informa- 
 tion, which I might have read, perhaps, if 
 I had taken the trouble to hold the paper 
 before the fire, I threw it away ; it was 
 picked up ; and it is said, that a dog, round 
 whose neck they tied it, died twenty-four 
 hours afterwards of poison. 
 
 What makes me think that this is not 
 true, is, that at Versailles they are too ge- 
 nerous, and at Vienna too devout for such 
 an action. 
 
 On the ninth day the besieged made 
 a vigorous sortie. The Duke of Bruns- 
 wick, who repulsed them, received a mus- 
 quet shot in his head. On the eleventh, 
 a still more vigorous sortie by the Cheva- 
 lier de Luxembourg!), who drove my troops 
 from their trenches, and made us fall 
 back as far as St. Catharine's. One of my 
 best officers of the staff had his head car- 
 ried off by a cannon ball at my side. The 
 enemy lost many men before they returned 
 
 * 
 
132 THE LIFE OF 
 
 into the citadel. I had every thing re- 
 paired. 
 
 Suddenly, I was obliged to abandon the 
 siege, the direction of which I left to 
 Prince Alexander of Wurtemberg. The 
 Elector of Bavaria carried on that of 
 Brussels. Marlborough and myself made 
 him raise it, after a smart fight, and some 
 good manœuvres well arranged, of which 
 he had all the honour, for I could not pass 
 the Scheldt where' I wished. The Elector 
 of Bavaria was a little ashamed. The 
 French Princes would have been so like- 
 wise, if the joy of returning to Versailles 
 had not prevented them. 
 
 I returned to the siege, but what a 
 change ! The Marshal had availed him- 
 self of my absence, to drive away the be- 
 siegers from the first covered way that I 
 had left them. After retaking it, as well 
 as the other posts which had been relin- 
 quished, I wrote to the brave Boufflers— 
 "The French army has retired, sir, towards 
 " Tournay ; the Elector of Bavaria towards 
 " Namur ; the Princes towards their re- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 133 
 
 " spective courts. Preserve yourself and 
 " your brave garrison, and I will again 
 " sign whatever you shall stipulate."— 
 He replied to me, " There is no imtne- 
 " diate necessity : permit me to defend 
 " myself as long as I possibly can: there 
 " still remains enough for me to do, 
 * whereby to merit, still more, the esteem 
 iC of a man whom I so greatly respect." — 
 I ordered an assault upon the second co- 
 vered way. The King of France seems to 
 have suspected that I should, for he wrote 
 to the Marshal to surrender; and, not- 
 withstanding his repugnance, he was just 
 about to do it, when, in a note which the 
 Duke of Burgundy had added to the 
 King's letter, he read these words, — " I 
 " have heard, from a certain quarter, that 
 " they mean to make you a prisoner of 
 " war." I know not where he heard it ; 
 but this Prince, so amiable in peace, could 
 never help saying and doing foolish things 
 in war. This note, however, made a mo- 
 mentary sensation. Generals and soldiers 
 swore they would rather perish in the 
 breach. Boufflers wept with joy, as I 
 
 M 
 
134 THE LIFE OF 
 
 have been told; and, ready to adopt this 
 resolution, he remembered my note, which 
 weighed more with him than the Duke of 
 Burgundy's ; and, after four months of 
 open trenches before the town and citadel, 
 he sent me, on the 8th of December, all 
 the articles which he wished me to sign, 
 and which I did without any restriction. 
 I hastened to pay him a visit, with the 
 Prince of Orange, and truly to do homage 
 to his merit. I embraced him cordially, 
 and accepted an invitation to supper, on 
 condition, I told him, "that it should 
 " be the supper of a famished citadel, to 
 " see what you expected to eat, but for 
 " the express order of the King." They 
 served us with roasted horse flesh: the 
 epicures in my: train did not relish this 
 pleasantry much, but they were soon con- 
 soled in seeing provisions arrive from the 
 town, by which we had excellent fare. 
 
 The next day, I gave him as good a 
 dinner as I could at my abbey, where he 
 came to return my visit. He was quite 
 cheerful and unreserved. We talked of 
 war, politics, and Louis XIV. I was very 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 135 
 
 circumspect on this last topic ; and, speak- 
 ing only of his great qualities, I begged 
 the Marshal to present my most humble 
 respects to him. I amused myself greatly 
 with the flatteries, on this head, of the 
 Deputies of the States-General, Avho, 
 thinking to be very subtle, endeavoured, 
 by those means, to dispose him to make 
 peace, which they ardently wished them- 
 selves. I never dared be alone with the 
 Marshal, lest they should make comme- 
 rages* at our expense, and that one or 
 other of us might be suspected at our 
 courts, where one has always good friends 
 who never sleep. After my testimonies of 
 consideration for this illustrious vanquish- 
 ed general, wherever we were together, at 
 the theatre and in our walks in the streets, 
 where I saw him adored by every one, I 
 had him conducted to Douai, with his 
 brave garrison, attended by a large escort, 
 
 * Of this word, which I do not find in the Diet, de l'Académie, 
 nor in any other, I know not the meaning. Others perhaps may ; 
 and therefore I prefer to give it in the French, rather than to 
 guess a bad translation of it. — Trans. 
 
 Commérages, gossiping tales. Jim. Ed. 
 
136 -THÉ LIFE dE 
 
 and every possible demonstration of ho- 
 nour. 
 
 In one of our conversations I said to 
 him, " If you could have been within and 
 " without the place at the same time, 
 " M. le Maréchal, and if there had been 
 no other French princes but M. de Ven- 
 dôme, whom I call thus from love to 
 Henry IV. I should never have taken 
 Lisle." 
 
 " Do you believe that there is a for- 
 tune in war?" said he : " in you I see 
 nothing but skilful combinations." — I 
 replied, " If I have sometimes made such, 
 it has been because I had bad generals 
 opposed to me: and that was fortune." — 
 In my opinion," said the Marshal, " the 
 only bad luck is, not to have the op- 
 portunity of doing well, but a con- 
 quered general is always wrong, except 
 on some extraordinary occasion, as an 
 order misunderstood; or the death of 
 the messenger; and he may then have 
 some excuse : but there is none for a 
 general who is surprised or beaten. It 
 is only the ignorant who make war a 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 137 
 
 M game of chance ; and, in the end, they 
 44 are caught. Charles XII. is not one: 
 " but I perceive, from news which I have 
 " received this morning, that, while we 
 " are speaking, he is playing very deep." 
 I retook Ghent and Bruges ; and Marl- 
 borough and myself, after having put our 
 troops into winter-quarters, went to pass 
 a month at Brussels : but m nn other was 
 no longer there. 
 
 (1709.) 
 
 On the 9th of January we set off for 
 the Hague. Nothing but honours and 
 feasts ; presents for Marlborough and ar- 
 tificial fire-works for myself. But I pre- 
 vented a magnificent one from taking place, 
 by begging the States-General to give the 
 money to their brave soldiers, whom I had 
 caused to be crippled; and on the 10th 
 of June, I set off for Vienna, to give an 
 account of my proceedings, and to demand 
 instructions. 
 
 I received one to make peace, if they 
 would grant me all I wanted. I returned 
 
 M 2 
 
1*38 THE LIFE OF 
 
 on the 8th of April to the Hague, where I 
 found the plenipotentiaries of the King 
 of France. Famine, the cold of a win- 
 ter that was unexampled in severity, and 
 the want of men and money, rendered 
 him desirous of peace ; but the conquer- 
 ed forget that they are conquered, as soon 
 as they begin to negotiate. They mis- 
 take stubbornness for firmness ; and they 
 finish by being still more conquered. 
 
 There were â hundred thousand men 
 in the Low Countries, under the orders of 
 Marlborough and mine ; and a hundred 
 thousand men under those of Villars. " I 
 " go," said he to the King when he part- 
 ed, " to drive your enemies so far, that they 
 " shall never see again the shores of the 
 " Scheldt, and to regain by a battle, 
 " when I arrive, every thing that has been 
 " taken from your Majesty." 
 
 Without wishing to avoid it, for he was 
 brave in body and mind, he took an ex- 
 tremely advantageous position : that was 
 one of his great talents ; he wanted ve- 
 ry few things to become a perfect war- 
 rior. With reinforcements, which came 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 139 
 
 to us from all sides, we were stronger 
 than he ; but there were no means of at- 
 tacking him where he was. To oblige 
 him to quit it, we resolved upon the siege 
 of Tournay. The trench was opened on 
 the 7 th of July, and the white flag was 
 planted on the 28th ; and on the 21st of 
 August, after the most dreadful subterra- 
 nean war that I ever saw, (for in twenty- 
 six days the besieged sprung thirty-eight 
 mines,) the citadel surrendered. Villars 
 did not move. " Let us go and take 
 " Mons," said I to Marlborough ; " per- 
 " haps this devil of a man will be tired of 
 " being so prudent." Madame de Main- 
 tenon did not think him so prudent as he 
 was, though she loved him much : for she 
 permitted Louis XIV. to send Marshal 
 de Boufflers to his assistance. The ene- 
 mies of Villars, at Versailles, thought to 
 disgust him by this: but I have already 
 proved that brave men love, understand, 
 and esteem each other. The two Mar- 
 shals would fain have saved Mons with- 
 out hazarding a battle : we were upon ce- 
 remony with each other, as to who should 
 
 j 
 
!40 THE LIFE OS 
 
 oblige the other, by giving battle. As 
 soon as our troops from Tournay were ar- 
 rived, " Let us lose no time," said 1 im- 
 mediately ; " and, notwithstanding a hun- 
 " dred and twenty thousand men, woods, 
 " hedges, villages, ditches, holes, triple 
 " entrenchments, and a hundred pieces of 
 " cannon, let us finish the war." 
 
 The deputies of Holland and some 
 poor generals exclaimed against this, re- 
 monstrated and teazed me. I wished to 
 tell them that the old excellent French 
 soldiers were killed in the six or seven 
 battles Marlborough and I had gained : 
 and though I made, with regard to my- 
 self, the reflection that the young ones 
 form but too quickly, (an advantage which 
 they have over every nation,) we decided 
 upon the battle of Malplaquet. On the 
 1 1 th of September a thick fog which arose 
 concealed our arrangements from the Mar- 
 shals : we dissipated it at eight o clock in 
 the morning by a general discharge of ar- 
 tillery. To this military music succeeded 
 that of all the hautboys, drums, fifes, and 
 trumpets, with which I regaled the two 
 
PRINCE EUGENE, 141 
 
 armies. We then saw Villars walking 
 along all the ranks. As they must always 
 speak about the King to the French : "My 
 " friends," said he to them, as I heard, 
 " the King commands me to right; are you 
 " not all glad ?" They immediately shout- 
 ed, Long live the King and 31. de Villars! 
 I attacked, without any shouting, the wood 
 of Sars. I rallied the English guards, who, 
 at the commencement, were scattered, 
 some from courage and some from a con- 
 trary cause. My German battalions sup- 
 ported them. Notwithstanding this, how- 
 ever, we should have been overthrown 
 but for the Duke of Argyle, who, climb- 
 ing courageously on the parapet of the en- 
 trenchment, rendered me master of the 
 wood. This cost me a ball behind the ear, 
 which induced all those who were about 
 me to advise me, on account of the blood 
 which I lost, to have my wound dressed. 
 " If I am beaten," said I, " it will not be 
 " worth while ; and if the French are, I 
 " have time enough." 
 
 What better could I have done than to 
 have perished after so much responsibility 
 
142 THE LIFE OF 
 
 as I had taken upon myself on this occasion 
 also ? I must be pardoned this digression 
 and personal history ; it is human. To 
 endeavour to repair the faults which we 
 have committed, is, I confess, more noble ; 
 but to survive one's glory is terrible. My 
 affairs on the right going on well, I wished 
 to decide those of Marlborough's on the 
 left, which went on slowly. It was in vain 
 that the Prince of Orange had planted a 
 standard on the third entrenchment. The 
 Dutch corps were almost all lying on the 
 ground, either killed or wounded. Dur- 
 ing six hours, Marlborough fought with 
 the centre and the left, without any 
 particular advantage. My cavalry, which 
 I sent to his aid, was routed in the way by 
 the household troops, which last were ser- 
 ved the same by a battery which took them 
 in flank. Marlborough, at length, with- 
 out me, had gained some ground ; hence 
 it was easy for me to turn the centre of the 
 French army, which was exposed by the 
 defeat of the wings. Boufflers did for 
 Villars, what I did for Marlborough : and 
 when he saw him fall from his horse dan- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 143 
 
 gerously wounded above the knee, and the 
 victory escaping them, he thought only 
 of making the finest retreat in the best 
 possible order. I think it is not over-rating 
 it to say, that the loss of the two armies 
 amounted to forty thousand men : those 
 that had not been killed, died of fatigue. 
 I let the remains of my army repose them- 
 selves* interred all I could, and then 
 marched to Mons. 
 
 I had only five thousand men. I open- 
 ed the trench on the 25th of September, 
 and, ready to make an assault on the 
 horn-work of Bertamont, the 22d of Oc- 
 tober Grimaldi capitulated. Our troops 
 entered into winter quarters, and I obli- 
 ged to post along the roads without ceas- 
 ing, went with Marlborough to the Hague, 
 to win over the States-General, upon the 
 point of escaping us. I advised them to 
 say, at the conferences of Gertruydenberg, 
 that they would nothear any talk of peace, 
 unless it were a general one. That it is a 
 good way to continue the war ; for, it is an 
 even wager, that out of four or û\e powers, 
 there will be one whose interest it will be 
 
144 THE XIFE OF 
 
 to have no peace. I was sure of Queen 
 Anne, because I was sure of Marlborough ; 
 he seconded me ably. I went to give an 
 account of what I had done to the Empe- 
 ror. I drew him a hasty sketch of Europe, 
 of whose state I saw that his council had 
 not the smallest idea. I shewed the eager 
 desire which there was in many powers to 
 quit us. We are courageous at a distance. 
 They told me that I had made a line cam- 
 paign. I replied, that I had killed more 
 than they could give me, but I would try. 
 I collected 300,000 florins for my army, 
 which, for a long time, had not been paid; 
 and as many recruits as I could, to rein- 
 force Heister against the rebels of Hun- 
 gary, whom they had neither the talent to 
 beat, nor the skill to appease. I returned, 
 soon after, into the Low Countries, by 
 Berlin, whither I repaired to descend, on 
 the 1st of April. 
 
 (1710.) 
 Along with my friend the Prince of 
 Anhalt- Dessau. It was necessary to hin- 
 der the King of Prussia, w ho imagined that 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 145 
 
 the King of Sweden would find him plenty 
 of work, to withdraw his troops from Italy, 
 where the Duke of Savoy, meditating an 
 irruption into Dauphiny, had need of him. 
 
 Frederick-William promised me. I 
 proved to him, that, since Pultowa, there 
 had been no longer a Charles XII. and that 
 he was the prisoner of his friend the Turks. 
 
 I was sorry, for he could not be a Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus, who made the whole 
 empire tremble ; but I wished that Russia 
 should be prevented from aggrandizing 
 herself, and I considered Sweden as a 
 counterpoise for the equilibrium of Eu- 
 rope. The King of Prussia presented me 
 with a handsome sword, and a fine snuff- 
 box, worth 24,000 florins, which was a 
 great deal for a poor and avaricious prince. 
 I went to the Hague on the 5th of April, 
 to meet Marlborough ; and, when we ar- 
 rived in Flanders, we found the lines of 
 the French, extending from Maubege to 
 Ypres, taken by Cumberland. We went 
 to lay siege to Douai. 
 
 My baggage, coming from Holland, 
 was taken by a French privateer, near 
 
 N 
 
146 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Anvers : all my plate, strong boxes, and 
 the presents I had received. Louis XIV. 
 sensible, apparently, of all that I had said 
 respectful to him through the Marshal de 
 Boufflers, had every thing returned to 
 me. I gave 500 florins and a gold- 
 mounted sword to the captain of the 
 privateer. I opened the trench on the 
 night of the 5th or 6th of May. Alber- 
 gotti made a vigorous sortie on the 8th, 
 which greatly deranged me. No com- 
 mandant ever made so many as he did. 
 Sometimes he even made four in a day. 
 
