Claude Frederic T'Serclaes, Count of Tilly, was a soldier and later general in the Dutch States Army.

Early life

He was born in 1648 to Jean Werner T'Serclaes Tilly Marbais and Marie Françoise de Montmorency Robecq. He was a younger brother of Albert Octave who served Philip V of Spain. The grandfather of these brothers was a younger brother of

Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly ( nl, Johan t'Serclaes Graaf van Tilly; german: Johann t'Serclaes Graf von Tilly; french: Jean t'Serclaes de Tilly ; February 1559 – 30 April 1632) was a field marshal who commanded the Catholic League's ...

of the Thirty Years War.

Military service

In 1667 Tilly entered Spanish service, but switched to Dutch service in 1672, even though he was a Catholic. In the Dutch army he took part in the

Franco-Dutch War The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (french: Guerre de Hollande; nl, Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Nor ...

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

and the War of the Spanish Succession. In the latter, together with the Lord of Slangenburg, he commandeded a small surrounded Dutch army at the Battle of Ekeren. They broke out and defeated a much larger Franco-Spanish force. When field marshal Lord Overkirk died in 1708, Tilly became supreme commander of the Dutch army in the Netherlands. He was informally made field marshal in 1701 by Leopold I, but the

Dutch States General The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States G ...

didn't make that position official, because that would offend the

Frisians The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, ...

who wanted their

stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

, the Prince of Orange in that position. Together with Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy, as head of the Dutch forces, Tilly defeated the French at Malplaquet, although the Dutch army suffered very heavy losses that day. During the battle he commanded the cavalry on the allied left and didn't participate in the Dutch infantry assault led by the Prince of Orange.

After the Peace of Utrecht

Tilly was rewarded the post of governor of

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

in 1713. The next year he was transferred to the same position in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

and in 1718 he was awarded with the governorship of the fortress town of Maastricht.

Personal life

Tilly married Anne Antoinette d'Aspremont-Lynden countess of Reckheim. Anne often stayed with him in the field. In 1723 Tilly died and was buried at the Basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht.

References

Sources

* * * * * 1648 births 1723 deaths Dutch generals 17th-century Dutch military personnel Dutch army commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession 18th-century Dutch military personnel {{more cats, date=April 2022