Turenne, Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, viscount de

(1611-1675)

   marshal of France

   Born in Sedan, Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, viscount de Turenne was the second son of the duke de bouillon and the grandson, on his mother's side, of William i, prince of orange. He began his military career under Prince Maurice de Nassau and prince Frederick Henry. Joining the French army (1630), he fought in the thirty years' war in Flanders, on the Rhine, and in italy (where he distinguished himself by taking Turin from the Spanish in 1640). Returning to Germany, he avenged his defeat at Marienthal in 1645 by his victory at Nordlingen, which he won with condé, that same year. After being defeated by the Spanish at Rethal (1650), he joined the fronde, but then went over to the Crown and defeated Condé at the faubourg Saint-Antoine, in Paris in 1652. He then defeated the Spanish, led by Condé, at the Battles of Arras (1654) and the Dunes, near Dunkerque (1658), for which he was named marshal of France (1660). Marshal Turenne fought in the War of Devolution and, in three months, took Flanders from Spain (1667). He played a determinant role in the war with Holland and, after taking the Palatinate, invaded Alsace, which he reconquered in the most audacious of his campaigns (victory at Turckheim, 1675). Marshal Turenne was killed during the Battle of Sasbach, Baden, fighting against the imperial forces under the command of General Montecuccoli. A Protestant, he converted to Catholicism in 1668.