 Villars, recovered from his wounds, 
 arrived from Paris to make us raise the 
 siege. We took up a good position; 
 and, though it was not so strong as that 
 which he had taken at Malplaquet the 
 preceding year, he respected it. So many 
 battles and so many places lost since the 
 commencement of the century, had ren- 
 dered the French very circumspect, and 
 Villars himself: that is saying every thing. 
 On the 24th of June, Douai surrendered. 
 I also used circumspection on my 
 part. I wished to take Arras, and then no- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 147 
 
 thing would stop me in my progress to 
 Paris : but Villars overthrew my project 
 by an excellent position, where I did not 
 dare to attack him. I consoled myself by 
 taking Bethune. It cost eight days 
 labour. On the 14th of August we had a 
 very pretty advantage. Villars, always 
 courageous personally, even when he 
 could not be so in his army, gave five 
 hundred horse to Broglio, to carry off a 
 quantity of fodder, and marched himself, 
 at the head of fifty squadrons, to support 
 him. Broglio, eager to attack, fell into 
 an ambuscade ; and Villars returned very 
 much vexed. 
 
 Marlborough had a great desire to at- 
 tack. I said to him, " I'll lay a wager 
 ft that you will not be able : let us go 
 " and reconnoitre." — " Very well," said 
 he to me, after finding it to be so himself, 
 " let us continue taking towns." We 
 opened the trench, on the 16th, before 
 St. Venant, and they capitulated on the 
 28th. 
 
 The siege of Aix did not go on quite 
 so quickly; it was not until the beginning 
 
 Ait 
 
148 THE LIFE OP 
 
 of November that, after great efforts of 
 valour on both sides, the besiegers carried 
 the covered way. The brave Quebrinta 
 defended himself, notwithstanding, till the 
 8th. We took up winter quarters. The 
 Hague being the centre of the coalition, 
 which I saw every moment about to sepa- 
 rate, I went there again with Marlbo- 
 rough, and I returned to Vienna on the 
 26th of January. 
 
 (1711.) 
 
 There I found the Emperor and his 
 ministers still irresolute between their pri- 
 vate state and the general interest. " A 
 " halter or a cordon, in a word," said I, 
 to Ragotzi and Caroli. " Finish this 
 " tedious rebellion : you will have a good 
 ; ' opportunity, for the Turks are going 
 " to assist Charles XII. and, unless 
 * 4 Peter I. commits some blunder, he will 
 " occupy them a long time." 
 
 They sent to me (I may say to me, as 
 they think the President of War is the 
 Grand Visier) a minister called Zephala 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 149 
 
 Aga, to assure the Emperor, on their 
 part, that they no longer had any enmity 
 towards him ; but that it was against the 
 Russians His Eminence wished to avenge 
 himself, for reasons known to the whole 
 world. Those were his words. 
 
 Joseph the 1st. was attacked with the 
 small-pox. There were no good physi- 
 cians at Vienna ; one was procured from 
 Lintz : it came out so full and well, that 
 I thought him saved. I wished to take 
 my leave of him before I set off for the 
 Low Countries : he sent me word, that I 
 had already exposed my life but too much 
 for him, and that he needed it elsewhere, 
 not with the small-pox. I did not insist 
 upon it, and I set off on the 16th of 
 April. Three days afterwards, I heard of 
 his death, from the ignorance of the Col- 
 lege of Physicians of Upper and Lower 
 Austria, who disputed all night on the 
 means of remedying a great heat in the 
 bowels, which the Emperor felt. I re- 
 gretted greatly the loss of this prince, who 
 was only in his thirty-third year ; the 
 first, since Charles V. who had any cha- 
 
 N 2 
 
 tft«. ...^ 
 
150 THE LIFE OF 
 
 racter, and who was not superstitious; 
 and I longed to serve him even after his 
 death. I ran to almost all the Electors, 
 to dispose them to secure the Imperial 
 crown to his brother ; and I went to soli- 
 cit the Dutch again to continue their cre- 
 dit in money and in friendship to the King 
 of Spain, Charles II. who became the Em- 
 peror Charles VI. 
 
 The Protestants did not fail to spread 
 the report that the court of Rome, some- 
 times humiliated by Joseph I. had bribed 
 the physicians : but we should never be- 
 lieve defamatory libels, or these authors 
 of pretended private anecdotes, with their 
 malignant doubts. For along time it has 
 been the fashion to make all great person- 
 ages die of poison. 
 
 Tallard, more dangerous in peace than 
 in war ; whom I should nothave left a pri- 
 soner in England, if I thought he would 
 have obtained any interest there, made the 
 Tories triumph, and crushed the Whigs. 
 His assiduity towards Miss Masham, a 
 new favourite of the Queen, in the place of 
 the Dutchess of Marlborough; his address 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 151 
 
 m society ; and his presents of Burgundy 
 and Champagne to Right Honourable 
 Members of Parliament, who were ama- 
 teurs of it, changed the face of the affairs 
 of Europe ; and afterwards, a M. Ména- 
 ger, who was sent there by Louis XIV. 
 The consequences will be seen. 
 
 Marlborough played during the rest of 
 his time in the Low Countries^ Yet he 
 found means to finish his military ca- 
 reer with glory : he forced the lines of the 
 French behind the Senzee, and took the 
 town of Bouchain. 
 
 They found a thousand faults in him, 
 the Duchess being disgraced ; his pride 
 they converted into insolence ; and of his 
 rather too strict economy, they made him 
 a peculator and extortioner. His friends, 
 as may be easily imagined, conducted 
 themselves as such ; that is saying every 
 thing. He was recalled, which was a thun- 
 derbolt to me. The French assembled on 
 the Rhine ; I made Vehlen return from the 
 Low Countries, with a large detachment; 
 and, setting off from the Hague on the 
 Ï 9th of July, I assembled quickly, at Franc- 
 
 ML* 11 
 
Î52 THE LIFE OF 
 
 fort, all the troops I could get together. 1 
 took up so good a position in a camp near 
 Miihlbers:, that I influenced the election 
 of the Imperial crown, which would have 
 failed if I had received a check. The 
 French did not dare to disturb me. It was 
 a campaign of skill rather than of glory. 
 
 Queen Anne threw off all restraint. She 
 had received, coldly, the Dutch ambassa- 
 dor, and prohibited Gallas, the Emperor's, 
 from appearing at court, alleging, as a pre- 
 text, some conversation of his respecting 
 her. Charles VI. ordered me to rectify 
 the indiscretions of Gallas, and to regain 
 the cabinet of St. James's. 
 
 As a good cousin of Victor Amadeus, I 
 ought to have done as he would have done 
 in my place, exclaim against Marlborough 
 more loudly than any of his enemies, and 
 not have seen him. But, even from calcu- 
 lation, petty minds should sometimes as- 
 sume a virtue. We see, otherwise, how 
 they wish to succeed. They are despised, 
 and fail in their purpose. Gratitude, es- 
 teem, participation in so many military 
 labours, and pity for one in disgrace, made 
 
 » 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 153 
 
 me throw myself into the arms of Marl- 
 borough with emotion. Besides-, on such 
 occasions, it is the heart that rules. The 
 people, who followed me wherever I went 
 from the moment I set foot in London, 
 perceived this, and loved me the more for 
 it ; the opposition, and the honest individ- 
 uals of the court, did not esteem me less. 
 In one way or another, every thing was 
 finished for Austria. I caressed a great 
 many persons in place. I made presents, 
 for much may be bought in England. I 
 offered to have Gallas recalled. 1 present- 
 ed a memoir upon this subject, and begged 
 the Queen to adopt other determinations 
 at the congress of Utrecht, whither her 
 plenipotentiaries were already gone, in or- 
 der that the Emperor might be able to 
 send his there. They gave me so vague an 
 answer, that if the court of Vienna had 
 believed me, they would not have relied, 
 at all, upon the feeble succours of the 
 Duke of Onnond, who set off to command 
 the English in the place of Marlborough ; 
 and I should not have lost the battle of 
 Denain. This is how it happened. Not- 
 
154 3*fiE LIFE OF 
 
 withstanding the excellent reception from 
 the Queen, who gave me, at my departure, 
 her portrait, I went to tell the States-Gen- 
 eral that we could reckon only upon 
 them ; and passing through Utrecht, to 
 make my observations, I found the tone of 
 the French so changed, so elevated, that 
 I was more certain than ever of what I 
 announced. On my arrival at the Abbey 
 of Anchin, where I had assembled my 
 army, which consisted of more than a 
 hundred thousand men, Ormond came 
 and made me the most flattering promises, 
 and had the goodness to consent that 
 I should pass the Scheldt below Bouchain : 
 But, after feigning to agree to the siege 
 of Quesnoi, he endeavoured, at first, to 
 dissuade me from it : and then, without 
 any hesitation, refused to assist me in 
 it. I said to him, " Very well, sir, I 
 " shall do without your eighteen thousand 
 " men." " I shall conduct them," replied 
 he, " to take possession of Dunkirk, 
 " which the French are to surrender to 
 " me." " I congratulate the two nations," 
 I replied, " upon this operation, which 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 155' 
 
 * will do equal honour to both. Farewell, 
 " sir." He gave orders for all the troops 
 in the pay of England to follow him. 
 Very few obeyed. I had anticipated the 
 blow ; and I was sure of the Prince of 
 Anhalt, and the Prince of Hesse Cassel. 
 On thé 30th of July I took Quesnoi. 
 I committed the charge of the siege of 
 Landrecy to the Prince of Anhalt, and I 
 entered the lines which I had made between 
 Marchiennes and Denain. The Dutch 
 had collected immense stores of am- 
 munition for war and for the mouth at 
 Marchiennes. It was in vain that I 
 represented to them it would be better 
 to place them at Quesnoi, which is not 
 more than three leagues from Landrecy, 
 one-tenth the distance of the other 
 place : the economy of these gentlemen 
 opposed it. It was this that made me 
 say with an oath, but good humouredly, 
 one day, (as they tell me) when they 
 were speaking before me of the conquests 
 of Alexander, " that he had no Dutch 
 " deputies in his army." I made twenty 
 of their battalion^ and ten squadrons 
 
156 THE LIFE OP 
 
 enter the lines under the command of 
 the Earl of Albermarle, and I advanced to 
 Quesnoi with the main body of my army, 
 to watch the motions of Villars. During 
 all these artifices, of which I foresaw, well, 
 that I should be the dupe, and of which 
 Louis XIV. was ignorant, I jnade him 
 tremble upon his throne. At a very 
 small distance from Versailles, one of my 
 adherents carried off Berenghen, think- 
 ing it was the Dauphin ; others pillaged 
 Champagne and Lorraine. Growenstein, 
 with two thousand horse, levied contribu- 
 tions every where, spread general conster- 
 nation and alarm, and assured them that 
 I should soon follow with my whole 
 arrav. It is asserted that Louis XIV. 
 said on this occasion, " If Landrecy is 
 " taken, I will put myself at the head of 
 " my nobility, and perish rather than see 
 " my kingdom lost." Would he have done 
 it? Would he not have done it ? I can- 
 not say. He wished, once, to quit the 
 trench : but they dissuaded him. For- 
 merly they advised the contrary to Hen- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 157 
 
 ry IV. he made the sign of the cross, and 
 remained. 
 
 Villars, not thinking himself strong 
 enough to attack me, (which was just what 
 I wished) thought to deliver Landrecy 
 in another manner. I have mentioned my 
 vexation at having my magazines at Mar- 
 chiennes, on which depended the continu- 
 ation of the siege. Two leagues of extent 
 were too much for the Dutch corps. But 
 for the want of the English corps, they 
 might have been defended. Now was 
 the occasion on which Villars proved his 
 skill, and I committed a sort of error with 
 which I reproached myself : to conceal a 
 movement with his left towards the Scheldt 
 with the greatest secrecy and security 
 possible, he drew my attention, with his 
 right, towards Landrecy, as if he intended 
 to attack the lines of contravallation. 
 Suddenly, he brought this right towards 
 his left, which, during the night had easi- 
 ly placed bridges, as the Scheldt was not 
 broad at this part. These two wings united 
 advanced unknown to Albermarle, who 
 endeavoured, but in vain, to beat those 
 
 o 
 
158 THE LIFE OF 
 
 who had passed with his cavalry. He 
 relied upon me : but I relied upon him. 
 At his tirst discharge of artillery, I 
 marched to his assistance with a large 
 detachment of dragoons, at full trot, 
 to make them dismount should it be ne- 
 cessary, followed by my infantry, which 
 arrived in quick march. The cowardice of 
 the Dutch rendered my efforts useless. If 
 they had only kept their posts at Denain, 
 for half an hour, I should have arrived in 
 time. Ï had calculated thus, in the worst 
 extremity, should I be deceived by the 
 manœuvres of Villars. 
 
 I found only eight hundred men, and 
 three or four generals drowned in the 
 Scheldt, and all those who had been sur- 
 prised in the entrenchments killed without 
 any defence. Albermarle, and all the prin- 
 ces and generals in the service of Holland, 
 were made prisoners in striving to rally 
 their troops. They endeavoured to black- 
 en the character of the former to the 
 States-General. I wrote to the pensionary 
 Heinsius. " It would be for me, sir, to 
 " throw the faults or misfortunes of that 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 159 
 
 * day, upon the Earl of Albermarle, if I 
 ' had a single reproach to make to him. 
 ' He has conducted himself as a man of 
 
 * honour, but I defy the most able general 
 ' to extricate himself, when his troops, 
 ' after a bad discharge, shamefully take 
 ' to flight. Your obstinacy, in leaving your 
 
 * magazines at Marchiennes, is the cause 
 ■ of all. Assure their Eminences of the 
 *■ truth of what T have written to you, of 
 ' my discontent, and of my deep regret." 
 
 I was obliged to raise the siege of Lan- 
 drecy, and, being obliged to approach 
 Mons for the subsistence of my army, I 
 could not prevent Villars from retaking 
 Douai, Quesnoi, and Bouchain. 
 
 I often examine myself with all possi- 
 ble rigour. I think, that if I had put 
 twenty battalions more into the lines, 
 which would have been necessary to guard 
 them, Villars, being stronger than I, 
 would then have beaten me. Out of the 
 lines, posted as I was, I provided for 
 every thing. Could I expect that an hour, 
 more or less, at the most, would decide my 
 glorv, the war, and the welfare of France? 
 
160 THE LIFE OP 
 
 The artillery with which the lines were 
 bristled, ought, alone, to have given me 
 time to arrive. But, instead of being well 
 served, it was as basely abandoned as the 
 entrenchments. The two errors which I 
 committed were, not having despised the 
 representations of the deputies on the sub- 
 ject of Marchiennes, and, having confided 
 a post so important to their troops, the 
 flower of whom had perished at Malpla- 
 quet. 
 
 Unfortunate in Hainault, I prepared ev- 
 ery thing for being prosperous in Flanders 
 at the commencement of the next cam- 
 paign. I terminated the present by send- 
 ing a detachment to surprise the fort of 
 Kenoque. What a paltry indemnification ! 
 But we sometimes work for the Gazette. 
 
 It may easily be supposed that I under- 
 went criticisms at Vienna, at London, at 
 the Hague, and in songs at Paris. Here is 
 one which Ï thought pretty enough, because 
 it contained, in a few words, my history. 
 
 Eugene, entrant en campagne 
 Assurait, d'un air hautain, 
 Qu'il irait droit en Champagne 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. î@| 
 
 Pour y gourmer de bon vin. 
 L'Hollandais, pour se voyage, 
 Fit apporter son fromage 
 
 Dans Marchienne et dans Denain ; 
 Mais Villars, piqué de gloire, 
 
 Leur cria, " Messieurs, tout beau : 
 " Pour vous, c'est assez de boire, 
 
 L'eau bourbeuse de l'Escaut." 
 
 I went to Utrecht, to consult the looks 
 of the office of negotiations. England, 
 Savoy, Portugal, and Prussia, were ready 
 to sign their treaties ; and Holland held 
 only by a thread. 
 
 I went to Vienna to give an account of 
 this to the Emperor. The moment I ar* 
 rived, Charles VII. said to me, " You are 
 " right : Holland has signed also : Zin*- 
 " zendorff has informed me of it ; and 
 ;< has sent me the propositions of France 
 " for making peace, to which, I am sure, 
 " you will not advise me at this price." 
 " Your Majesty does me justice," I re- 
 plied. "We shall obtain the neutrality 
 " of the Low Countries ; and, with the 
 " troops which you will send, both from 
 " Naples and Lombardy, we can keep the 
 " French in check upon the Rhine." 
 
 o2 
 
 I 
 
1(32 THE LIFE OF 
 
 I ran through all the states and courts 
 of the Empire, to raise men and money. 
 Our armies were no better paid than usual. 
 I collected 3,000,000 of crowns from one 
 side, and 1,000,000 florins from another. 
 But the tardiness of the princes and cir- 
 cles to march to their quarters, prevented 
 me from anticipating the French on the 
 Upper Rhine. Charles VI. testified a 
 desire to me of commanding his army 
 himself. I shewed him that he could not 
 derive much honour from doing it. I was 
 right enough, seeing well that Villars 
 wished to be at Landau. I had lines 
 thrown up at Etlingen, into which I made 
 one half of my army enter, and I posted 
 the other at Muhlberg, where I hoped 
 that my reinforcements would arrive be- 
 fore the taking of Landau : but the Prince 
 of Wurtemberg was obliged to capitulate. 
 
