BROGLIE (1647-1727), served under Conde, Turenne and other great commanders of the age of Louis XIV., becoming marechal de camp in 1676, lieutenant-general in 1688, and finally marshal of France in The eldest son of Victor Maurice, FRANc0IS MARIE, afterwards DUC DE BROGLIE served continuously in the War of the Spanish Succession and was present at Malplaquet. The war in Italy called him into the field again in 1733, and in the follow ing year he was made marshal of France. In the campaign of I 734 he fought the battles of Parma and Guastalla. A famous episode was his narrow personal escape when his quarters on the Secchia were raided by the enemy on the night of Sept. 14, In 1735 he directed a war of positions with credit, but he was soon replaced by Marshal de Noailles. He was governor-general of Alsace when Frederick the Great paid a secret visit to Stras bourg (174o). In 1742 de Broglie was appointed to command the French army in Germany, but such powers as he had possessed were failing him, and he had always been the "man of small means," safe and cautious, but lacking in elasticity and daring. The only success obtained was in the action of Sahay (May 25, 1742), for which he was made a duke.
His son, VICTOR FRANc0IS, Duc DE BROGLIE (1718-1804), served with his father at Parma and Guastalla, and in 1734 ob tained a colonelcy. In the German War he took part in the storming of Prague in 1742, and was made a brigadier. In and 1745 he saw further service on the Rhine, and in 1756 he was made marechal de camp. He subsequently served with Marshal Saxe in the low countries, and was present at Roucoux, Val and Maastricht. At the end of the war he was made a lieutenant general. During the Seven Years' War he served successively under d'Estrees, Soubise and Contades, being present at all the battles from Hastenbeck onwards. His victory over Prince Fer dinand at Bergen (1759) won him the rank of marshal of France from his own sovereign and that of prince of the empire from the emperor Francis I. In 1760 he won an action at Corbach, but was defeated at Vellinghausen in 1761. After the war he was in disgrace until 1778, when he was given command of the troops designed to operate against England. He opposed the Revolution with determination, and after his emigration, com manded the "army of the princes" for a short time (1792). He died at Munster in 1804.
Another son of the first duke, CHARLES FRANcoIS, COMTE DE BROGLIE (1719-1781), is chiefly remembered in connection with the Secret du Roi, the private, as distinct from the official, diplo matic service of Louis XV. of which he was the ablest and most important member.
The son of Victor Francois, VICTOR CLAUDE, PRINCE DE BROG LIE served in the army, attaining the rank of mare chal de camp. He served with Lafayette and Rochambeau in America, was a member of the Jacobin Club, and sat in the Constituent Assembly, constantly voting on the Liberal side. He served as chief of the staff to the Republican army on the Rhine; but in the Terror he was denounced, arrested and executed at Paris on June 27, 1794. His dying admonition to his little son was to remain faithful to the principles of the Revolution, however unjust and ungrateful.