Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne

“ Returning to Paris at the end of the campaign, his journey through France resembled a triumphal progress; such was the popular enthusiasm in his favor. Not less flattering was his reception by the king, whose undeviating regard and (p. 210) confidence, undimmed by jealousy or envy, is creditable alike to the monarch and to his faithful subject. At this time Turenne, it is said, had serious thoughts of retiring to a convent, and was induced only by the earnest remonstrances of the king, and his representations of the critical state of France, to resume his command. ”

“ Turenne's fame rests on his military achievements; as a man he was not more distinguished for his virtues than the duke of Marlborough, whom in many respects he resembled. He had indeed the calmness of all philosophic, cold-minded temperaments, but few other praiseworthy qualities. As a politician he holds no high place. ”

“ The means by which Henry won for a time the support of Turenne (and incidentally procured his consent to my marriage) are now too notorious to require explanation. Nevertheless, it was not until the Vicomte’s union a year later with Mademoiselle de la Marck, who brought him the Duchy of Bouillon, that I thoroughly understood the matter; or the kindness peculiar to the king, my master, which impelled that great monarch, in the arrangement of affairs so vast, to remember the interests of the least of his servants. ”

“ Turenne, Vicomte de, a famous marshal of France, born at Sedan of noble parentage; was trained in the art of war under his uncles Maurice and Henry of Nassau in Holland, and entered the French service in 1630 under the patronage of Richelieu; gained great renown during the Thirty Years' War; during the wars of the Fronde (q. v.) first sided with the "Frondeurs," but subsequently joined Mazarin and the court party; crushed his former chief Condé; invaded successfully the Spanish Netherlands, and so brought the revolt to an end; was created Marshal-General of France in 1660 ”

“ That vast intrigue had just commenced which was to raise France to the pinnacle of power, and which, by a timely subservience, promised to emancipate the princes of the House of Stuart from the control of Parliament, and from the terrors which had postponed the king's design of reconciliation with Rome. In that conspiracy the motives of religious belief and political ambition were strangely blended. Turenne, who was destined to be the foremost actor in the execution of the design, was a sincere Calvinist. ”

“ Turenne, in defending the frontiers of the Rhine, acquired reputation which has made his name one of the most renowned in military annals. The emperor sent seventy thousand men against him. Turenne had but twenty thousand to meet them. By wonderful combinations, he defeated and dispersed the whole imperial army. It added not a little to the celebrity of Turenne that he had achieved his victory by following his own judgment, in direct opposition to reiterated orders from the minister of war, given in the name of the king. ”

“ On pouvoit juger à le voir, que par un disposition particuliere la Nature l'avoit préparé à faire tout ce qu'il a fait. If Turenne had not been an ill-looking man, the skilful eulogist would not thus have excused himself from giving any description of his countenance; a countenance from which indeed, if portraits belie it not, it might be inferred that nature had prepared him to change his party during the civil wars, as lightly as he would have changed his seat at a card-table,—to renounce the Protestant faith, and to ravage the Palatinate. ”

“ Turenne happened to have been buried among his peers at the feet of Louis XIV. That is the reason why he was dispossessed. Now comes a commercially inclined Frenchman who had read that Turenne had been blessed with exceptionally fine molars. So he breaks all the teeth out of the dead man's jaws and sells them to the highest bidder. I was told there was only one left and I could have it for 100 francs. But I was more interested in my own teeth than in Turenne's and refused to do business with the antiquarian. ”

“ Chapter 2 As an infusion of fresh blood to Odo were Alfieri's meteoric returns to Turin. Life moved languidly in the strait-laced city, even to a young gentleman a-tiptoe for adventure and framed to elicit it as the hazel-wand draws water. ”

“ Few generals had ever been more loved by their soldiers than the great Viscount de Turenne, who was Marshal of France in the time of Louis XIV. Troops are always proud of a leader who wins victories; but Turenne was far more loved for his generous kindness than for his successes. If he gained a battle, he always wrote in his despatches, 'We succeeded,' so as to give the credit to the rest of the army ”