 I hoped, at least, I should be able 
 to hinder the French from attempting the 
 siege of Fri bourg. I blocked up all the 
 passes of the mountains. I placed detach- 
 ments, threw up entrenchments, and 
 made redoubts upon all the principal 
 
 i 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 163 
 
 points. The inferiority of my forces mak- 
 ing me fear that, if I were beaten, the 
 peace, which must, necessarily, soon be 
 concluded, would be detestable, I recalled 
 all my troops, and left only eighteen thou- 
 sand men, with Aubonne, to defend the 
 passage of the mountains. Villars at- 
 tacked the heights with his grenadiers. 
 The troops of the circles, which I had 
 placed behind the abatis* did the same 
 as the Dutch at Denain, being routed. at 
 the first discharge. The Duke of Bour- 
 bon and the Prince of Conti began the 
 attack on the deiiles at seven o'clock in 
 the evening, Aubonne, driven back by 
 the runaways, could not rally them, ex- 
 cept at so great a distance, that he was 
 unable to return to his entrenchments : 
 he contented himself, therefore, with 
 throwing twelve battalions into Fribourg. 
 After so many battles for thirteen years, 
 the troops of the Empire were themselves 
 nothing but recruits. The best of my en^ 
 trenchments at Holgraben being forced, 
 there was nothing to stop the march of 
 
 * Limbs of trees, and other obstructions in front of an en- 
 trenchment. 
 
164 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Villars through the Black Forest, and he 
 opened the trench before Fribourg on 
 the 1st of October. Harsch disputed the 
 ground foot by foot. On the night^of the 
 14th and 1 5th, the covered wajM^as taken 
 by assault, and one thousand seven hun- 
 dred men were lost. When the inhabitants 
 saw that Harsch waited, before he surren- 
 dered, the assault of the town guard, who 
 were mowed down by bullets, the most 
 aged priest, carrying the holy sacrament, 
 and the magistrate, women, and children, 
 repaired to his quarters. The fire from 
 the ramparts continued as before, and when 
 the breach was large enough to enter by 
 companies, they abandoned the city on the 
 1 st of November, and retired into the 
 castle. They defended themselves, they 
 fought, they wrote, they demanded, they 
 refused, they granted, they prolonged the 
 suspension of arms until the 21 st, and then 
 they capitulated. 
 
 Adieu the empire ! adieu its two bul- 
 warks ? was the general exclamation at 
 all the German courts, where they were 
 dying with fear. Why are they incorri- 
 
 i 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 165 
 
 gïble ? If the petty ministers, or the 
 great and petty mistresses, had not been 
 bought by France, they might have sent 
 a hundred thousand men to defend, at 
 first, the passage of the Rhine, and then, 
 the fortresses that were made and to be 
 made. There are some very bad Germans 
 in Germany. 
 
 These same courts and states of the 
 Empire having thwarted me, in the same 
 manner as they did, some years before, 
 Prince Louis of Baden, I was totally in- 
 capable of affording any assistance to these 
 "two places. I confess that this gave me a 
 most furious disgust of war, and thaf I 
 was among the foremost to advise the Em- 
 peror to make peace. France had made 
 some prodigious efforts, because her re- 
 sources are infinite. It is the will of a 
 single head and of a single nation. The 
 Austrian monarchy is composed of five 
 or six, which have different constitutions. 
 What a variety, in culture, in population, 
 and in credit! The title of Emperor 
 does not bring with it a single man nor a 
 kreutzer. He must even negotiate with 
 
 k 
 
166 THE LIFE OF 
 
 his empire that it may not become French; 
 with the Bohemians, that they may not 
 take refuge in Prussia or in Saxony, for 
 fear of becoming soldiers ; with his Lom- 
 bards, ready to become Savoyards ; with 
 his Hungarians, ready to become Turks ; 
 and with his Flemings, ready to become 
 Dutchmen. 
 
 La Houssaie was deputed to try the 
 ground on the part of Louis XIV. ; and, 
 on that of Charles VI. Undheim, the min- 
 ister palatine. The former named Vil- 
 lars to negotiate with me at Rastadt, to 
 which place I was named at the same 
 time. Villars arrived there first, to do 
 the honours of the castle, as he told me, 
 and he came to receive me at the foot of 
 the stairs. Never did two men embrace 
 with more soldier-like sincerity, and, I 
 will venture to say, with more esteem and 
 tenderness. The friendship of our youth, 
 our companionship of arms in Hungary, 
 and at the court of Vienna, when he was 
 ambassador there, interrupted by some 
 brilliant feats of arms on both sides, ren- 
 dered this interview so affecting, that the 
 
 wK 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 167 
 
 officers and soldiers of our escorts also 
 
 - 
 
 embraced each other with cordiality. An 
 hour's conversation in my apartment, 
 (whither Villars conducted me,) laid the 
 foundation of the treaty. " I expected," 
 said I to Villars, smiling, " your exorbi- 
 " tant demands, and I regard them as not 
 " actually to take place ; for, you will feel 
 " that mine are verv reasonable. You 
 " shall send a courier to carry intelli- 
 " gence of my refusal : he will return 
 " with an order to assent to nothing that 
 " I propose to you : your next will bring 
 " you the information that they begin to 
 " hear reason at Versailles, and we shall 
 " sign." All that I had predicted partly 
 happened ; and, while waiting for the rest, 
 I said to him, " Permit me, my dear 
 " Marshal, to go, meanwhile, and keep 
 " the carnival at Stutgard, along with the 
 " Duke of Wurtemberg. My body has 
 " need of repose : but, for these two 
 " years past, thanks to you, my mind 
 " needs it still more." — " Very well," 
 " feaid he ; " and I shall go to divert iny- 
 " self at Strasbourg, till Contades, whom 
 
 I 
 
168 THE LIFE Ol 
 
 " I have sent to the King, brings me back 
 " some new instructions. And permit 
 "■me, also, to give a ball this evening, 
 " that it may look as if we were not likely 
 " to fight these fifteen days. They will 
 " think our sovereigns the best friends 
 " in the world, while it will be only their 
 *' ambassadors who are so, if you will 
 " consent, my lord, that I take this title, 
 " which is very dear to my heart." 
 
 During the time that we remained to- 
 gether, I returned his balls and suppers ; 
 but he gave better cheer than I did. Mine 
 was too much in the German fashion : 
 I knew no other. To see us in the even- 
 ings together, no one would think we were 
 disputing all the mornings. During the 
 entertainments which he prepared for me, 
 his conversation appeared unusually bril- 
 liant and interesting. It was impossible to 
 be more so than his was. We spoke one day 
 upon the difference between our two na- 
 tions. " Yours," said Villars to me, " ap- 
 " pears to me to be incapable of much 
 " excitation, acting only moreor less per- 
 " fectly right, never very bad." — " And 
 " yours," said I, " is never the same. 
 
 i 
 
 W.n 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. Î6§ 
 
 You have two characters : one capable 
 of discipline, fatigue, and enthusiasm, 
 when commanded by a Villars, a Ven- 
 dôme, and a Catinat ; and another, 
 such as displayed itself at Blenheim, and 
 Rami Hies, when there was something of 
 Versailles mingled with your affairs. 
 " The vivacity, and the spirit of your 
 Frenchmen, may sometimes be hurtful 
 to them, because they^ judge of every 
 thing, and alwa\ s too rapidly. For ex- 
 ample : if I were again engaged with 
 you, I would dress some of my dra- 
 goons in the French uniform, who should 
 cry out in your rear, We are cat off! 
 But after all, with so much valour, and 
 a man like you, my dear Marshal, you 
 are very dangerous gentlemen." 
 " We talk together without any sus- 
 picion," said he ; " like Hannibal and 
 Scipio, I think. 
 
 " What do you think of the Turks ? 
 Are they always such fools as they were 
 in my time, when 1 first began, sir, to 
 admire you?" 
 
 m 
 
170 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " They will never change," said I tô 
 him ; " but some advantage may be 
 " drawn from them notwithstanding. If 
 " a Pacha, a renegado, or a general of the 
 " allies of the Porte, were to form platoons 
 " in their manner, in the second line in 
 " the intervals of the first, and others in the 
 " third line in the intervals of the second, 
 " and then, also, reserves and their spahis 
 " on the wings, with their cursed yells of 
 " Allah ! Allah ! and their manner of 
 " advancing with fifty men, and a small 
 " flag, they would be invincible." 
 
 " You will be angry," said Villars one 
 day, " at what I am now going to tell 
 " you. Do you know the foolish story 
 " which has been circulated at your ex- 
 " pense, concerning the loss of the bat- 
 "tie of Denain ?" — "it will amuse me," 
 said Ï. " Very well ; it is said that you 
 " had a mistress at Marchiennes; an Ital- 
 " ian dancer, beautiful as the day, and 
 M she had her quarters there ; and you 
 " had troops at this post only for her safety 
 "■ and your own, when you went to pass the 
 
 i 
 
 • 
 
Grince eugene, 171 
 
 " night with her." I laughed heartily 
 with him, at this anecdote. "Truly," 
 said I, " I must have taken it very late 
 " into my head to catch this fever of fools, 
 " called love. I had better have had it at 
 "Venice; and at Vienna, in our time. 
 " You had ladies there, if I recollect right- 
 "ly : but it was without loving them, or 
 " being loved, for they attach themselves 
 " to Frenchmen from fashion." " That 
 " often happens to us in France," replied 
 he. " It is a fashion there also ; it is even 
 " a trade, when we have nothing else to 
 "do : it is almost indispensible to save our 
 " reputation. Consider what they have said 
 " of M. de Vendôme and of Catinat." 
 
 I uttered some pleasantries respecting 
 his friend, Madame de Maintenon, and up- 
 on the steeple which Chamiliard ascended 
 to reconnoitre me ; and I made great sport 
 of the Duke of Burgundy, Villeroy, Tal- 
 lard, Marsin, and La Feuillade. "I was 
 " glad," said I, " to hear that you were 
 " slaughtering the Huguenots andconvert- 
 " ing them in the Cevennes, rather than 
 " facing me at Hochstet." I had no diffi- 
 
172 THE LIFE OF 
 
 culty in making him confess that, but for 
 Lis wound, he would have beaten me at 
 Malplaquet ; but he had more difficulty 
 in wishing to prove to me that I had com- 
 mitted no error at Denain. 
 
 Perhaps these little flatteries and cour- 
 tesies served the Emperor to make a fa- 
 vourable postscript in his dispatch to Louis 
 XIV. I insinuated to him, in conversa- 
 tion, that I was not very well acquainted 
 "with this Emperor, and that he appeared 
 to me to be extremely headstrong. It 
 was with pleasure that I saw Villars dis- 
 coursing with some members of the Es- 
 tates of the Empire. I strongly suspect- 
 ed that he would hear that I had obtained 
 five millions to commence the war, should 
 k be absolutely necessary ; and thus we 
 parted. 
 
 (1714.) 
 
 Contades went like the wind, and re- 
 turned the same on the 26th of February; 
 new instructions to demand, the council to 
 assemble, change of conditions, discus- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 173 
 
 siohs, and perhaps some few private cou- 
 riers which arrived unknown to me ; all 
 this was the business of six weeks, 
 
 Villars sent Contades to me, to beg 
 that I would believe all that he should tell 
 me on the part of the King, and we both 
 returned quickly to Rastadt. Seeing that 
 there were but few articles different from 
 my propositions, 1 signed them on the 6th 
 of March. 
 
 I could not help laughing at the titles 
 the Emperor took ; as for example, King 
 of Corsica, Algiers, Jaen, and the Cana- 
 ries ; Duke of Athens, and of Neopatri ; 
 Lord of Tripoli, &c. &c; on the other 
 hand, his most serene Prince and Lord, 
 Louis XIV ; then my titles in abundance, 
 and then, the general of the French army 
 called Villars ; and I admired the imper- 
 tinence of our chanceries. " I shall go to 
 " Vienna," said I to him, " to have our trea- 
 " ty ratified, for I am afraid they will 
 " change some parts, and I shall soon see 
 " you again." 
 
 I was enthusiastically received by the 
 court, and by the city, fully tired of the 
 
 p 2 
 
174 THE LIFE OF 
 
 war. I had princes plenipotentiaries na- 
 med, to give to the whole every necessary 
 formality, similar to that of his Most Chris- 
 tian Majesty. They met at Baden for 
 that purpose ; and Villars and myself went 
 there to sign, once more, the same contract. 
 
 We both of us feared, for a moment, 
 that the death of Queen Anne, which 
 happened just at this time, would occasion 
 some alteration ; but our subaltern min- 
 isters were reasonable enough not to make 
 any representations to us upon that sub- 
 ject. 
 
 The only thing that troubled me now 
 was to part with Villars, never more to see 
 him again. " We shall never fight and sign 
 " together again perhaps," said I to him, 
 "but we shall always love and esteem each 
 " other." This brave man was equally 
 afflicted at quitting me, and I set off for 
 Vienna, 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 175 
 
 (1715.) 
 
 The few years of peace that I passed 
 there were more fatiguing to me than 
 those of war. There were many confer- 
 ences with the English and Dutch minis- 
 ters respecting the barrier treaty in the 
 Low Countries ; and many with those of 
 the Emperor, Harrach and Zinzendorfj 
 touching the re-establishment of the fi- 
 nances. They were in an unheard-of 
 state of disorder. I had payed the ar- 
 my when and how I could. A gen- 
 eral commandant ought to be also a 
 Chevalier d'Industrie* Sometimes my bills 
 of exchange were protested ; and as they 
 pawn diamonds in Lombardy, so I some- 
 times pledged whole provinces. At length 
 by degrees, and notwithstanding the mis- 
 understanding between the different heads 
 of the departments, I ameliorated a little 
 the revenues of the state. 
 
 When I heard of the death of Louis 
 XIV. I confess that it had the same 
 
 * À map who lives by expedients ; a sharper.— Trans, 
 
176 THE LIFE OF 
 
 effect upon me as seeing a tine old oak 
 uptorn by the roots, and scattered on the 
 earth by a tempest, — he had stood so 
 long ! Death, before obliterating strong 
 recollections, recalls them all at the first 
 moment. To history are permitted in- 
 digencies at its outset. That of the 
 reign of this great King will not need 
 them : at present age had clipped the 
 nails of the lion. A regency would give 
 us time to breathe. But something oc- 
 curred to put us all in motion again. 
 
 At the commencement of May I gave 
 an audience to a Turkish ambassador 
 who £ame to beg that the Emperor would 
 not meddle with the affairs of the Sub- 
 lime Porte with Venice. 
 
 When I look into myself, I dare not de- 
 cide whether there was not a little self- 
 interest in what I said. Glory is sometimes 
 a hypocrite, which hides itself beneath 
 the cloak of national honour. We imagine 
 insults, we devise injuries, insolence, and 
 evil intentions, and then we cause five 
 hundred thousand men to perish. But, 
 on this occasion, several ministers, and 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 177 
 
 Guido Stahrenberg himself, who did not 
 love me, was of my opinion. Charles 
 VI. appointed me to the command of a 
 hunched and twenty-five thousand men, 
 of which fifty thousand were separated 
 into two corps. 
 
 Charles VI. conferred upon me the gen- 
 eral command of the Low Countries. I 
 gave the situation of vice-governor to an 
 Italian called Prié. I think 1 might have 
 made a better choice. 
 
 Now there were fresh wants of money» 
 Kaunitz went through the Empire to 
 raise it ; and the Pope granted us a papal 
 letter to levy tithes and extraordinary im- 
 posts upon the clergy of all the provinces 
 in our monarchy. 
 
 The Turks put Tern es war in a good 
 state of defence, when an incendiary, who 
 set fire to forty houses there, and an- 
 other at Belgrade, who burned thirty 
 vessels laden with ammunition, made 
 them think that Mahomet disapproved 
 of their war. This moment of supersti- 
 tion was perhaps that of my good fortune, 
 
178 THE LIFE OF 
 
 for Loffelholtz possessed himself of Mi- 
 trovitz without any resistance. 
 
