Jean, comte de Gassion (1609 Pau – 1647

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

) was a Gascon military commander for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, prominent at the

battle of Rocroi The Battle of Rocroi, fought on 19 May 1643, was a major engagement of the Thirty Years' War between a French army, led by the 21-year-old Duke of Enghien (later known as the Great Condé) and Spanish forces under General Francisco de Melo ...

(1643) who reached the rank of

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished ( ...

at the age of thirty-four. He served

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

and

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

and died of wounds sustained during the 1647 siege of Lens (not to be confused with the

Battle of Lens The Battle of Lens (20 August 1648) was a French victory under Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé against the Spanish army under Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). It was the last major battle of the war and ...

the following year).

Biography

Cardinal Richelieu called him ''la Guerre'' ("War") and commandeered his services which had proved valuable to Gustavus Adolphus, one of the renovators of new

cavalry tactics For much of history, humans have used some form of cavalry for war and, as a result, cavalry tactics have evolved over time. Tactically, the main advantages of cavalry over infantry troops were greater mobility, a larger impact, and a higher pos ...

in the West. Fortuitously, he was present as a cavalry commander under the young duc d'Enghien, Louis II de Bourbon, the ''Grand Condé'' several days after the death of Louis XIII; Gassion was a crucial factor in the French success at Rocroi against combined Habsburg forces. De Gassion's role was gracefully acknowledged by Condé.

References

* Du Prat, ''La vie du maréchal de Gassion'' (BN 5768). Du Prat was a Huguenot minister and Gassion's almoner. * Du Prat, ''Le portrait du mareschal de Gassion'' * Abbott Michel de Pure, ''Histoire du maréchal de Gassion'' (Paris 1673, Amsterdam 1696) * Théophraste Renaudot, ''La Vie et la mort du maréchal de Gassion'', (1647) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gassion, Jean de 1609 births 1647 deaths Marshals of France French people of the Thirty Years' War Military personnel of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)