dent came opportunely to inaugurate the reign of Louis XIV. The battle had been fought on the very day that committed the body of his father to the Royal vault at St. Denis. The broken litter on which the old Conde de Fuentes had expired was for a long time preserved at Chantilly as a noble trophy of the family of Condé. Twenty-four cannon and 300 standards were the fruits of the victory: and of the famous Spanish infantry that had been overthrown there were 9,000 left dead on the field, and 7,000 taken prisoners; amongst whom Don Francisco de Melo, the Commander-in-Chief, had been included; but he found means during the fray to throw away his General's staff, and to escape. The bâton became a glorious trophy of the day. M. le Duc himself had received three ball-strokes in the course of the engagement, none of which was of importance; but his horse was wounded by two balls. In war success is "the one thing needful," and how attained is comparatively unimportant; nevertheless the vanity of the nation exalted the young conqueror a little too highly. The great effect of the victory of Rocroy in military history is, that it absolutely extinguished the renown of Spanish tactics.-SIR E. CUST.

MARSHAL TURENNE was the greatest of the French generals of the seventeenth century, and his campaigns are still models for the student of the art of war. Henry de la Tour, Viscount of Turenne, was the second son of Henry de la Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, and of Elizabeth, daughter of William I., Prince of Or

ange. He was born at Sédan, France, on the 16th of September, 1611, and from childhood presaged his destination to the military profession. He was carefully educated in the Reformed religion, and at the age of fifteen he went to Holland, where he studied the art of war under his maternal uncles, Prince Maurice, of Nassau, and Prince Frederic Henry.

In 1630 Turenne was called to France, and received the command of a French regiment. He gained brilliant distinction in several campaigns in Lorraine, Germany and Flanders. Cardinal Richelieu offered him one of his nieces in marriage; but his attachment to the Reformed religion caused him to decline the proposal. In 1639 he commanded with success in Italy, and firmly established his fame as a general. In 1642 he conquered Roussillon, and was appointed by Richelieu to the command of the army in Italy, though his brother, the Duke of Bouillon, had just been arrested for conspiracy against the cardinal.

Two years later, when Mazarin had succeeded to Richelieu's place, he removed Turenne from Italy, but gave him the title of Marshal of France, and the command of the French

armies in Germany. Turenne had the misfortune to be surprised and defeated by General Mercy at Marindal, in May, 1645; but, after a skillful retreat, he was able to avenge this, three months later, at Nordlingen, where Mercy was killed. In 1646 Turenne made a junction with the Swedish army under Wrangel, after a march of one hundred and fifty leagues, and obliged the Duke of Bavaria to solicit peace. When that prince afterwards broke his treaty, Turenne gave him a defeat and drove him entirely out of his dominions.

The civil war of the Fronde against the ministry of Mazarin broke out in 1649. Turenne was first engaged against the Court, being influenced by the Duchess of Longueville, with whom he was violently in love. He was obliged to fly to Flanders, where he took a command in the Spanish army, and in 1652 defeated Condé at Gien and St. Antoine. When the troubles of the Fronde were over, Turenne returned and became chief commander of the royal armies. In 1654 and 1655 he commanded against the Spaniards and the Low Countries, gained the battle of the Dunes, and conquered the greater part of Flanders. The Peace of the Pyrenees, in 1660, closed this war.

Turenne, in 1653, had married the daughter of the Marshal Duke de la Force, a Protestant. Louis XIV., having taken the reins of government into his own hands, made Turenne Marshal-General of the armies of France. When hostilities with Spain were renewed in 1667, Turenne ran through another rapid career of victories in Flanders, the King being, however, in nominal command. The Spaniards were obliged to beg for peace again in the next year. In 1668 Turenne abjured Calvinism, and was reconciled to the Church of Rome. The Catholics represent this change as the result of real conviction, while the Protestants attribute it to ambitious views.