 The Pacha complained of this act of 
 hostility. Loffelholtz replied that it had 
 been begun on his part by the fire which 
 his saics had made upon the Imperial 
 troops as they were descending the Saave. 
 The poor Pacha, who knew nothing of it, 
 perhaps, caused all those who had fired 
 to be impaled, and I chose to consider that 
 as a momentary exacerbation of anger 
 rather than as a reparation. 
 
 We are never too well convinced 
 which, of two parties, is wrong at the 
 commencement of a war. They quarrel, 
 they complain, they recriminate, and they 
 go to battle before all can be satisfactori- 
 ly explained. The Grand Signior wish- 
 ed, but did not dare to arrest the accred- 
 ited agent of the Emperor, but he sent the 
 grand Vizier with a hundred and twenty 
 thousand men, who, thinking to be very 
 cunning, pretended to march into Dal- 
 matia, and fell back towards Belgrade, 
 with orders not to ,pass the limits of the 
 two Empires. 
 
FRINGE EUGENE. 179 
 
 After having seen a young Archduke 
 born and die, I set off from Vienna, 
 on the 1st of July, upon a true or false 
 report that the Turks intended to pass 
 the Saave. Langlet possessed himself of 
 Ratheza. The Sublime Porte sent us a 
 grand manifesto, skilfully enough drawn 
 up to have been done by a Christian, and 
 which was very rational, and apparently 
 sincere : but it was easy for us to prove 
 that they had already impaled a Turkish 
 spy, and that an Hungarian renegado 
 was collecting deserters from all na- 
 tions to form*, a corps for the service of the 
 Porte. 
 
 On the 27th of July I went to Peter- 
 waradin, and the Grand Vizier to the 
 old entrenchments of Semlin. 1 had not 
 much trouble in driving him from them; 
 for, having as great a desire to fight as 
 I had, he approached half the way. He 
 was called Hali, and was so inveterately 
 hostile to the Christians, that,after Breuner, 
 who was made prisoner, had redeemed 
 his head at a hmidred thousand florins, 
 he still had it cut off, as will be read 
 
180 THE LIFE OF 
 
 hereafter. The favourite of his father-in- 
 law Achmet III. a great intriguer in the 
 Seraglio, ignorant and presumptuous, he 
 was the Villeroy of the Turks. " This 
 " Grand Vizier of the infidels," said he, 
 speaking of me, " is not what he is 
 " thought to be. We shall see; for I 
 ? will march to him." In fact, he did 
 pass the Saave. I had him reconnoitred 
 by John Palfy, who had two horses killed 
 under him, and retired in good order, 
 though seventy thousand spahis endea- 
 voured to surround him: but he reached 
 a defile. " This," said I, " is, for once, a 
 " well-planned attack on their part : pre- 
 " cisely such a one as at Carlo witz, where 
 " they made peace seventeen years before." 
 On the 2d of August I passed the Danube. 
 That cloud of spahis, who thought they 
 had obtained some advantage in the great 
 skirmish of which I have spoken, arrived 
 too late to hinder me. They found me 
 encamped behind the old entrenchments ; 
 and, as soon as Hali arrived with his jani- 
 zaries, they wished to besiege me there 
 as usual. Approaches, batteries, paral- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 181 
 
 lels, were all planned out and almost 
 finished, in some parts, by day-light. 
 They imitated the Romans, as I have 
 already said, without suspecting it, by 
 entrenching themselves the moment they 
 arrived. On the 5th of August, at 
 eight o'clock in the morning, they salu- 
 ted me with all their artillery. I had 
 no doubt that this Grand Vizier would 
 commit some blunder or other, and 
 would be embarrassed with his supe- 
 riority. Not being able to extend his 
 line beyond mine, because of my flanks 
 being well supported, even when march- 
 ing, he divided his men into small bodies 
 of troops which did not charge. They 
 were perhaps reserves, which his genius 
 suggested, (for he wanted neither that nor 
 courage,) but which were afterwards for- 
 gotten. The Prince of Wurtemberg, whom 
 I caused to make the first attack on my 
 left, pierced and penetrated every where. 
 But my right went on badly. The eight 
 columns being forced to separate, in or- 
 der to pass through the aperture of my 
 entrenchments, and not being able to 
 
 Q 
 
182 THE LIFE OF 
 
 deploy because of the proximity of those 
 of the Turks, were badly led. Lanken and 
 Wallenstein, were killed. It was on this 
 occasion, that I again owed the greatest 
 obligations to Bonneval. Every one was 
 killed about him, and he himself was 
 wounded in the belly by a spear. He had 
 only twenty-five men; but he gave me 
 time to send Pàlfy, with two thousand 
 horse, on the flank of the Janizaries, who 
 were hitherto the conquerors in this attack. 
 We now became so : but it was after five 
 hours fighting. I entered the superb tent 
 of the Grand Vizier Hali ; and the almo- 
 ners of the first regiment of the environs 
 -put up aloud, as a thanksgiving to the God 
 of armies, prayers, which were repeated 
 by the soldiers to music, at once military 
 and religious. 
 
 I sent from thence Captain Zeil, of my 
 own regiment, to the Emperor, with an 
 account of the battle, which consisted only 
 of five or six lines. It is easy to be mo- 
 dest, when we are happy. 
 
 I took care not to pursue the Turks, 
 for they were still stronger than I. They 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 183 
 
 were cannonaded, in retreating, by the ar- 
 tillery of Peterwaradin. The unfortunate 
 Hali went to die, the next day, at Carlo- 
 witz, of two wounds which he received in 
 trying to rally the runaways, at the head 
 of his guards ; and it was a few minutes 
 before he expired, that he had the young 
 Breuner massacred, of which I have spo- 
 ken. "At least," said he, " let not this 
 ** dog survive me. Why can I not do the 
 " same to all the Christian dogs!" 
 
 On the 25th of August, I pitched my 
 camp before Tern es war, which I invested, 
 and I amused myself in causing the pret- 
 ty kiosk and garden of the Pacha to be ta- 
 ken, and a mosque, which the Turks pre- 
 ferred to abandon, rather than profane it, 
 said they, by defending it. 
 
 On the 1st of September, the trench 
 was opened. I scolded well Prince Ema- 
 nuel of Portugal, who, not content with 
 being there, pursued a small groupe of 
 Turks, which he happened to see. He 
 had his horse killed, and received a vio- 
 lent contusion in the knee, ilappily he 
 was not corrected, but exposed himself ve- 
 
184 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ry much in these two campaigns. On the 
 9th, the Turks made a paltry sortie, and 
 on the 24th, a reinforcement, which they 
 wished to throw into the place, was well 
 belaboured. 
 
 On the 31st, we took by assault, the 
 palanka, on which depended almost the 
 entire fate of the city ; but it cost us dear- 
 I lost a great number of officers distin- 
 guished in war, and good companions. 
 On the 13th of October, Temeswar capitu- 
 lated. A few days more of rain, would, 
 perhaps, have made me raise the siege. 
 What fortune ! The Turks demanded 
 grace for some cowiroazzers. I remem- 
 ber that I replied to this article of capitu- 
 lation, " that those rascals might go where 
 "they chose." This name is any thing but 
 indifferent; it signifies a rebel : and though 
 it is peculiarly applied to those of Hungary, 
 it is well that the soldier should bestow it 
 upon all the enemies of the house of Austria, 
 as if they were its subjects; and conse- 
 quently, regard them with that contempt, 
 which is felt towards traitors. A mere no- 
 thing gives, sometimes, a beneficial tone to 
 au army. 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 185 
 
 I set off for Vienna: hut, on the way, I 
 underwent, atRaab, ail the tediousnessof 
 the ceremony of blessing the colours, with 
 which it pleased the Pope to decorate me. 
 
 The venerable old man, Heister, whom 
 I had made governor after the battle and 
 the siege, where he had also distinguished 
 himself, (being there notwithstanding his 
 great age,) came to receive me at the head 
 of his garrison. The Bishop of Gindor, 
 placed the bonnet on my head. I wrote 
 a fine letter, in Latin, to the Holy Father, 
 and I continued my journey with the Che- 
 valier Rospoli, who had brought me all 
 this, and whom I had received about me 
 as a volunteer. He was killed in a duel, 
 a short time afterwards, about a girl. 
 
 (1717.) 
 
 No one complained of an enormous 
 tax, but very equitably levied, an imposi- 
 tion, and a contribution which I proposed 
 throughout the whole monarchy,in furnish- 
 ing it with a means of commerce which no 
 one could have thought of. Charles VI. 
 
 q2 
 
186 THE Lira OF 
 
 ordered all those who might have interfered 
 to let me do it ; and it succeeded well. The 
 celebrated Jew, Oppenheim, supplied me, 
 in a very short time, with fresh horses and 
 stores. That cost a little dearly: but I 
 was pressed for time. 
 
 Individuals flocked from all sides to 
 serve under me. There were enough to 
 form a squadron of princes and volunteers. 
 Among the former, a Prince of Hesse, two 
 of Bavaria, a Bevern, a Culmbach, one of 
 Wurtemberg, two of Ligne, one of Lich- 
 tenstein, of Anhalt-Dessau, the Count of 
 Charolai, the Princes of Dombes, of Mar- 
 sillac, of Pons, &c. &c. 
 
 The Emperor made me a present 
 of a magnificent diamond crucifix, and 
 strongly assured me, that all my victories 
 came, and would come, from God: this 
 was getting rid of gratitude towards me : 
 and I set off for Futack, where I assem- 
 bled my army towards the end of May. 
 
 It was necessary to possess myself of 
 Belgrade, which for three centuries had 
 been so many times taken and retaken. 
 Luckily I did not find there the cordelier, 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. isi 
 
 John de Capistran, who, with the cruci- 
 fix in his hand, and in the hottest part of 
 the fire during the whole day, defended 
 the place so well : and Hunniade, who com- 
 manded there, against Mahomet II. in 
 1456. Hunniade died of his wounds. The 
 Emperor lost Belgrade; Mahomet lost 
 an eye, and the cordelier was canonized. 
 Unfortunately the Grand Signior had 
 but too well replaced the wrong-headed 
 Grand Vizier, who had been killed. It 
 was the Pacha of Belgrade, who supplied 
 the vacancy, calledHastchi Ali,who made 
 the most judicious arrangements for the 
 preservation of the place, and caused me 
 à great deal of embarrassment. On the 
 10th of June, I passed the Danube: my 
 volunteer Princes threw themselves into 
 boats to arrive among the first, and to 
 charge the spahis with some squadrons of 
 Mercy, which had already passed below 
 Panczova, to protect the disembarkation 
 of some,and the bridge constructed for the 
 others, with eighty-four boats. On the 
 19th, I went, with a large escort, to recon- 
 noitre the place where I wished to pitch my 
 
188 THE LIFE OF 
 
 camp. Twelve hundred spahis, rushed 
 upon us with unequalled fury, and shout- 
 ing Allah! Allah ! I know not why one of 
 their officers broke through a squadron 
 which was in front, to find me at the head 
 of the second, where I placed myself from 
 prudential motives, having many orders 
 to give. He missed me, and I was going 
 to obtain satisfaction with my pistol, when 
 % dragoon, at my side, knocked him under 
 his horse. On the same day we had a 
 naval combat, which lasted two hours; 
 and our saics having the advantage, I re- 
 mained master of the operations on the 
 Danube. On the 20th I continued work- 
 ing at the lines of con travail ation, under 
 a dreadful fire from the place. Towards 
 the end of June, I advanced my camp so 
 near Belgrade, that the bullets were con- 
 stantly flying over my head. A storm de- 
 stroyed all my bridges : and, but for the 
 courage of a Hessian officer, in a redoubt, 
 I do not know how I should have been 
 able to re-establish the one upon the Saave. 
 Wishing to take the place on the side 
 next the water, I caused a fort at the mouth 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 189 
 
 of the Donawitz to be attacked by Mercy, 
 who fell from his horse, in an apoplectic 
 fit. They carried him away, thinking 
 him'dead. He was afterwards successfully 
 cured; but, being informed of his acci- 
 dent, I went to replace him, and the fort 
 was taken. The Prince of Dombes nar- 
 rowly escaped being killed at my side, by 
 a bullet, which made my horse rear. 
 Marcilly was killed, in bravely defending 
 a post which I had charged him to entrench. 
 He demanded succour fromltodolphHeis- 
 ter, who refused him, and who was deser- 
 vedly killed,- as a punishment for his cow- 
 ardice, by a cannon ball, which reached 
 him behind his chevaux défrise. I arrived 
 accidently, at first, with a large escort; I 
 sent for a large detachment : I halted, 
 and completely beat the Janizaries, lea- 
 ving, indeed, û\e hundred men killed upon 
 the field, Taxis, Visconti, Suger, &c. The 
 Pacha of Romelia, the best officer of the 
 Mussulmen, lost his life also. 
 
 On the 22nd of July, my batteries were 
 finished. I bombarded, burned, and de- 
 stroyed the place so much,that they would 
 
190 THE LIFE OF 
 
 have capitulated, if they had not heard 
 that the Grand Vizier had arrived at Nis- 
 sa on the 30th, with two hundred and fifty 
 thousand men. 
 
 On the 1st of August, we saw them on 
 the heights which overlooked my camp, 
 extending in a semi-circle, from Krotzka, 
 as far as Dedina. The Mussulmen formed 
 the most beautiful amphitheatre imagina- 
 ble, very agreeable to look at, excellent 
 for a painter, but hateful to a general. En- 
 closed between this army, and a fortress 
 which had thirty thousand men in garri- 
 son, the Danube on the right, and the 
 Saave on the left, my resolution was form- 
 ed. I intended to quit my lines and attack 
 them, notwithstanding their advantage 
 of ground : but the fever, which had al- 
 ready raged in my army, did not spare me. 
 Behold me seriously ill, and in my bed, 
 instead of being at the head of my troops, 
 whom I wished to lead the road to honor. 
 
 I can easily conceive that this caused 
 a little uneasiness at the court, in the city, 
 and even in my army. It required bold- 
 ness and good fortune to extricate oneself 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 191 
 
 from it. The general who might have 
 succeeded me, would, and indeed almost 
 must, have thought that he should be lost 
 if he retreated, and be beaten if he did 
 not retreat. Every day made our situation 
 worse. The numerous artillery of the 
 Turks had arrived on the heights of which 
 I have spoken. We were so bombarded 
 with it, as well as with that from the gar- 
 rison, that I knew not where to put my 
 tent, for, in going in and out, many of my 
 domestics had been killed. In the small 
 skirmishes, which we often had, with the 
 spahis, my young volunteers did not fail 
 to be among them, discharging their pistols, 
 though cannon balls intermingled also. 
 And one day, d'Esrade, the governor of 
 the Prince of Dombes, had his leg shot off 
 by his side, and one of his pages was kill- 
 ed. All our princes, whom I have enu- 
 merated above, distinguished themselves, 
 and loved me like their father. 
 
 I had caused the country in the rear 
 of the Grand Vizier's army to be ravaged : 
 but these people, as well as their horses 
 and especially their camels, will live almost 
 
192 THE LIFE OF 
 
 upon nothing. Scarcely an hour passed 
 in which I did not lose a score of men by 
 the dysentry, or by the cannon from the 
 lines, which the infidels advanced more 
 and more every night to wards my entrench- 
 ments. I was less the besieger than the 
 besieged. My affairs towards the city 
 went on better. A bomb which fell into 
 a magazine of powder completed its de- 
 struction, and occasioned the loss of three 
 thousand men. 
 
 At length, I recovered from my illness ; 
 and, on the 1 5th of August, notwithstand- 
 ing the ill advice of persons who were not 
 fond of battles, the matter was fixed. I 
 calculated that listlessness and despair 
 would produce success. 
 
