VICOMTE DE (1611-1675), marshal of France, second son of Henri, duke of Bouillon and sovereign prince of Sedan, by his second wife Elizabeth, daughter of William the Silent, prince of Orange, was born at Sedan on Sept. 11, 1611. At the age of fourteen he went to learn war in the camp of his uncle, Maurice of Nassau, and began his military career (as a private soldier in that prince's bodyguard) in the Dutch War of Independence. Frederick Henry of Nassau, who succeeded his brother Maurice in 1625, gave Turenne a captaincy in 1626. In 163o Turenne left Holland and entered the service of France. Cardinal Richelieu at once made him colonel of an infantry regiment. He still con tinued to serve at frequent intervals with the prince of Orange, who was the ally of France. In 1635 Turenne served under Cardinal de la Valette in Lorraine and on the Rhine. The siege of Mainz was raised but the French army had to fall back on Metz from want of provisions. In the retreat Turenne measured swords with the famous imperialist General Gallas, and distin guished himself greatly by his courage and skill. The reorganized army took the field again in 1636 and captured Saverne (Zabern), at the storming of which place Turenne was seriously wounded. In 1637 he took part in the campaign of Flanders and was present at the capture of Landrecies (July 26) and in the latter part of 1638, under Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (1608-1639), he directed the assault of Breisach (reputed the strongest fortress on the upper Rhine), which surrendered on Dec. 17. He had now gained a reputation as one of the foremost of the younger generals of France, and Richelieu next employed him in the Italian campaign of 1639-40 under "Cadet la Perle," Henri de Lorraine, count of Harcourt (16o1-1666). The favourable re sult of the complicated operations of this campaign was largely due to Turenne, who had by now become a lieutenant-general. He himself commanded during the campaign of 1641 and took Coni (Cuneo), Ceva and Mondovi. In 1642 he was second in command of the French troops which conquered Roussillon. At this time the conspiracy of Cinq Mars (see FRANCE : History) in which Turenne's elder brother, the duke of Bouillon, was implicated, was discovered.
The earlier career of Turenne was influenced by the relations of the principality of Sedan to the French crown; moreover his steady adherence to the Protestant religion was an element of difficulty in Turenne's relations with the ministers. Cardinal Richelieu nevertheless entrusted him with the command in Italy in 1643 under Prince Thomas (who had changed sides in the quarrel). Turenne took Trino in a few weeks, but was recalled to France towards the end of the year. He was made a marshal of France (Dec. 19) and was soon sent to Alsace to reorganize the
"Army of Weimar"—the remnant of Duke Bernhard of Saxe Weimar's troops—which had just been severely defeated at Tiittlingen (Nov. 24-25, 5643). He was thirty-two years old.
The work of reorganization over, Marshal Turenne began the campaign in June by crossing the Rhine at Breisach, but was almost instantly joined by an army under the duc d'Enghien (afterwards the great Conde), who, as a prince of the royal house, took the chief command of the united armies of "France" and "Weimar." The four famous campaigns which followed brought to an end the Thirty Years' War (q.v.). The chief event of the first of these was the desperately-fought battle of Freiburg against Count Mercy's Bavarians (Aug. 3, 5 and 9, 1644), after which Philipsburg was successfully besieged. Before the capitulation Enghien withdrew and left Turenne in command.
The marshal opened the campaign of 1645 with a strong forward movement, but was surprised and defeated by Mercy at Mergen theim (Marienthal) on May 2. Enghien was again sent to the front with the army of France and Turenne's army was greatly increased by the arrival of a Swedish force and a contingent from Hesse-Cassel. The Swedes soon departed, but Enghien was at the head of 20,000 men when he met the Bavarians in a battle even more stubbornly contested than Freiburg. Mercy was killed and his army beaten at Allerheim near Niirdlingen (Aug. 3, Ill-health forced Enghien to retire soon afterwards, and Turenne was for the third time left in command of the French army. He was again unfortunate against the larger forces of the imperialists, but the campaign ended with a gleam of success in his capture of Trier (Treves). In the following year (1646) he obtained more decided successes, and, by separating the Austri ans from the Bavarians, compelled the elector of Bavaria to make peace (signed March 14, 1647). In 5647 he proposed to attack the thus weakened army of the emperor, but was ordered into Flanders instead. Not only was the opportunity thus lost but a serious mutiny broke out amongst the Weimar troops, whose pay was many months in arrear. The marshal's tact and firmness were never more severely tried nor more conspicuously displayed than in his treatment of the disaffected regiments, among whom in the end he succeeded in restoring order with little bloodshed. He then marched into Luxembourg, but was soon recalled to the Rhine, for in 1648 Bavaria had returned to her Austrian alliance and was again in arms. Turenne and his Swedish allies made a brilliant campaign, which was decided by the action of Zusmars hausen (May 17), Bavaria being subsequently wasted with fire and sword until a more secure pacification was obtained.