When Louis XIV., in 1672, resolved upon the conquest of Holland, Turenne commanded the army to which the King attached himself. The campaign was one of conquest almost without resistance. In the following year he marched with inferior forces against Montecuculi, the Imperialist general, in Westphalia. He also pursued to the gates of Berlin the Elector of Brandenburg, who had come to the relief of the

Dutch, and obliged him to sue for peace.

While the King

was conquering Franche-Comté, Turenne was employed in defending the frontiers, in which office he displayed every resource of a consummate warrior. He passed the Rhine at Philipsburg, in June, 1674; forced the town of Sintzheim, and attacked the Imperial army commanded by Caprara and the Duke of Lorraine, which he defeated, and pushed to the Main. He then turned to the Prince of Bournonville, who was advancing with fresh troops, defeated him, and prevented his junction with the other army. The Emperor assembled 70,000 men, entered Alsace, and blockaded Brisac and Philipsburg. Turenne had only 20,000 effectives, but received a supply of cavalry from Condé. With these he marched over snow-clad mountains, and was in the midst of the enemy's quarters in Upper Alsace, when they thought him in Lorraine. He succeeded in dispersing the great force opposed to him without any considerable engagement, saved Alsace, and forced the Germans to repass the Rhine.

Turenne was enabled to effect these astonishing results by the unbounded confidence reposed in him by his soldiers. The glory acquired by him in the campaign was the more solid, as he had acted chiefly from his own suggestions, in contradiction to the repeated orders of Louvois, Louis' minister of war. It was, however, tarnished by the cruel devastation of the Palatinate, in which, however, he merely obeyed the injunctions of the minister. The action is thus mentioned by Voltaire, who certainly has not exaggerated its horrors: "After the battle of Sintzheim, Turenne carried fire and sword through the Palatinate, a level and fertile country, covered with opulent towns and villages. The Elector-Palatine saw from his castle of Mannheim two towns and twenty-five villages on fire. In despair, he challenged Turenne to single combat, by a letter filled with reproaches. The marshal, having sent the letter to the King, who forbade his acceptance of the challenge, replied with a vague compliment, which signified nothing. It was his usual manner to express himself with moderation and ambiguity. With the same coolness he burnt the mills and part of the corn-fields of Alsace, to cut off the supply of the enemy. He afterwards per

mitted his cavalry to ravage Lorraine. He rather chose to be called the father of the soldiers who were intrusted to him, than of the people, who, according to the laws of war, are always made the sacrifice."

The extraordinary success of Turenne caused the Imperial Court to call its best general to oppose him, and Montecuculi was summoned for that purpose. These two masters of war, after a variety of skillful movements, were about to come to an engagement, when Turenne, reconnoitring for a place to fix a battery, on July 27, 1675, was struck by a cannon-ball, and killed on the spot, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. The highest honors were paid by the King to his remains, which were interred at St. Denis, the burial-place of the kings of France. When, in the madness of the French Revolution, the bodies of those sovereigns were torn from their tombs, the remains of Turenne were respected by the mob. In 1800 they were removed, by the order of Napoleon, to the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, where they still rest.

Turenne concealed a great soul under a rude and vulgar appearance. His temper was cool; his manners were modest and simple. He was not always successful in war, and, as he himself acknowledged frankly, committed faults; but by always repairing them, and doing much with small means, he was deservedly considered the ablest general in Europe, when the art of war was more studied than ever before. His character and career had much resemblance to that of the Duke of Marlborough in the next century.

SIEGE OF DUNKIRK.

The terms of the treaty that Cromwell had made with Mazarin stipulated distinctly for the siege of Dunkirk; and that it should be delivered up, when taken, to England. The delay of the performance of this agreement excited the anger of the Protector, and he urged its fulfillment. With great exertions Turenne's army was increased to 16,000 men ; but it was the month of May before he took the field, and before the enemy had left their winter quarters. In considering the enterprise, he saw the great risk of undertaking a siege of Dunkirk without first having possession of Furnes, Bergues,