 I did not sleep, as Alexander did before 
 the battle of Arbela; bat the Turks did, 
 who were no Alexanders: opium and 
 predestination will make philosophers of 
 us. I gave brief and explicit instructions 
 touching whatever might happen. I quit- 
 ted my entrenchments one hour after mid- 
 night: the darkness first, and then a fog, 
 rendered my first undertakings mere 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 193 
 
 chance. Some of my battalions, on the 
 right wing, fell, unintentionally, while 
 marching, into a part of the Turkish en- 
 trenchments. A terrible confusion among 
 them, who never have either advanced 
 posts or spies; and, among us, a similar 
 confusion, which it would be impossible 
 to describe: they fired from the left to 
 the centre, on both sides, without knowing 
 where. The janizaries fled from their 
 entrenchments ; I had time to throw into 
 them fascines and gabions, to make a 
 passage for my cavalry who pursued them, 
 I know not how : the fog dispersed and 
 the Turks perceived a dreadful breach. 
 But for my second line, which I ordered 
 to march there immediately, to stop 
 this breach, I should have been lost. 
 I then wished to march in order : impos- 
 sible! I was better served than I ex- 
 pected. La Colonie, at the head of his 
 Bavarians, rushed forwards and took a 
 battery of eighteen pieces of cannon. I 
 was obliged to do better than I wished. 
 I sustained the Bavarians; and the Turks, 
 after having fled to the heights, lost all 
 
 R 
 
194 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the advantages of their ground. A large 
 troop of their cavalry wished to charge 
 mine, which were too much advanced ; a 
 whole regiment was cut in pieces; but two 
 others, who arrived opportunely to their 
 aid, decided the victory. It was then 
 that I received a cut from a sabre : it was, 
 I believe, my thirteenth wound, and pro- 
 bably my last. Every thing was over at 
 eleven o'clock in the morning: Viard, 
 during the battle, retained the garrison of 
 Belgrade, which capitulated the same day. 
 Î forgot that there was no Boufflers there: 
 I played the generous man : I granted the 
 honours of war to the garrison, who, not 
 knowing what they meant, did not avail 
 themselves of them. Men, women, and 
 children, chariots and camels, issued forth 
 all at once, pell-mell, by land and by 
 water. 
 
 At Vienna, the devotees cried out a 
 miracle ! those who envied me cried out, 
 sood fortune! Charles VI. was, I believe, 
 among the former: and Guido Stahren- 
 berg among the latter. I was well receiv- 
 ed, as might have been expected. 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 1£>5 
 
 I have already, ou different occasions, 
 instituted an examination into myself. 
 Here is my opinion respecting this victory, 
 in which I have more cause for justification 
 than for glory ; my partisans have spoken 
 too favourably of it, and my enemies too 
 severely. They would have had much more 
 reason to propose cutting off my head on this 
 occasion than on that of Zenta, for there 
 I risked nothing. I was certain of con- 
 quering : but here, not only I might have 
 been beaten, but totally ruined and lost 
 if a storm, or the enemy's artillery to the 
 left on the shores of the Danube, had 
 destroyed my bridges. I was, indeed, 
 superior in sates, and in workmen and 
 artillery-men to protect or repair them : I 
 had a corps also at Semlin. 
 
 Could I anticipate the tardiness, or 
 disinclination of the authorities who en- 
 gaged in this war, where there were so 
 many vices of the interior in administra- 
 tion, and so much ignorance in the chiefs 
 of the civil and commissariat departments? 
 Hence it was that I was in want of every 
 thing necessary to commence the siege, 
 
196 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and to take Belgrade before the arrival 
 of the Grand Vizier, and which hindered 
 me, afterwards, from checking him on the 
 heights : this, however, I should have 
 done (but for my cursed fever) before 
 his artillery arrived. And then, that un- 
 lucky dysentery, which put my army into 
 the hospital, or rather into the burying- 
 ground, for each regiment had one be- 
 hind its camp:— could I anticipate that 
 also ? These were the two motives which 
 induced me to attack, and to risk all or 
 nothing, for I was as certainly lost one 
 way as the other. I threw up entrench- 
 ments against entrenchments : I knew a 
 little more upon that subject than my 
 comrade the Grand Vizier: andlhad plenty 
 of troops in health to guard them. I obliged 
 him for want of provisions, (for, as I have 
 already said, I caused all the country in 
 his rear to be ravaged) to decamp, and 
 consequentlyBelgrade to surrender. Thus, 
 if this manuscript should be read, give 
 me neither praise, my dear reader, nor 
 blame. After all, I extricated myself, 
 perhaps, as Charles VI. said, his confes- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 19/ 
 
 sor, and the pious souls who trust in 
 God, and who wished me at the Devil 
 by the protection of the Virgin Mary, 
 for the battle was fought on Assumption 
 Day. 
 
 Europe was getting embroiled else- 
 where. Some charitable soul advised the 
 Emperor to send me to negotiate at 
 London, reckoning that they might pro- 
 cure, for another, the easy glory of termi- 
 nating the war. 
 
 (1718.) 
 
 I was not such a fool as to fall into 
 this snare, and I set off for Hungary at 
 the commencement of June, with a fine 
 sword worth eighty thousand florins which 
 the Emperor had presented to me. 
 
 By the bye, talking of friends and 
 enemies, I must say, with regard to my 
 own success, that I was often indebted for it 
 to strangers who served in my armies. 
 Of Frenchmen, I have had Commerci, 
 Vaudemont, Stainville, Rabutin, Erbe- 
 ville, St. Amour, Dupigny, Montjgny, 
 
 r 2 
 
198 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Corbeille, Bonneval, Langallerie, Castel, 
 Viard, A abonne, the two Mercys ; the 
 Princes of Lorraine, of Croy, la Marche, 
 Hautois, Godrecour, La Colonie, Batte, 
 Faber, Marsiny, Martigny, Langlet, and 
 the Duke of Aremberg, whom I may 
 reckon as strangers being of the Low 
 Countries. All of them had many French 
 officers in their regiments. There were 
 a great number, also, in the two regiments 
 of Francis and Leopold of Lorraine, in 
 mine, in that of my nephew Emanuel, and 
 of the Prince of Portugal. Hamilton, 
 Brown, and the two Wallises, were Irish- 
 men. Of Italians, I had Marcelli, Mon- 
 tée uculli, Veterani, Locatelli, Arragoni, 
 Bagni, Orsel ti, Maffei, Magni, Videlli, 
 Negrelli, Rosa Grana, Porica, Perselli, 
 Cavriani, Strasoldo, &c. and of Spaniards, 
 Vasques Galbes, Cordua, Ahumada, and 
 Alcandet. 
 
 I might also reckon as strangers (for 
 they pass as such at Vienna) the Hunga- 
 rians, among whom I had the two Palfys, 
 Nadasti, Esterhazy, Spleni, Ebergeni, and 
 Baboezai, which proves that there were 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 199 
 
 many Austrians at the court and few in the 
 army : and hence, almost all my Germans 
 were from the Empire. The heads and 
 eldest sons of families never serve in this 
 country. It was in vain that I endeavour- 
 ed to introduce the fashion. 
 
 The Turks were desirous of making 
 peace, and so was the Emperor. I could 
 have done very well without it, for I 
 confess, that I loved war. All the different 
 courts sent negotiators to Passarowitz. 
 To obtain better conditions, I marched 
 to the Grand Vizier, who had arrived with 
 his army near Nissa. I should have been 
 very successful, for he had only eighty 
 thousand men ; and I was well disposed 
 to give him battle, when, a cursed courier 
 came, and brought me the unwelcome ti- 
 dings that the treaty of peace had been 
 signed on the 21st of July. Among us 
 it was called only a truce, which might be 
 prolonged as long as they pleased, or, 
 which might be broken according to cir- 
 cumstances. It lasted only twenty-live 
 years. It was a cardinal, who ought to 
 
200 THE LIFE OF 
 
 have been the enemy of Mahomet, that 
 saved his empire. Thus politics sport 
 with religion, Alberoni made Spain de- 
 clare against us. 
 
 If I had not been detained in Hun- 
 gary, by the regulating of quarters, 
 repairing the fortifications at Belgrade, 
 at Orsowa, &c. &c. &c. I should have 
 been present to make the Emperor re- 
 spected in my government of the Low 
 Countries. Prié had appeased the first 
 insurrection, by calling from Luxembourg 
 the regiment of Dragoons, belonging to 
 Prince Ferdinand de Ligne. There had 
 been a second ; they fired on the Place de 
 Bruxelles, and, instead of continuing to 
 employ the military, Prié was afraid, be- 
 cause he had been told, that the country 
 people were coming to revenge the death of 
 the townsmen. He ought to have been 
 recalled ; but the subtle Italian, suspect- 
 ing that such would be my advice, repair- 
 ed his error. 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 201 
 
 (1719.) 
 
 Strengthened with twenty-five thou- 
 sand men, whom I engaged the Emperor 
 to send into the Low Countries, on account 
 of a third rebellion, (for the citizens of 
 Brussels were endeavouring, daily, to sap 
 the authority of the sovereign,) he had live 
 of the most guilty hung on the 18th of 
 December, and cut off the head of Annies- 
 sens, the eldest of the Deans. When his 
 head bounced upon the scaffold, the fool- 
 ish rebels dipped their handkerchiefs in 
 his blood, as they did formerly in that of 
 Egmont, and of Homes : and all was over. 
 Tired of these broils, to which the name 
 of revolt was given, and of the commérages 
 of Prié and Bonneval, who, three hundred 
 leagues off, wished to put the sword into 
 my hands, I entreated the Emperor to 
 bestow upon his sister a government, 
 where I had not time to go and enforce au- 
 thority. Here is what I wrote to Prié 
 during the troubles, which proves that 
 they knew not what they said, when they 
 
202 THE LIFE OF 
 
 supposed that I supported him: " Repre- 
 " sent to the Flemings, that it is their 
 " interest to excite the belief that they 
 " may revolt, in order to be a little atten- 
 " ded to by the court; but never to do it, 
 " because they would prove their insigniii- 
 " cant character, and the insufficiency of 
 " their means. Represent, that with four 
 " matches in one corner of a town, they 
 " would tremble. Represent to the more 
 " moderate and sensible that nothing can 
 " be gained by a revolution, for they know 
 " not what to put in the place of what they 
 " have destroyed ; and, that the worst of 
 " sovereigns is preferable to the ablest per- 
 " sons, who may succeed him. Besides, 
 " ours is too good, with regard to them ; 
 *■ the dominion of the house of Austria, 
 " is, by far, the mildest of any. Repre- 
 " sent to the most respectable, that a re- 
 " volution, to improve their condition, re- 
 " quires the commission of crimes which 
 " are horrible, but, without which, revolts 
 " are ridiculous and contemptible : and that 
 " they should distinguish between com- 
 " manding and obedience 1 : and you, M. 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 203 
 
 *' de Prié, enter your recall, and le Spiel- 
 " berg* : vigour in preventing troubles, and 
 " rigour in punishing them." 
 
 The Emperor made me his Vicar Ge- 
 neral in Italy, with a salary of a hundred 
 and fifty thousand florins. 
 
 Alberoni, our enraged enemy, having 
 been dismissed, and his Philip IV. hav- 
 ing* acceded to the quadruple alliance, 
 I could now think of my own pleasures. 
 One of them was to build my palace in the 
 suburbs, a little in the Turkish or Arabian 
 fashion, with my four towers, which I very 
 well knew were not consistent with cor^- 
 rect architecture ; but they recalled a long 
 course of events. It was the place where 
 the Grand Vizier had pitched his tent in 
 1529, and I constructed my menagerie at 
 Beugeby, in the same form as the camp 
 of the Mufti, with towers where he had 
 tents for prayers. 
 
 My maps, my plans, my fine editions 
 of books which I had bought at London, 
 some excellent French works, and Latin 
 and Italian ones well bound, occupied me 
 in arranging ; also my cascades, my large 
 
204 THE LIFE OP 
 
 water-spouts, and my superb basins. T© 
 return to my towers, with which I have 
 been reproached, I replied to their de- 
 tractors, "I know, as well as you do, 
 " the five orders of the Grecians, as well 
 " as the seven orders of battle of Vegetius. 
 " I prefer an order of my own, in these 
 '" two. I am very well contented." 
 
 A sufficiently agreeable period, also, to 
 me, was a Turkish embassy, in which the 
 Grand Signior, sending me two of the 
 most beautiful Arabian horses that I had 
 ever seen, a cymetar, and a turban, con- 
 veyed the following message. " The one 
 " is the symbol of thy courage ; the other, 
 " of thy genius and of thy wisdom." I love 
 this Oriental compliment, and distrust 
 those of Christians. 
 
 (1720.) 
 
 This was one of the most tranquil years 
 of my life. It was all devoted to the arts 
 and to society : 1 did not do much. There 
 were, as there are every where, love in- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 205 
 
 trigues and court intrigues; but among the 
 latter none of chamber women, as we 
 had witnessed in France. Our sovereigns, 
 luckily, from a proud quality in their na- 
 ture, did not vilify themselves by keeping 
 mean company ; while, every where else, 
 servants^ grooms of the stable, huntsmen, 
 (where they love the chase,) &c. have in- 
 fluence, protect, injure, and are dangerous. 
 Charles VI. to keep them at a distance, 
 used to be dressed by his chamberlains, 
 who, when his shoes were on, made a pro- 
 found genuflexion, and retired without 
 speaking a word. 
 
 They followed my advice in protecting 
 the Protestants against the too rigid Ca- 
 tholics, and the Elector Palatine, to whom, 
 but for that, the King of Prussia, with 
 his hundred thousand men, would have 
 proved that he was the protector of his 
 religion. They punished in spite of me, 
 Nimsch, for having written against me, as 
 they said, and having had a correspon- 
 dence with Alberoni : but I obtained, at 
 least, a mitigation of his punishment. As 
 I was not even affected with the songs of 
 
206 THE LIFE Of 
 
 Rousseau and DeBonneval, still less should 
 I be with a few bad sentences, or the idle 
 clamours of bad taste. 
 
 (1722.) 
 
 I had not much to say, and very little 
 to do. Charles VI. displayed his magnifi- 
 cence at the marriage of his niece. I gave 
 many entertainments also : and I confess 
 that the military court of my old comrades 
 in arms gave me great pleasure. That of 
 the Emperor was, as it ought to be, more 
 illustrious in rank, but not in merit. Every 
 thing that was brilliant in the Empire was 
 present. But the situation of La Favorite, 
 a city-palace in a suburban street, was fa- 
 vourable neither to spectacles nor to dig- 
 nity. The expenses of clothes, which 
 were always superb, not pleasing me, I 
 often wore my uniform, and some generals 
 imitated me. 
 
 I received a great deal of company at 
 home, between dinner and the theatre, be- 
 cause I am of opinion that more business 
 is transacted in a parlour than in a clo- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 207 
 
 set. I walked about with some foreign 
 minister, or I sat down, in a corner, with 
 one of our own ; and a communicative air 
 made them speak. In revenge, I often be- 
 held the statelinessof others repulse every 
 one; and, hiding their mediocrity under 
 a cloak of gravity and discretion, those 
 gentlemen knew no one; neither public 
 opinion nor private; and, less secret than 
 discreet, they were ignorant of all that 
 passed. It is thus that sovereigns are 
 often deceived, not being diffused through 
 society! There has not been one of the 
 House of Austria who has been depraved, 
 except Philip II. all his life, and once or 
 twice Ferdinand II. Charles VI. was 
 only unfortunate in his choice. His Mi- 
 nister of Finance was a simpleton. I had 
 him dismissed, and appointed, in his place, 
 Gundacker-Stahrenberg, a man of merit. 
 Strattman had a great deal, and much ge- 
 nius. Jorger had judgment, and spoke 
 and wrote very well. 
 
'208 THE LIFE OF 
 
 (1723.) 
 
 Charles VI. went to be crowned King 
 of Bohemia. Fresh pleasures and fresh 
 ceremonies. Charles VI. had a Spanish 
 air with him ; incommunicative, and sel- 
 dom gave himself the trouble to laugh, 
 though he was sufficiently fond of buffoons. 
 This always happens to persons who are 
 not constitutionally gay. He was good 
 and just. 
 
 Leopold had I think, a great deal of 
 mind: but Joseph, who had more than 
 both of them, was amiable, and should have 
 governed alone. I said to him, a short 
 time before his death, " Employ, Sire, 
 " only men of worth; but, if you some- 
 41 times find a willing knave, who will un- 
 " dertake the odious part of an intrigue, 
 " and not be ashamed if he be disavow- 
 " ed, use him without esteeming him. The 
 " honour of kingdoms is not quite so de- 
 " licate as that of individuals. Bad faith 
 " and baseness, independently of the hor- 
 " ror which they inspire, are bad policy. 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 209 
 
 " But cunning and dissimulation are al- 
 " lowable. Go not too far against Rome 
 " and the clergy. You do not love 
 " France : I can easily conceive that you 
 " do not ; for, though vanquished by us 
 " dit present, she has more resources than 
 " your Majesty. Should we finish pros- 
 perously, notwithstanding the changes 
 " that are preparing inEngland, after having 
 " made peace, do not begin again; and 
 "never threaten any power without being 
 " ready to strike. A young and ambi- 
 tious King, at the head of that nation, 
 " would conquer the earth. Happily, 
 " when Louis XIV. was so, he soon re- 
 " turned to dance the amiable vainqueur at 
 " Versailles, and to hear an opera of his 
 "panegyrist Quinault: and now he has 
 " not long to live." 
 