“ The gentleman of whom, after her lover, she took most notice, was the Count de la Tour d’Auvergne, a nobleman of an old family, who idolized her, and, not being rich enough to possess her entirely, had to be content with what she gave him. Camille had given him a young girl, for whose keep she paid, who lived with Tour d’Auvergne in furnished apartments in the Rue de Taranne, and whom he said he loved as one loves a portrait, because she came from Camille. The count often took her with him to Camille’s to supper. ”

“ I never meet without a sort of melting curiosity those little Auvergnats who go to seek their fortunes in this great world with a small deal chest. They have little besides hope in their box, as they climb down their rocks: lucky are they if they bring it back with them!
Alas, Madame de Beaumont had not lain two years on the bank of the Tiber when I trod her natal soil in 1805; I was at but a few leagues from that Mont Dore where she had come in search of the life which she lengthened a little in order to reach Rome. Last summer, in 1838, I once more travelled through this same Auvergne. ”

“ From 1653 to 1657, Turenne, seconded by Marshal La Ferte and sometimes by Cardinal Mazarin in person, constantly kept the Spaniards and the Prince of Conde in check, recovering the places but lately taken from France and relieving the besieged towns; without ever engaging in pitched battles, he almost always had the advantage. ”

“ In his brother, Turenne, a very different character is to be met with, or rather, perhaps, the same character without its defects. What in Bouillon is rashness, in Turenne is courage; what is cunning in the one is wisdom in the other. ”

“ The body of Turenne did not have much peace after it was routed out of its tomb. Not being royal, it was put aside in a chapel until the Convention should decide its fate; when thinking so great a man a worthy object as a specimen of natural history, and deeming it profitable for students of various "ologies," it was put into a glass case by the side of stuffed birds, bottled snakes, criminal curiosities, and monstrosities. ”

“ But the connection between the king and the marchioness of Verneuil appears to have been very displeasing to Auvergne, and in 1601 he engaged in the conspiracy formed by the dukes of Savoy, Biron, and Bouillon, one of the objects of which was to force Henri to repudiate his wife and marry the marchioness. The conspiracy was discovered ; Biron and Auvergne were arrested, and Biron was executed. Auvergne after a few months imprisonment was released, chiefly through the in fluence of his half-sister, his aunt, the duchess d Angouleme, and his father-in-law. ”

“ I expected M. de Turenne to go when I had made my answer, or else to fall into such a rage as opposition is apt to cause in those who seldom encounter it. To my surprise, however, he restrained himself. ‘Come,’ he said, with patience which fairly astonished me, and so much the more as chagrin was clearly marked in his voice, ‘I know where you put your trust. You think the King of Navarre will protect you. Well, I pledge you the honour of Turenne that he will not; that the King of Navarre will do nothing to save you. ”

“ Tournon was ready to sacrifice {195} everything, truth in the first place, in order to unite the king with the pope. 'It is to be feared,' he said to his colleague, 'that if we let the holy father know all the discontent of the two kings, we shall but increase his despair; and that the emperor, profiting by our threats, will gain him over and do with him as he likes, which would lead to the disturbance of christendom.' Instead of carrying out the Calais resolutions, Tournon and Gramont determined to put them aside. ”

“ Great was the joy which my arrival spread; for neither King, nor Queen, nor ministers, had felt themselves at all easy under the prospect of a junction between the Prince de Condé and the Duke of Loraine in the immediate vicinity of Paris; and, as Turenne now gave them the most positive assurance that he would be able to keep both those generals in check, for at least a month, while the Court negotiated with the Parisians, and raised new troops, it may be conceived that his despatch proved a very agreeable relief to the minds of all. ”

