TURENNE, HENRI DE LA TOUR D' AUVERGNE, VICOMTE DE, a French military officer, second son of Henri, Due de Bouillon, and of Elizabeth, daughter of William I., Prince of Orange; born in Sedan, Sept. 11, 1611. He was brought up in the Reformed faith. At the age of 13 he went to learn the profession of arms under his uncles, the Princes Maurice and Henry of Nas sau. Recalled (1630) to France by Richelieu, he was made colonel of a regi ment, and first distinguished himself at the siege of La Motte in Lorraine. During the retreat of the French army from Mainz (1635), his courage, fortitude, and humanity were conspicuous. In the campaign of 1637-1638 he captured Lan drecies, Soire-le-Chfiteau, Maubeuge, Brei sach, etc. During 1639-1642 he served in Italy, chiefly under the Comte d'Har court, winning numerous small victories, and capturing Turin, Moncalvo, Ceva, Mondovi, and Coni. His military reputa tion was now firmly established, and he received the title of Marshal of France.
Toward the close of 1643 he was sent to the Rhine, and intrusted with the command of the French troops. His achievements during the last five cam paigns of the Thirty Years' War covered him with glory, and proved him to be a leader indomitable in spirit and inex haustible in resource. He captured Philipsbourg and Mainz (September, 1644) ; held in check his three opponents, Mercy, Gleen, and the Duke of Lorraine; saved Speyer and Baccarat; retook Kreuznach; overran during the winter Suabia and Franconia to the gates of Nuremberg and Wiirzburg; won the battle of Nordlingen (Aug. 3, 1645) in spite of the obstinate rashness of the Due d'Enghien; drove the Spaniards out of the electorate of Treves; by a rapid and skillful march through Westphalia and Hessen united himself with the Swedes; swept over Suabia and Fran conia; invaded Bavaria; was on tike point of totally overwhelming the Im perialists, when orders came to with draw to the Rhine, and, finally (May 17, 1648), utterly defeated Montecuculi and Melander at Sommerhausen on the road to Augsburg. This victory, followed by that of Conde, over the Spaniards at Lens, brought about the peace of West phalia (Oct. 24, 1648), and closed the Thirty Years' War.
Then followed the troubles of the Fronde, in which he at first took the side of the Frondeurs, and through the seductive influence of Mme. de Longue ville was induced to enter into culpable negotiations with the Spaniards for an invasion of France. But after a defeat at
Rethel (Dec. 15, 1650) he became ashamed of civil war, and returned to his allegiance to the crown. Conde, mean while, had quarreled with Mazarin, and became a Frondeur. The two greatest generals of the age were now opposed to each other; and the firmness, cool ness, and scientific skill of Turenne proved more than sufficient to baffle and defeat the impetuous valor of his adver sary. In 1652 the victories of Jargeau (March 30), of Etampes (March 4), of the Faubourg St. Antoine (July 2), to gether with his later splendid strategy, placed the young king in possession of Paris (Oct. 21). In 1653 he was in com mand of the N. frontier, and frustrated all the attempts of Conde and the Span. iards to penetrate through Picardy; in 1654 he stormed the Spanish camp near Arras, and inflicted enormous loss on the enemy; and in 1658 forced Dun kirk to surrender, after destroying the Spanish army of relief. The fall of Dun kirk was followed by the capture of Bergues, Furnes, Dixmude, Oudenarde, Ypres, Comines, De Gramont, Ninoye, etc. The treaty of the Pyrenees Nov. 7, 1659, was the result of the brilliant successes of Turenne. When war broke out between France and Holland in 1667, fortune still attended him. In less than four months he captured Charleroi, Ath, Tournai, Douai, Oudenarde, Lille, and Alost. In 1668 he formally abjured Protestantism after considerable reading and reflection—an act which still further advanced him in the favor of Louis. The war between France and Holland (1672 1678) witnessed his last and greatest achievements. His defense of the Rhine with an inferior force, and his invasion of north Germany, were prodigies of military skill and daring; but his dev astation of the Palatinate (1674), though done under express orders, has left a dark stain on his reputation. On July 27, 1675, he was killed by a cannon ball at the battle of Salzbach. He was buried at St. Denis amid a national mourning. As a general Turenne has rarely been surpassed. Napoleon admired him without limit. His character as a man is still more admirable. He was modest, simple, truthful, and full of genuine kindliness to all beneath him, especially to his war-worn veterans, to whom he liberally gave of his private resources.