 Though Joseph was not a bigot, like 
 his successor, he would never have de- 
 ceived the agents of the company at 
 Ostend; and, with his great character, 
 he would not have bent, as he did, be- 
 fore the maritime powers. He said to 
 me, one day, " Had I been in my father's 
 
 s 2 
 
210 THE LIFE OF 
 
 a place, I should not have run to Lintz, 
 " when you had entered into our service. 
 " I would not have suffered myself to be 
 " shut up in Vienna, but I should have 
 "been the aid-de-camp of the Duke of 
 ^Lorraine at the battle of Vienna. I 
 " know what gentlemen courtiers are. I 
 " have seen them in their true colours 
 " at the siege of Landau. They pretend 
 " to tremble for us, when, in fact, they 
 " tremble for themselves." The harsh 
 and frigid Leopold did not love him, He 
 preferred Charles, his youngest brother, 
 less petulant, and more a Spaniard in every 
 respect: he could not, however, forgive him 
 his taste for pleasure and his irregularities. 
 To be sure he was wrong once, when he 
 belaboured, at a public feast, and before 
 the Emperor and a great deal of company, 
 one of his attendants, who did not serve 
 him properly. 
 
 When I did not directly interfere with 
 petty affairs, I was reproached with indo- 
 lence, sanctioned, as they maliciously said, 
 by so many military labours. If I had 
 entered into every frivolous detail, they 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 211 
 
 "would have accused me with being 
 too minutely attentive. I left them to 
 Koch, Etlet, and Brockhausen, my ré- 
 férendaires. They exclaimed against them 5 
 that was indifferent to me. I had, on 
 my side, good company, the people, and 
 the soldiers, whom I loved better than a 
 quantity of great lords, with whom I had 
 cause to be discontented, for their in- 
 sufficiency in war. I upheld these three, 
 said they. — I was not a weathercock, to 
 turn with every wind. They understood 
 me with half a word : and I should have 
 done more injury to affairs by changing 
 them, than I could do good by redressing, 
 perhaps, some trifling abuses, which it is 
 difficult to discover or to hinder. 
 
 I read a great deal, and was read to : I 
 had never had much time for it before. 
 I was astonished to find among the Greeks, 
 the Romans, and the French of the first 
 years of Louis XIV. many things which 
 I had done, without suspecting it, and 
 apparently by instinct. 1 formed the re- 
 solution of giving my library to the Em- 
 peror after my death ; for his had great 
 
212 THE LIFE OF 
 
 need of it, and my neice had not. She 
 preferred playing, and keeping a little 
 court 
 
 (1724.) 
 
 I applied myself greatly to the con- 
 cerns of the interior. I said to the minis- 
 ters, Can you not contrive to get rid of 
 this army of hirelings, who prevent the 
 money from reaching the pockets of the 
 sovereign ? Imagine an equitably-levied 
 capitation, according to the income or the 
 gains of each individual ? Provide for 
 the poor and make them work? Consult 
 the English, the Dutch, the bankers, 
 about a good system of finance and of 
 manufactures? Induce Flemings to set- 
 tle among us for agriculture ? To grub 
 up our heaths by the monks or by the 
 soldiers, for whom villages should be 
 built ? Borrow from the clergy at two per 
 cent? Dig a bed to the river at Vienna, 
 to carry away the filth and dirt from the 
 esplanade, which poisons the city, and 
 make a fine quay there, planted with four 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 213 
 
 rows of plantains or acaccias ? Join rivers 
 by canals? Mend the roads by the neigh- 
 bouring landed proprietors, without ruin- 
 ing ourselves with making highways ? 
 Double our population by the Huguenots, 
 driven forth by the revocation of the 
 edict of Nantz, and the emigrants of the 
 empire ill-treated by their petty tyrants 
 of sovereigns ? 
 
 I said to our generals, Could we not 
 spare the subjects of the Emperor, raise 
 regiments of Turks, Poles, Prussians, 
 Saxons, and Italians, by inducing them 
 to desert, and engaging them when de- 
 serted? And make an Hungarian, Bohe- 
 mian, Austrian, and Walloon army, in 
 which there should be none but officers 
 of the respective nations to excite emu- 
 lation ? Have large garrisons at Vienna, 
 Presbourg, Olmutz, Gratz, Lintz, Brus- 
 sels, Luxembourg, and Milan ? Make 
 an entrenched camp upon each frontier, 
 since fortresses cost too much ? Esta- 
 blish and keep up studs, that money may 
 not go out of the kingdom ? &c. 
 
 They had given a mistress to Charles VL 
 
214 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the same as to another, the Spanish lady 
 Altheim. To me she was no more than the 
 Italian of former times and the Bathiany 
 of the present: but, as her friend, I said 
 to her, Can you not induce the Emperor 
 to make himself beloved by the Electors 
 and chief princes of the empire, to attract 
 them to Vienna by magnificent spectacles, 
 to give them Golden Fleeces^ or some other 
 order, (which he can institute,) to their 
 ministers, ensigncies to their bastards, 
 and pensions or pretty recruiting officers 
 to their mistresses ? 
 
 I said to his confessor, Prevent accu- 
 sations, cabals, and injustice, merely from 
 not entering into details : let the monks 
 enrich themselves by endowments and 
 by ex votos. Permit each convent to sup- 
 port a certain number of invalids. 
 
 I said to the Emperor, take care, Sire, 
 that the Prussians do not rise, that the 
 Russians do not consolidate themselves 
 and become acquainted with our affairs, 
 and that France does not attain the prepon- 
 derance. Your monarchy is a little strag- 
 gling: but it connects itself, hence, with 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 215 
 
 the north, the south, and the east. It is 
 also in the centre of Europe. Your Ma- 
 jesty must give them law. 
 
 I return to the Spanish lady Altheim. 
 As Charles VI. loved to speak Spanish, 
 he distinguished her ; he would have 
 made love with the same gravity that 
 he killed the Master of the Horse, as I 
 have related above. He was sorry, but 
 nothing ever appeared upon his Imperial 
 face. 
 
 It might have been wished, that this 
 woman had brought into Austria the gal- 
 lantry of her country, like the mother of 
 Louis XIV. to whom the court of France 
 was indebted for its politeness, its taste, 
 and its amenity of manners ; still, how- 
 ever, a little ferocious, in consequence of 
 those tumults which that nation, as cruel 
 and as inconstant as children, prolonged 
 with so much barbarity. The Germans 
 are incapable of them ; but, without gal- 
 lantry, happily not without love, and though 
 restricted by the devotion of their sove- 
 reigns, which renders it more stimulating, 
 they do not amuse themselves the less with 
 
216 THE LIFE OF 
 
 it at Vienna. There are so many hand- 
 some women, that it was in vain to seek 
 ugly ones for ladies of the court ; they 
 hardly found any; and the intention of 
 their Imperial Majesties, to keep their 
 anti-chambers, and galleries from being 
 dangerous, was never fulfilled. 
 
 (1725.) 
 
 The congress at Cambrai went on bad 
 ly : they sent Riperda to Vienna. They 
 referred him to Zinzendorf and me to ask, 
 refuse, and at length to agree; and we 
 signed, on the 1st of May, the treaty be- 
 tween Austria and Spain. I found myself 
 very comfortable in the society of the 
 Duke de Richelieu, the French ambassa- 
 dor, whom Cardinal Fleury had ridiculous- 
 ly recalled for some pretended incantations 
 of the devil in a garden of Leopolds tadt. 
 He was amiable, well made, seducing, 
 and an interesting egotist. By a double 
 stroke of cunning on his part, in politics, 
 and in love, he wished it to be believed, 
 that he had Madame de Bathiany : and, 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 217 
 
 thinking to be very dexterous, he some- 
 times played with us at piquet. That 
 amused us greatly. The desire of some 
 striking adventure rendered him, to both 
 of us, every day more agreeable. He had 
 neither the lady, nor the secret. But we 
 were enchanted with his redoubled endea- 
 vours to please us.' 
 
 (1726.) 
 
 From a warrior, a minister, a Grand 
 Vizier, a financier, a postilion, and a ne- 
 gotiator, which I had been, they made me 
 into a merchant I established the com- 
 pany of Ostend, which the gold and jea- 
 lousy of the maritime powers afterwards 
 suppressed : and another at Vienna, to 
 traffic, export, and navigate on the Dan- 
 ube, and the Adriatic sea, where I made, 
 of Trieste, a port, capable of containing two 
 squadrons of vessels of war t to escort and 
 protect the merchant ships. I caused, also, 
 some small ports, or, at least, sheltering 
 places to be made on the gulf of Venice. 
 
 T 
 
218 THE LIFE OF 
 
 I was greatly praised for this, throughout 
 the whole kingdom. 
 
 (1727.) 
 
 I passed the whole of this year in con» 
 suiting merchants, bankers, and traders ; 
 in obtaining them from foreign countries ; 
 in writing to England and Holland ; in 
 establishing good commercial houses at 
 Ostend, at Anvers, in Spain, Italy, and 
 even Turkey : also at Trieste, and at Vi- 
 enna. I frustrated the ill calculations of 
 our ministers of finance, who had never 
 studied nor travelled. I obtained con- 
 suls, a sort of people not even known 
 among us. I established studs in Hun- 
 gary, and in Bohemia, that the money 
 might not be sent out of the country, and, 
 I may say, that during ten years, the af- 
 fairs of the Emperor never had been, and 
 perhaps, never will be again, in so flourish-* 
 ing a condition. 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 219 
 
 (1728.) 
 
 Charles VI. wished to go and examine 
 those of Trieste. I was of the party, and 
 should have been weary enough, but for 
 the Prince Francis of Lorraine, who was 
 extremely amiable, handsome, only twen- 
 ty years of age, and as gay as the small 
 court of Lorraine. Some pretty ladies of 
 the court, also, who attended the Empress, 
 who was with us, served to shed a charm 
 over the journey, notwithstanding the bi- 
 goted severity of that princess. 
 
 Charles VI. though the most splendid 
 man of any now living, was infinitely less 
 so than Leopold. He knew how to confer 
 upon his court that lustre which belonged 
 to it : and, with us and our attendants, 
 he had more than fifteen hundred persons 
 in his train. We danced at Gratz. We 
 killed wild goats as we went along ; and 
 we were contented with the port and town 
 of Trieste. 
 
220 THE LIFE OF 
 
 (1729.) 
 
 To bring my work to perfection, I 
 had many battles yet to fight, with the 
 pious Catholics and the big wigs of the 
 country. The Jesuits are indulgent where 
 they can derive any benefit. They were of 
 great use to me, in obtaining the repeal 
 of the persecutions which were exercised 
 against the Protestants of my fleet, to 
 whom they forbade the exercise of their 
 religion. I had no sailors left, but such as 
 had none, or, who were hypocrites. It 
 was still worse, for, how could Ï confide 
 in those two classes of people, who feared 
 not God, but feared only the Emperor ? 
 The honest merchants and sailors, Swe- 
 dish, Danish, from Hamburgh, and from 
 Lubeck, returned or remained, thanks to 
 a couple of evangelical ministers, whom 
 I kept on board our vessels. 
 
 (1730.) 
 
 I had the pleasure, at length, of be- 
 holding the first fair at Trieste $ and af- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 221 
 
 ter wards, some labour with the finances, 
 to find money enough for raising thirty- 
 six thousand men, with which number the 
 Emperor wished to augment his army. He 
 was right in keeping himself prepared for 
 all events ; that was the only way to main- 
 tain peace. But I thought I could perceive 
 that the private interests of some intri- 
 guing individuals, or some zealous though 
 narrow-minded persons, would fain have 
 broken it on the first occasion that offered. 
 The French are quick in penetrating into 
 whatever is passing, and hence they are 
 always in a better state of preparation than 
 others. 
 
 (1731.) 
 
 The Duke of Liria was the Spanish, 
 and Robinson the English Minister. They 
 did not long prevaricate in my tedious con- 
 ferences with them ; and, on the 22d of 
 July, a treaty of defensive alliance was 
 signed between our three courts. I am 
 not fond of long preparations, nor of half 
 
 t 2 
 
222 THE LIFE OF 
 
 measures. We do not know what is, 
 passing in our own courts, while it is very 
 well known in all foreign ones. It is on 
 4he first day of opening a campaign that 
 the public should be informed of alli- 
 ances. 
 
 .) 
 
 For example : the court of Versailles 
 was not the dupe of the journey to Carls- 
 bad, whither I accompanied the Emperor, 
 who pretended to go there for the benefit 
 of the waters. 
 
 It was very evident that an interview 
 was intended. The King of Prussia wait- 
 ed for us at Prague ; and, at the very mo- 
 ment when I was dressing to go and 
 pay my respects to him, he entered my 
 room. " No ceremonies," said he : "I 
 '" am come to talk with my master.'' 
 He was a pacific Charles XII. He 
 thought of nothing but military matters ; 
 but they consisted only of parades, exer- 
 cises, short jackets, small hats, and tall 
 men. I was obliged to hear him talk of 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 228 
 
 all these, of the fine appearance of his 
 troops, and of his economy. I took hold 
 of this, and advised him to amass plenty 
 of money and plenty of men, to defend 
 us, if we should be attacked ; for my 
 system was, as has been evident, not so 
 much to make war, as to form a barrier 
 against France, which might deter her 
 from attacking us. Being fonder of friends 
 than allies, who are often very inconve- 
 nient, and become a sort of tutors, I sim- 
 ply engaged him not to declare against 
 us : knowing his avarice, I was fearful 
 lest he should be bribed away. I induced 
 Charles VI. to relax a little of his Spa- 
 nish haughtiness, and to give him, at 
 least, a friendly reception. He prepared 
 for him a splendid entertainment, which 
 cost a great deal. I prevailed upon all the 
 nobility of Bohemia to shew great honours 
 to the King. He would have preferred a 
 field-day to a ball ; but that was not our 
 province. I had succeeded too well in 
 grand manoeuvres, to care about wheeling 
 to the right and left and the manual ex- 
 ercise. The contrast in dignity and mag- 
 
224 THE LIFE OF 
 
 îiifîcence between our Emperor, in his 
 mantle of gold, and this corporal king, 
 was very amusing. He returned to Potz- 
 dam, and we to Vienna. 
 
 (1733.) 
 
 It was then that I clearly began to 
 perceive the declension of my credit. The 
 King of Poland died in the month of Fe- 
 bruary. Hussia proposed to us to assist her 
 in electing his son Augustus III. in oppo- 
 sition to France, who wished to restore 
 Stanislaus to the throne. A great con- 
 ference at court : very little diversity of 
 opinion ; that for war was chiefly among 
 those who never carry it on ; such as the 
 ministers, the priests, the women, and the 
 idle of a large city. I said to them one 
 day, in a company where they were mak- 
 ing a deal of clamour upon this sub- 
 ject, " I wish that your Excellencies, 
 " and you, ladies, were obliged, each of 
 " you, by the Emperor, to pay four thou- 
 " sand ducats : and you, gentlemen, so 
 il elegant and fine, to march immediately 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 225 
 
 " with a musquet on your shoulders." — 
 This recalled to me two lines which I 
 read, I know not where, some time ago : 
 
 Et tel, pour soufflet, qui ne se battrait pas, 
 A la mort fait courir pour l'honneur des états. 
 
 But the national honour, said they, 
 would be compromised if we did not go 
 to war. " I acknowledge this," said I to 
 the ministers, " only when it is maintained 
 *' by powerful means: those of France 
 " were never so potent: her finances are in 
 " the best possible state, after twenty years 
 " of peace. We have hardly had ten, since 
 " that of Westphalia, namely during the 
 " space of eighty years. Her minister is 
 " prudent." I did not wish to say, point* 
 edly, that ours was not, but I insinuated as 
 much. " What have we to do with a war 
 " so foreign to the Germanic body ? 
 " Thev will make that reflection, and 
 " will send us no aid. The Russians are 
 " too remote to do it; and before they 
 " could arrive, the Empire and Italy will 
 " be invaded. Remember the instability 
 " of England in my best days: she is 
 
226 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " always ready to be the same. The 
 " voice of mercantile politics is ever to be 
 " heard at the doors of her parliament.- 
 " The English, just, noble, upright, and 
 " gênerons as individuals, are just the con- 
 " trary with regard to their country. 
 
 " It is a country of contradiction, 
 " whose constitution is upheld solely by 
 " the ocean, the same as bad faith in 
 " speaking and the desire of shining up- 
 " hold the opposition. 
 
 " The pride and the paucity of know- 
 " ledge which are to be found in theaccre- 
 " dited agents of the Emperor to foreign 
 u courts, occasion it often to happen that 
 " we can rely upon nothing they communi- 
 " cate, and notwithstanding my conversa- 
 " tions with Liria and Robinson, I will 
 " wager that Spain declares for France, 
 " and that England will be neuter." 
 