“ On the approach of spring he was sent back to take command of the French army in Alsace, which, amounting to no more than ten thousand men, was pressed by a powerful confederation of the troops of the Empire, and those of Brandenburg, once again in the field. Turenne set himself to beat the allies in detail, before they could form a junction. He passed the Rhine, marched forty French leagues in four days, and came up with the Imperialists, under the Duke of Lorraine, at Sintzheim. They occupied a strong position, their wings resting on mountains ”

“ When he was with de la Valette and Weimar, and the army had to fall back and were well nigh starved, Turenne sold his plate and his carriages to buy food for the men. He had his own baggage thrown out of the wagons to make room for those who were too weak to march; and on one occasion gave up his own horse to a soldier who was sinking from fatigue and hunger, and himself marched on foot. He always leads his troops in battle, and wherever he goes they will follow. ”

“ Napoleon said of him that his genius grew bolder as it grew older, and a modern author, the duc d’Aumâle (Histoire des princes de la maison de Condé) , takes the same view when he says: “Pour le connaltre il faut le suivre jusqu’à Sulzbach. Chez lui chaque jour marque un progrès.” In his personal character Turenne was little more than a simple and honourable soldier, endowed with much tact, but in the world of politics and intellect almost helpless in the hands of a skilful intriguer or casuist. ”

“ Four years elapsed before Turenne had an opportunity of distinguishing himself in the service of his native country. His first laurels were reaped in 1634, at the siege of the strong fortress of La Motte, in Lorraine, where he headed the assault, and, by his skill and bravery, mainly contributed to its success. For this exploit he was raised, at the early stage of twenty-three, to the rank of Maréchal de Camp, the second grade of military rank in France. In the following year, the breaking out of war between France and Austria opened a wider field of action. ”

“ King Charles Albert and other kings and princes of the Savoy dynasty are buried in the crypt. Not far from Turin are also the castles of Moncalieri, Stupinigi, Rivoli, Racconigi, Aglè, Venaria, and the ancient monastery of the Sagra di San Michele (753 metres above sea-level) , famous for its view of the Alps as fat as the beginning of the Lombard plain.
Turin was always a place of importance and military strength, in spite of numerous vicissitudes, till at length it was made the chief town of Piedmont by Amadeus, first duke of Savoy. ”

“ Paris was in the hands of the Fronde. The populace surged through the streets, shouting "Long live the king! Death to Mazarin!"
Cardinal Mazarin forced to retire.
The cardinal, taking the king with him, retired to St. Denis. Turenne re-collected his scattered forces at Pontoise, about twenty miles north from Versailles. The cardinal, with the king, took refuge at that place in the centre of Turenne's army. Here the king issued an ordinance, transferring the Parliament from Paris to Pontoise ”

“ The character of Turenne was more remarkable for solidity than for brilliancy. Many generals may have been better qualified to complete a campaign by one decisive blow; few probably have laid the scheme of a campaign with more judgment, or shown more skill and patience in carrying their plans into effect. And it is remarkable that, contrary to general experience, he became much more enterprising in advanced years than he had been in youth. Of that impetuous spirit, which sometimes carries men to success where caution would have hesitated and failed, he possessed little. ”

“ They went to Turin, met with an agreeable reception, and were greatly distinguished at court. Could it be otherwise? They were young and handsome; they had wit at command, and spent their money liberally. In what country will not a man succeed, possessing such advantages? As Turin was at that time the seat of gallantry and of love, two strangers of this description, who were always cheerful, brisk and lively, could not fail to please the ladies of the court. ”

“ In this respect he offered a remarkable contrast to his rival in fame, Condè, who, celebrated in early life for the headlong valour, even to rashness, of his enterprises, became in old age prudent almost to timidity. Equally calm in success or in defeat, Turenne was always ready to prosecute the one, or to repair the other. And he carried the same temper into private life, where he was distinguished for the dignity with which he avoided quarrels, under circumstances in which lesser men would have found it hard to do so, without incurring the reproach of cowardice. ”