James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick (21 August 1670 – 12 June 1734) was an illegitimate son of King James II of England and a general in the service of France.
Biography[]
James FitzJames was born in Moulins, Bourbonnais, France in 1670, the illegitimate son of King James II of England and his mistress Arabella Churchill. Created Duke of Berwick by his father in 1687, he was educated in France and served in the Reichsarmee during the Great Turkish War before serving as Governor of Portsmouth in England. Berwick served under his father during the Williamite War in Ireland, and he was unhorsed and almost killed at the Battle of the Boyne. Berwick helped defend Limerick against the Williamites before going into exile in France and joining the French Royal Army, fighting in the War of the Grand Alliance and becoming a Marshal of France in 1706 in recognition of his service in the Low Countries during the War of the Spanish Succession. Berwick also commanded French and Spanish troops in the Iberian Peninsula during that conflict, winning a decisive victory at the Battle of Almanza and storming Barcelona in 1714. Berwick later invaded the Spanish Basque Country during the War of the Quadruple Alliance, and he led the French Army of the Rhine during the War of the Polish Succession. He was decapitated by a cannonball during the Siege of Philippsburg in 1734.