 Notwithstanding such good reasons as 
 I could allege to prove that France would 
 be glad to find a pretext for going to 
 war with us, and though such bad ones 
 were employed against them, the latter 
 prevailed. They thought, perhaps, that 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 227 
 
 I should refuse the command of the army, 
 which they offered me from politeness ; 
 but they were caught, for I accepted it. 
 With regard to myself, personally speak- 
 ing, I love war : and 1 covet in this res- 
 pect the death of Turenne. 
 
 Before I had time to assemble my 
 army, (of which, while waiting for my 
 arrival, the command was given to the 
 Duke de Bevera,) and while I was mak- 
 ing all my arrangements in the coun- 
 cil of war, what I had predicted took 
 place. On the 28th of October the 
 French seized the fort of Kehl, levied 
 contributions throughout the whole Em- 
 pire, and invaded the Milanese. Sar- 
 dinia and Spain declared against us. It 
 was in vain that I almost killed myself in 
 representing to the Empire, that the ag- 
 gression of France ought to make it de- 
 clare in our favour : three Electors pro- 
 tested against this declaration, saying, 
 that the invasion did not concern the 
 head of the Empire : that it was only a 
 passage whereby to attack Austria : and 
 that France had promised to render back 
 
228 THE LIFE OF 
 
 all she had taken, as soon as the Emperor 
 should relinquish his predilection for tire 
 Elector of Saxony. 
 
 (1734.) 
 
 Stanislaus being fled, the divan of 
 Constantinople began to take the alarm 
 at the preponderance of Russia. The 
 Grand Vizier, Hali-Bacha, wrote to me, 
 " Nalkiran is dead." (He was so deno- 
 minated in that country, because of his 
 great strength ; the word signifying breaker 
 of iron on horse-back.) " Poland has elect- 
 u ed one of her powerful nobles. Why does 
 " the Czarina do two things in violation of 
 "the treaties with her neighbours, and 
 " the liberty of a country, in which she 
 *' wishes to render the crown hereditary, 
 " and to annul an election ? The Sub- 
 clinic Porte is the guarantee, and will not 
 " suffer it." 
 
 The influence of Russia, and acri- 
 mony against France being predominant 
 at our court, I could not reply to him 
 that I was of the same opinion as the 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 22$ 
 
 Sublime Porte. I justified, against my 
 conviction, the Czarina, and among the 
 bad arguments which I used, I said : 
 vl That she had entered into Poland only 
 " to put a stop to the murders and trou- 
 vi bles of the various parties which agitat- 
 * ; ed the country. That she, who had elected 
 V Augustus III. in the same camp where 
 " Henry of Valois had been formerly 
 " elected, was more potent than the abet- 
 " tor of Stanislaus, who was too insigni- 
 " ficanta nobleman to be a king, and who 
 Ci was supported only because he was the 
 " father-in-law of the King of France : 
 " that the son of Augustus II. had been 
 " elected the same as Piaste : that the pri- 
 4 1 mate himself had demanded it : and 
 " that my Emperor hoped that he and his 
 " would concur together to re-establish 
 " peace in the North." 
 
 I wrote all that to the Turks, that the 
 Russians might have no opportunity to 
 fight them ; for they always pretend to be 
 insulted, and that their protégés are op- 
 pressed, in" order to take a few fortresses 
 from them. 
 
 u 
 
230 THE LIFE OF 
 
 I arrived, on the 25th of April, at Heil- 
 bron. I reviewed the army on the 27th, 
 a few leagues from Philipsbourg. I still 
 weep with joy, with tenderness, and with 
 gratitude, when I recollect how I was 
 received there, with repeated cries oîLong 
 live our Father ! and thousands of caps 
 hurled up in the air. My old soldiers of 
 Hungary, Italy, Flanders, and Bavaria, 
 ran to embrace my knees : they surround- 
 ed me ; they embraced my horse ; they 
 completely dismounted me by the eager- 
 ness of their caresses. This moment was 
 certainly the happiest of my life; but it was 
 embittered by the reflection that I had 
 only thirty-five thousand men, that the 
 enemy had eighty thousand, and that they 
 declared their intention of marching to 
 Vienna. I entered into the lines of Et- 
 iingen ; and, as they were made for a 
 hundred thousand men, I did not wish 
 to repeat my affair at Denain. I aban- 
 doned them : butl made so many marches 
 and counter-marches, and employed so 
 many stratagems, that I prevented Berwick 
 from penetrating into the interior of the 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 231 
 
 country. He had nothing else to do, but to 
 lay siege to Philipsbourg. That was what I 
 wished , to gain time. He had his head taken 
 off by a cannon ball, eight days after the 
 opening of the trench. I was jealous, and 
 it was the first time in my life, that I had 
 been so. I was deceived in this project, 
 as well as in that of attacking the French 
 in their lines. I thought I had found a 
 place which was badly fortified,with but lit- 
 tle artillery ; they had neglected it however 
 only because it was covered by a marsh 
 which they had told me was passable, but 
 which I found impossible to pass: fori* 
 went to reconnoitre it myself, as one can 
 never be entirely certain from a report: 
 this is what I have always done, through 
 my whole life. I derived much ad vantag e 
 from it, as well as from always carrying a 
 pencil in my pocket, to write, in the me- 
 morandum-book of an officer, the order 
 which I gave him to carry. I had received 
 some reinforcements of Hessians, Hano- 
 verians, and Prussians, among whom, I 
 distinguished the Prince Royal, who ap- 
 peared to me to promise -a great deal. 
 
L'32 THE LIFE OF 
 
 D' Asfeld surpassed himself. I never saw 
 any thing* so strong : for example, his 
 ditches, or trous de loups were conicaj, 
 and superior to those of Condé, at Arras. 
 When I wished to fight, I never assembled 
 a council of war; but, on this occasion, 
 I was su re of finding every one of the sa me 
 opinion as myself. I wished to pass the 
 Rhine; and afterwards to repass it a little 
 higher up, to attack D' Asfeld. I appoint- 
 ed, for thepurpose, three thousand cavalry, 
 and ten th o u s and S vvi ss . 
 
 This devil of a man thought of every 
 thing, and, at length, took Philipsbourg, 
 notwithstanding my cannonading in his 
 camp, (where I imitated a little the Grand 
 Vizier of Belgrade,) for my batteries and 
 my parapets were raised so as to bear 
 directly upon it ; and the water, moreover, 
 was more dreadful than the tire. I reck- 
 oned more upon the one-, than upon the 
 other; but what a nation, capable of every 
 thing ! Richelieu, whom I had known so 
 delicate, so voluptuous, so tender, and the 
 young men of the court, the Duras, the 
 La Vallieres, were metamorphosed. They 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 238 
 
 wanted 15nly a leader. D'Asfeld was a 
 severe Spartan, and set an excellent exam- 
 ple : and, before him, Berwick had done 
 it. They constructed the trenches in boats. 
 They suffered with unheard-of patience. 
 For myself, I had not, in my moral suffer- 
 ings; but, whoever attacked first, would 
 be beaten ; and if I had, the French would 
 march to Vienna; for there was not a sin- 
 gle intermediate place; and the Elector 
 of Bavaria, who had some cause of com- 
 plaint, waited only for that to declare 
 against Austria, whose arrogance or mal- 
 address never procured her friends any 
 where. We should have lost the few that we 
 had. TheKing of Prussia would soon have 
 set off for Potzdam. There was no longer a 
 Sobieski, to save our capital: I should be 
 confined in the lines which I had construct- 
 ed in 1705; but, meanwhile, they would 
 have sung at Versailles, and, secretly, in the 
 chapel of some of my enemies at Vienna, 
 the Te Deum. They felt, at length, the 
 truth of my reasons against the war: for 
 they saw our inferiority of means, which the 
 factious cavillers could not comprehend. 
 
 u 2 
 
234 THE LÎFE OF 
 
 Philipsbourg being taken, I retired 
 to my former camp of Bruchsal. D'As- 
 feld wished to besiege Mayence ; but I 
 turned him from his design, for I has- 
 tened to cover the place. Enough has 
 been said in praise, I think, of my marches 
 to hinder the French from penetrating 
 into Suabia, by the Black Forest. I co- 
 vered Wurtemberg : and they found me 
 every where, except in a field of battle, 
 where, in truth, I could not be. More fa- 
 tigued than we were, but able to renovate 
 themselves as often as they pleased, they en- 
 tered into winter-quarters; and I, innocent 
 in my own estimation, meriting neither 
 the praises nor the blame with which they 
 honoured me, and content with a sort of 
 inferior passive glory, set off for Vienna. 
 
 I had left my nephew, (the only re- 
 maining part of my branch of the house 
 of Savoy,) ill at Manheim : he died of a 
 fever, as it was said; but I think it was of 
 something else. His loss was something, 
 for he had talents and bravery. He was 
 twenty years of age, already â major-gene- 
 ral, but too much the libertine. I have 
 
PRINCE EUGEttE. £$£> 
 
 no objection to this, when carried to a 
 certain extent. 1 love a rake, but detest 
 a Cato : the latter is almost always bad at 
 musquet shots : but my little Eugene 
 loved bad company and bad friends, and 
 then we are lost. 
 
 " What have you gained, Sire," said 
 I to the Emperor, at my first audience, 
 "in this war, which I still advise your 
 "Majesty to terminate as soon as you 
 
 * can ? After those two battles lost in 
 •' Italy, your troops are about to be driven 
 " from thence, as they are from Naples 
 " and Sicily. We look for contingencies 
 
 * from five or six petty allies, who, not 
 " having a penny, sell their petty succours 
 '" to your Majesty, and their hearts to 
 H France. The aids which Russia sends 
 c ' 4 you do not amount to more than four- 
 44 teen thousand men, which they will 
 " soon recall ; for, (God preserve us from 
 " it!) after having dragged us into this 
 " war, it will plunge your Majesty, per- 
 " haps, into another with the Turks, which 
 " thev are even about to commence, as I 
 u think." Charles VI. taciturn, simply 
 
236 THE LIFE OF 
 
 told me to say the same to the council of 
 conference. 
 
 I brought all the warlike ones to my 
 opinion. I said to them, while the mari- 
 time powers, who desire peace for the 
 equilibrium of Europe, work at that ob- 
 ject, I will go and collect all I can ; that 
 being the only means to effect its conclu- 
 sion. 
 
 I set off towards the end of April for 
 Heilbron, and I took up my excellent 
 camp of Bruchsal, the same as the year 
 before : but, as the enemy was much 
 stronger than myself, I had nothing else 
 to do but to cover every place, and the 
 country on this side the Rhine. 
 
 To render the possession of Philips- 
 bourg useless to him, I turned the course 
 of three small rivers, which, instead of 
 emptying themselves into the Rhine, made 
 me a most noble inundation, from that 
 fortress as far as Etlingen, the lines of 
 which, being thus covered, became totally 
 incapable of any attack. 
 
 If I could have issued out, (having 
 up thing more to do with D'Asfeld, who 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 237 
 
 was succeeded by Coigny,) I should have 
 finished my military career better than by 
 that passive glory, as was the case the 
 preceding year. I rendered it a little active, 
 indeed, by taking Trarbach, and delivering 
 the electorate of Treves ; and by having, 
 also, by Sickendorff, a successful and to- 
 lerably brilliant action at Clausen, where 
 the dragoons of Ligne and Styrura distin- 
 guished themselves. Seeing nothing better 
 to do, — nothing to gain, but a great deal 
 to lose, (as I had already told Charles VI. 
 a hundred times,) — I was very glad, at the 
 first moment, to be recalled to Vienna, 
 strongly suspecting, however, that this was 
 my last campaign. It would be difficult 
 for me to express what I felt when taking 
 leave of my army. It was a very melan- 
 choly business I assure you : one must be 
 an old soldier to know what it is to bid 
 an eternal farewell to such brave fellows, 
 'whom I had so often led to the path of 
 death, and which I would fain have found 
 for myself, in a happy, brief, and glorious 
 manner! but this was the only felicity that 
 God refused me. With tears in my eyes* 
 
238 T^HE LIFE OF 
 
 I resigned the command to the Duke of 
 Wurtemburg ; and, arriving at Vienna, I 
 was happy to find there La Baume, an 
 agent whom Cardinal Fleury had sent to 
 make some very reasonable proposals. — 
 France had been a little humbled in Po- 
 land. Her garrison of fifteen thousand 
 men had retired to Dantzick : the father- 
 in-law hid himself, fled, and had retired 
 nobody knew whither. The Russians and 
 Augustus III. triumphed, as might have 
 been expected. The pacific ministers, 
 availing themselves of this circumstance, 
 and I, availing myself of the desire which 
 Charles VI. had to revive the extinguished 
 house of Austria, by marrying his daugh- 
 ter, Maria Theresa, to Prince Francis 
 of Lorraine, of whom I have already 
 spokeu, we were soon unanimous in opin- 
 ion, and the preliminaries were signed. 
 , The day after the signature, I waited 
 upon the Emperor, to felicitate him in 
 having extricated himself thus from so 
 injudicious a step as this war; exhorting 
 him, at the same time, to take care that 
 Russia did not precipitate him into an©~ 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 239 
 
 ther war with the Turks. I said to him, 
 " Sire, as we grow old, we venture to tell 
 " the truthwithgreater andgreater freedom. 
 " Before commencing, you should ask 
 " yourself, What do I want? what can Ï 
 " do? You neither w r ant, nor have you it in 
 " your power, to take and keep Videil 
 " and Nissa; but you may lose Belgrade. 
 " The Bosnians and Servians, and the 
 " best of the Asiatics, will be against 
 u you. There will be none against the 
 a Russians but the Tartars and the Ar- 
 " nauts, Greek Christians on the right 
 **■ bank of the Niester, who, separated by 
 " deserts, will not do them much harm. 
 " But they may do you a great deal, if 
 " they be victorious. One part of your 
 " subjects is of the same religion as they. 
 " There will be acrimony between your 
 " two courts, and distrust and caprice 
 " among the commanders of your two Im- 
 " peri al armies. 
 
 " There will be no posting, as I did 
 " when I was young, to all the different 
 u courts, to prevent the coalition from 
 'V being broken. The Germanic body is 
 
240 THE LIFE OV 
 
 u 
 
 U 
 
 " gained over, either by the gold or by 
 " the seductive arguments of France. 
 "' Make an enumeration of your hcredi- 
 - tary countries, that each department 
 Ci may be obliged to have each regiment 
 * constantly complete. For the welfare 
 of the Hungarians and of yourself, pre- 
 vent them from revolting, by making 
 them pay annual taxes and provide re- 
 " cruits. You have no money, but too 
 u many persons employed: have soldiers 
 " instead of counsellors. 
 
 " Buy, Sire, the king of Sardinia, 
 °' that he may preserve Lombardy for you : 
 " and the maritime powers, that they may 
 f * preserve the Low Countries for you: 
 " that is, give them, if it be necessary, one 
 " half of the revenues, that you may re- 
 u ceive the other half without any ex- 
 " pense, and hinder France from ma- 
 u king such great acquisitions. As your 
 " Majesty has lost Philipsbourg, make a 
 " fortress of Lintz, and secure, by force 
 " or otherwise, the Elector of Bavaria, if 
 " France wishes to attack you ; and 
 " the Elector of Saxony, in the same 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 241 
 
 " manner, if the King of Prussia, who 
 " is hourly aggrandizing himself, should 
 " be gained over by Cardinal Fleury, 
 u and threaten Bohemia. Laugh at the 
 " Turks : and I promise your Majes- 
 *' ty a reign which will be glorious from 
 " the tranquillity that it will secure to 
 " your states." This is what I wished 
 for this Emperor. 
 
 It will be for history to judge whether 
 I have concluded well or ill. I know 
 that since the year 1717, and conse- 
 quently during eighteen years, I have 
 fought no battles; but that was because 
 I wanted men, money, allies, and credit 
 at the court, (this word I pronounce re- 
 luctantly); and, at length, I procured 
 peace to Europe after two tolerable cam- 
 paigns, in which, if I did not acquire 
 honour, I at least had nothing to reproach 
 myself with. 
 
