Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne (11 September 1611 – 27 July 1675) was a Marshal of France whose five-decade military career made him one of the greatest generals in modern history. He was a veteran of the Dutch Revolt, the Thirty Years' War, the Fronde, the Franco-Spanish War, the War of Devolution, and the Franco-Dutch War, during which he was killed.
Biography[]
Turenne was born to an aristocratic Huguenot family (he was the nephew of the Dutch prince Maurice of Orange), and he served in the Dutch States Army during the Dutch Revolt, fighting against Spain. He returned to France in 1630, rising to prominence in the Thirty Years' War by capturing the fortress of Breisach in 1638.
Marshal-General of France[]
Turenne in battle armor
In 1643, Turenne became a Marshal of France, and he invaded Bavaria the next year, defeating the Bavarian army after three years of campaigning. In 1648, after the Elector of Bavaria broke his peace treaty with France, Turenne invaded again with Swedish support, defeating the Bavarians at the Battle of Zusmarshausen. He initially supported the Fronde before returning to royal service in 1651, defeating Louis, Grand Conde's rebel army on the outskirts of Paris and reoccupying the city. During the Franco-Spanish War, he defeated the Spanish at Arras in 1654 and at Dunkirk in 1658, overrunning much of the Spanish Netherlands and bringing the war to a victorious conclusion. In 1660, he became Marshal General of France, and he converted to Catholicism in 1668, as he supported Louis' Catholic absolute monarchy. During the War of Devolution, he captured the Spanish Netherlands with little resistance, and he conquered the United Provinces up to Amsterdam in 1672 during the Franco-Dutch War. However, the Dutch flooded the land, checking Turenne's advance. He invaded the Holy Roman Empire the next year and reached the Elbe, compelling Brandenburg-Prussia to abandon the anti-French coalition. As Alsace was threatened by superior Allied forces, Turenne defended France from invasion, winning at Turckheim in 1675. In mid-winter, an offensive in the Vosges drove the Imperials from Alsace, and he invaded Germany once more. On 27 July 1675, he was killed by an Imperial cannonball during an artillery duel at Salzbach, a great loss for the French cause.