 They say, that during these two cam- 
 paigns, Guido Stahrenberg, who was 
 naturally of the same party as his cousin 
 Gundacker, exclaimed greatly against me. 
 That recalled to my memory what Villars 
 
242 THE LIFE OF 
 
 said to me at Rastadt: " Our enemies are 
 " not in the field. Yours are at Vienna, 
 "mine at Versailles." What is most 
 amusing is, they pretend that the origin 
 of this hatred arose from a foolish trick, 
 which did not become me, and which was 
 either insolent, or a proof of bad taste. It 
 was long since that I had lost the habit of 
 laughing ; and 1 had even relinquished my 
 French fopperies, that I might better suc- 
 ceed at a more serious court. This is the 
 silly anecdote which I have heard related. 
 During my first campaign in Italy, when 
 I was one day giving a grand dinner to all 
 my generals, I had crackers placed under 
 thechair of S tah renberg, and , at th e m omen t 
 when he was raising the glass to his mouth 
 to drinktheEmperor'shealthjthe trumpets, 
 horns, &c. which accompanied the act, 
 was a signal for the explosion. They 
 thought it was a mine : every one saved 
 himself, except him, under whom was this 
 little volcano. He finished his glass, and 
 placed it tranquilly on the table. Guido, 
 furious, they said, that I should endeavour 
 thus to prove his courage, has never for- 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 24$ 
 
 given me. What likelihood was there 
 that I should doubt it ? We had known 
 each other since the siege of Vienna, where 
 he was captain and adjutant to his cousin 
 Rudiger. He is six years older than I, 
 and has always shewn the greatest talents 
 and the most undoubted courage, to which 
 I willingly do justice. I seldom see him ; 
 and, as I believe he has not much more 
 credit than myself at present, perhaps we 
 may love each other. Old generals, hos- 
 tile to each other, are like women who 
 are no longer so at a certain age, because 
 they have no longer any sex. 
 
 Of all the ministers, ZinzendorfF was 
 the one with whom I preferred to dis- 
 course. " I will wager," said I to him, 
 "that your Excellency will be of my 
 " opinion. There is no need of political 
 *' sentences : the face of Europe changes 
 " like that of a mountain or a plain, by the 
 " accidental influence of light and shade. 
 " They say, such a kingdom is the natu- 
 " ral enemy of another : no such thing: 
 " if they touch, it should be endeavoured 
 '* to excite friendship, if not alliance, 
 
244 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " that they may defend themselves against 
 " the ambition of some more distant 
 " powers. Why, after the peace of Ras- 
 " tadt, did we not unite sincerely with 
 '* France ? The party which had op- 
 " posed France in England had been 
 " overthrown ; we should have saved 
 " many millions of money, and thousands 
 " of men. When we cannot give the law, 
 " we should only think how to avoid re^ 
 " ceiving it. But what is it that we call 
 '** the politics of a court, and reasons of 
 " state ? The personal interests of am- 
 " bition, or the vengeance of a man in 
 " power. This last motive, Count, for 
 '•■ instance, in looking into myself, I be- 
 lieve has operated a little too much upon 
 " me as well as the first : and the desire 
 " of power and wealth gave a little bias to 
 •'Marlborough." 
 
 " What do you think of the best go- 
 " vernments ?" said ZinzendorfF to me. — 
 " You will take me for a tyrant," I replied, 
 "when I say the military government. 
 " Monsters are rare : a monster king 
 " would be unjust and cruel only towards 
 
te 
 
 PRINCE EUGENE. 245 
 
 w his friends, and flatterers, but not to- 
 " wards a provincial gentleman, a citizen, 
 ** or a countryman, whom he would suffer 
 m to be governed by military laws, which 
 " are the most perspicuous and the most 
 " prompt. 
 
 Your Excellency makes an excep- 
 tion, but reflect a little on what I am 
 " now going to say. The soldier is so 
 " tired of being cruel during war, that he 
 " ceases to be so in peace. The prime- 
 " minister, who decides upon both the 
 " one and the other, should have seen 
 H service, that he might know what it is, 
 " He would then hear different arguments, 
 " as if in a trial, mediations, moderating 
 " measures, &c. before determining to shed 
 " so much blood." — " I confess," replied 
 Zinzendorff, " that the Cardinal ministers 
 " have caused a good deal to-be shed, our 
 " good Fleury excepted, who does not 
 " care for it. I believe that it is igno- 
 " ranee, and levity, which is always cruel, 
 " like infancy, which incline our councils 
 " to war, more than you brave people, who 
 " dread it for others, wish it for your- 
 
 x 2 
 
246 THE LIFE OF 
 
 u selves, and yet prevent or retard it as 
 " much as you can." 
 
 The other day, the Emperor took me 
 with him to hunt, an unexampled circum- 
 stance in Austrian-Spanish etiquette, of 
 which I do not disapprove, however; for 
 it is necessary to conciliate the great, that 
 they may conciliate the small, and esta- 
 blish) thus, a regular gradation of impor- 
 tance. These are nearly the words which 
 I said to him in the carriage. " If your 
 " Majesty wished to recommence the war, 
 " 1 do not see any great generals to com- 
 " mand your armies. You must waitth% 
 " they spring up. Conigseg is a courtier, 
 " and Nieperg a man of wit, instead of 
 " being two warriors. Khevenhulleris the 
 " best* The first is loved and esteemed, 
 "the second is more amiable, because 
 " he is more wi«ty ; he is feared for his 
 " sarcasms, which are very pleasant, and 
 " his sneering : but he possesses an admi- 
 " rable coolness in battle. The third 
 " understands, better, marching, camps, 
 " the organization and the movement of 
 u troops: Hildbourghausen has intrepidity 
 
Ï>RINCE EUGENE. $4f 
 
 *'* but little judgment. As he has mar- 
 " ried my neice, they think that I am 
 
 * concerned in his instruction. They do 
 " us both too much honour. They call 
 " him Eugene the white, because he is as 
 " fair as I am dark. 1 wish that the 
 
 * Duke of Lorraine, son-in-law to your 
 " Majesty, and Prince Charles his brother, 
 " the one twenty-six and the other twenty- 
 " two years of age, were more assiduous. 
 " They have genius and courage, as I 
 " think, and will make themselves beloved* 
 " The second will have most talent. — 
 " Princes of the blood, even with less 
 ** merit than others, have more advanta- 
 " ges : called, at an early age, to the com- 
 " mandof armies, they have more vigour, 
 " and hazard a great deal more. Try 
 " these, Sire; perhaps they will answer: 
 " besides, the others do not know more." 
 
 I had never before spoken to him so 
 long upon affairs. He loved them as little 
 as his father. It was always a very short 
 audience with him, or councils of confe- 
 rence. I like them well enough, because 
 no one ventures to give an opinion at 
 
248 TPIÏE LIFE OP 
 
 which he would blush, that he may not 
 lose the esteem of his neighbour, who is 
 obliged to give in there an account of his 
 department. A sovereign who is not very 
 accessible, is equally secure, by this means, 
 from petty intrigues, calumnies, accu- 
 sations, and prejudices. 
 
 Behold me, now, retired almost from 
 every thing. I play, every evening, at 
 piquet, at Madame de Bathiany's, with 
 Taroca, Windischgratz, and Tessin, the 
 Swedish ambassador. It is rather for the 
 sake of talking, however. We are sure 
 to talk better when we do not say 7 Let 
 us talk ; and round a card-table we are more 
 at our ease for it. Besides, the game of 
 commerce is destructive of society. In 
 war, I prefer rather games of chance. At 
 my head quarters, those who gained were 
 gay; those who lost fought the better: 
 that is soon done, and time is more pre- 
 cious than money. I love the society of 
 young people: they are more pure, not 
 being yet spoiled by intrigue. 1 often 
 see the commander Zinzendorff, a man of 
 great wit and pleasing conversation ; Fre- 
 
Grince eugene. 249 
 
 derich Harrach, also, who added to these 
 a great talent for business. I foresee that 
 he will have important employments ; 
 as also, in war, Dhaun and Brown, which 
 they pronounce JBraûn and Daûn. The 
 former has most merit, the second most 
 courage, and the last most talents for dis- 
 cipline and essential details, without being 
 too minute. Joseph Wenzl-Lichtenstein 
 is also a brave general, a good citizen, and 
 truly a great nobleman. SeckendorfFand 
 Schmettau, possessing military qualities, 
 depend a little too much upon circum- 
 stances. 
 
 The young Cobentzl, who had much 
 wit, often visited Madame Bathiany. One 
 day he said to her, " It is thought, Ma- 
 " dam, that you have married Prince 
 " Eugene/' — " I love him too well for 
 " that/' replied she: " I would rather 
 " have a bad reputation than deprive him 
 " of his, and thus abuse his seventy- 
 " second vear." 
 
 Kaunitz, of the same age as Cobentzl, 
 without having his decided character and 
 promptitude in conversation, will have a 
 
250 THE LIFE OF 
 
 quick insight into things. He has just, 
 noble, and profound ideas. I almost love 
 Madame de Strattman as much as my 
 pretended mistress, her sister. "If you 
 " were not religious, and if I were only in 
 " my twenty-fifth year what, might not 
 " happen !" said I one day to Madame 
 Bathiany. " Nothing," she replied. " It 
 " would be just the same as now. I am 
 " religious, first, because I love God, and/ 
 " believe and hope in him ; (it is almost 
 " my only prayer); secondly, because it 
 " is the safeguard of my tranquillity, which 
 " comes to the assistance of my offended 
 " self-love, if I am deserted ; and lastly, 
 " that I may laugh at women who have 
 " lovers. I am religious, because I have 
 *' neither fear, nor hope, nor desire in this 
 w life; and that the good which I do to 
 " the poor from humanity, may turn to 
 " the benefit of my soul. I am religious, 
 " because they who are wicked fear me, 
 " and are tedious to me. I am religious, 
 " that I may not always have to watch 
 " over my reputation ; women, who are 
 " pot so, dare not say nor do any thing: 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 251 
 
 "they are like thieves, who think they 
 " are always beset by the officers of jus- 
 " tice. — But I detest those who make 
 " a pretence of religion, or who are only 
 " so because of the immortality of the 
 " soul. Were mine to perish with me, I 
 " should still endeavour, notwithstanding, 
 " to be good, as I do at present. It is 
 " not so much from the fear of God, as 
 H from gratitude for his benefits, and love 
 " for him, that I am religious, without 
 " making a parade of it, like those ladies 
 " who convert it into a trade, to please 
 ." the court rather than to please hea- 
 " ven." 
 
 I have been happy in this life : I wish 
 to be so in the next. There are some 
 old dragoons who will pray to heaven for 
 me; and I rely more upon their prayers 
 than upon those of all the old women of 
 the court, or the clergy of the city. The 
 fine simple or loud music of divine service 
 is pleasing to me. The one has some- 
 thing religious in it which affects the soul ; 
 the other recalls to me, by the noise of 
 trumpets and kettle-drums, which has so 
 
"252 THE LIFE OF 
 
 often led my soldiers to victory, the God 
 of armies, who has prospered our bat- 
 tles ; without believing, however, (as I 
 have already said was sometimes asserted 
 at court,) that it was what they called the 
 miracle of the House of Austria. I have 
 hardly had any time to sin ; but I have 
 set bad examples, perhaps of scandal, 
 without knowing it, by neglecting the 
 practices of religion, in which, however, 
 J have always believed, and which I know 
 very well. I have sometimes spoken ill 
 of my neighbour, but then I was obliged 
 to do it in saying such a one is a cow- 
 ard — such a one is a rogue. I have some- 
 times been in a passion ; but who could 
 help swearing to see a general or a regi- 
 ment which did not do its duty, or an 
 adjutant who did not understand an order! 
 I have been too thoughtless as a soldier, 
 and lived as a philosopher. I wish to die 
 a Christian. I have never been fond of 
 boasters, either in war or religion ; and 
 perhaps it was from having seen, on the 
 one hand, frivolous impieties, like those 
 of the French which I have mentioned, 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 253 
 
 and, on the other, Spanish bigotry, that 
 I have always kept myself distant from 
 both. I have often seen death near enough 
 to be familiar with it. But now it is no 
 longer the same thing. I once sought it ; 
 now I wait for it ; and in waiting I live 
 tranquilly. I look upon the past as upon a 
 delightful dream. I never go to court but 
 on days of ceremony, nor to the theatre 
 but when there is an Italian opera, serious 
 or comic, or a fine ballet. If there were 
 a French company, I should go to see 
 Âthalû, Esther, and Polieucte. I love the 
 eloquence of the pulpit. When Bourda- 
 loue fills me with fear, Massillon fills me 
 with hope. We were born in the same 
 year, and I knew him at his entrance into 
 life, perfectly amiable. Bossuet astonishes, 
 Fenelon touches, me. I have seen them 
 also in my youth ; and Marlborough and 
 I showed every possible honour to the 
 latter, when we took Cambrai. I have for- 
 gotten the epigrams of Rousseau, and even 
 his ode to me ; but I often read his psalms 
 and his canticles. My memory is still 
 good, you see; and I believe I have for- 
 
 Y 
 
254 THE LIFE OF 
 
 gotten nothing but my enemies in this 
 country, whom I pardon with all my heart. 
 A stranger and successful ! — that was too 
 much for them. I am tolerably well in 
 health, though my seventy-second year, 
 the fatigues of I know not how many cam- 
 paigns, and the effects of I know not how 
 many wounds, weigh upon me : the Che- 
 valier Carelli, my physician and friend, 
 gives me a certain remedy to cure, as he 
 says, the radical moisture which he finds a 
 little dried up. I have a great many 
 things yet to do, for the embellishment of 
 my gardens and palace : for example, in 
 the front of that which I inhabit, and where 
 I have employed fifteen hundred workmen, 
 (because it was a time of scarcity, and it 
 did good to the city of Vienna,) I wish to 
 purchase all the grounds to make a fine 
 square, and in the middle, a superb foun- 
 tain. If I live a little longer, I shall com- 
 mit to writing all that I can remember, 
 or that comes into my head, which I still 
 find sound enough, though they take care 
 to tell me, that it is a good deal bowed 
 
PRINCE EUGENE. 255 
 
 down. It has been strong enough not to 
 die with vexation when I have been thwar- 
 ted, as my friend, Prince Louis of Baden, 
 did about thirty years ago. I have shrug- 
 ged up my shoulders, and gone on. For 
 example, if I were still to interfere with 
 affairs, I should say to the Emperor, 
 " Take every precaution for your succes- 
 " sion: it will be devilishly embroiled. 
 " Two or three different powers will sup- 
 " port their pretensions. Prevent it all 
 " while you are alive. This is an occa- 
 " sion for travelling post, as I did in my 
 " time, running to Munich, Berlin, Lon- 
 " don, the Hague, &c." The army and 
 the artillery are falling into decay. They 
 will not be in a state to resist if they do 
 not arrange together to prevent all that 
 will happen ; and if, before that, on the 
 death of Charles VI. they do not refuse 
 to go to war with the Turks. I wish 
 great good fortune to the house of Aus- 
 tria, which will soon be Austria-Lor- 
 raine, and I hope that she will extricate 
 herself. I have written enough for to- 
 
256 THE LIFE OF, &C. 
 
 day, and I shall now mount my horse 
 to go and see a lion which has arri- 
 ved at my menagerie on the road to 
 Schweikelt. — - * 
 
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 TEES, D.D. Late Bishop of London. By the 
 Rev. Robert Hodgson, A.M. F.S. Rector of St. 
 George's, Hanover-Square, and one of the chap- 
 lains in ordinary to his Majesty. 
 
 Mi'. Hodgson the author of this publication, is a nephew of 
 Mr. Portews. He was for some years chaplain to the Bishop, and 
 was presented by his venerable patron to the living of St 
 George's, Hanover Square. Nobody could be better qualified to 
 ■write the Bishop s life. No other person knew so well the differ- 
 ent occurrences of it, or could so properly form an estimate of his 
 lordship's character. Mr.Hodgson's task, however, has been 
 considerably lightened, and the value of his book much increa- 
 sed, by having ia his possession several manuscript volumes, in Bi. 
 shop Porteus's own hand writing, containing a great variety of 
 facts and observations on the principal incidents of his life. From 
 these volumes we are favoured with many extracts. 
 
 The Bishop was certainly a very sincere, worthy Prelate. H* 
 had a great desire to do good, and spared no pains in the prose- 
 cution of his object. He was a man of superior abilities and 
 attainments, and will ever be revered as an ornament of the 
 Bench. He seems to have done his duty without fear or favour, 
 and always to have remembered that, he had a labour to perform 
 for the advantages which he enjoyed. He was never inattentive 
 to the offices of his sacred function. On some occasions, his 
 zeal was manifested with apostolical intrepidity. 
 
 The Bishop was born at York, in the year 173!, and was the 
 youngest but one of nineteen children. His parents were na- 
 tives of Virginia, who removed to England, with a small fortune, 
 in 1720. 
 
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