Claude Louis Hector de Villars, Prince of Martigues, Marquis then (1st) Duke of Villars, Viscount of Melun (, 8 May 1653 – 17 June 1734) was a French military commander and an illustrious general of

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

. He was one of only six

Marshals Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated of ...

to have been promoted

Marshal General of France Marshal General of France, originally "Marshal General of the King's camps and armies" (), was a title given to signify that the recipient had authority over all of the French armies, in the days when a Marshal of France usually governed only one ...

Early career

Villars was born at Moulins (in the present-day département of

Allier Allier ( , , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region that borders Cher (department), Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire (department), Loire to the east, Pu ...

) in a noble but poor family, his father was the diplomat Pierre de Villars. He entered the French army through the corps of pages in 1671 and distinguished himself at the age of twenty in the Siege of Maastricht in 1673 during the

Franco-Dutch War The Franco-Dutch War, 1672 to 1678, was primarily fought by Kingdom of France, France and the Dutch Republic, with both sides backed at different times by a variety of allies. Related conflicts include the 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and ...

and again at the bloody Battle of Seneffe. A year later he was promoted on the field to mestre de camp (

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

) of a cavalry regiment. The next promotion would take time in spite of a long record of service under

Turenne Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (11 September 161127 July 1675), commonly known as Turenne (), was a French general and one of only six marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illustrious member of th ...

, The Great Condé and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, and of his aristocratic birth, as he had incurred the enmity of the powerful Louvois. He was finally made ''

maréchal de camp ''Maréchal de camp'' (sometimes incorrectly translated as field marshal) was a general officer rank used by the French Army until 1848. The rank originated from the older rank of sergeant major general ( French: ''sergent-major général'') ...

'' in 1687. In the interval between the Dutch wars and the formation of the League of Augsburg, Villars, who combined with his military gifts the tact and subtlety of a diplomat, was employed in an unofficial mission to the court of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, and there became the constant companion of

Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria Maximilian II (11 July 1662 – 26 February 1726), also known as Max Emanuel or Maximilian Emanuel, was a Wittelsbach ruler of Electorate of Bavaria, Bavaria and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. He was also the last governor of the Spani ...

. He returned to France in 1690 and was given a command in the cavalry of the army in Flanders, but towards the end of the

War of the Grand Alliance The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

, in 1698, he went to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

as ambassador.

War of the Spanish Succession

It was Villars' part in the next war, beginning with Friedlingen (1702) and Hochstadt (1703) and ending with

Denain Denain (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Denain had a population of 19,877, on a land area of 11.52 km2 (4.448 sq mi). It is the largest of 47 communes which comprise the Communauté d'agglomération de la Por ...

(1712), that has made him most famous. For his part in the battle of Friedlingen he received the marshalate, and for the pacification of the insurgent

Cévennes The Cévennes ( , ; ) is a cultural region and range of mountains in south-central France, on the south-east edge of the Massif Central. It covers parts of the '' départements'' of Ardèche, Gard, Hérault and Lozère. Rich in geographical, ...

he received the Saint-Esprit order and the title of duke. Friedlingen and Hochstadt were barren victories, and the campaigns of which they formed were characterised by lost opportunities. Villars' career culminated from 1709 onwards when France, close to total defeat, managed to survive. In that year he was called to command the main army opposing Prince Eugène of Savoy and

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

on the northern frontier. During the famine of the winter he shared the soldiers' rations. When the campaign opened the old Marshal Boufflers volunteered to serve under him, but they were unable to prevent the Allies from capturing

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

and

Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...

. After the

Battle of Malplaquet The Battle of Malplaquet took place on 11 September 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession, near Taisnières-sur-Hon in modern France, then part of the Spanish Netherlands. A French army of around 75,000 men, commanded by the Duke of V ...

in September 1709, in which Villars was gravely wounded (by a musketball to the knee), he was able to tell the king: "If God grants us the grace to lose such a battle again, Your Majesty can count on all of his enemies being destroyed". Two more campaigns passed without a battle and with scarcely any advance on the part of the invaders, but at last Marlborough manoeuvred Villars out of the famous ''Ne plus ultra'' lines, and the power of the defence seemed to be broken. But Louis made a last effort, the English contingent and its leader were withdrawn from the enemy's camp, and Villars, though still recovering from his Malplaquet wounds, outmanoeuvred and decisively defeated Eugène at

. The French followed up this success by retaking several lost fortresses, culminating in the

Siege of Bouchain (1712) The siege of Bouchain (1 October – 19 October 1712), was a siege of the War of the Spanish Succession, and a victory for the French troops of the Duc de Villars. A French army of 20,000 men besieged and captured the Allied-controlled fortific ...

. This victory saved France, though the war dragged on for another year, where Villars led the

Rhine campaign (1713) The Rhine campaign of 1713 was a successful French military campaign against the Holy Roman Empire, the sole remaining member of the once-formidable Grand Alliance which had refused to make peace with France. The campaign, which did not result ...

, in which he took

Landau Landau (), officially Landau in der Pfalz (, ), is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990), a long ...

, led the stormers at

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

and negotiated the

Treaty of Rastatt The Treaty of Rastatt was a peace treaty between Kingdom of France, France and Archduchy of Austria, Austria that was concluded on 7 March 1714 in the Margraviate of Baden, Baden city of Rastatt to end the War of the Spanish Succession between bo ...

and the Treaty of Baden with Prince Eugène. As a result of his contribution, his title was granted

Grandee of Spain Grandee (; , ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...

status by Philip V.

''Villars'' residence

''Villars,'' named for Marshal Villars, was built in

Moulins, Allier Moulins (, ''Molins'' in Bourbonnais oïl dialect); is a commune in central France, capital of the Allier department. It is located on the river Allier. Among its many tourist attractions are the Maison Mantin, the Anne de Beaujeu Museum, ...

during the reign of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

. The 18th century

historical monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

was used as a cavalry barracks. It was partially destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was restored by François Voinchet, Architect of Historic Monuments and is now the Centre National du Costume de Scene museum.

Regency

Villars played a conspicuous part in the politics of the Regency period as the principal opponent of Cardinal Dubois, and only the memories of Montmorency's rebellion prevented his being made

constable of France The Constable of France (, from Latin for 'count of the stables') was lieutenant to the King of France, the first of the original five Great Officers of the Crown (along with seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and chancellor) and the commander-in ...

. He took the field for the last time in the

War of the Polish Succession The War of the Polish Succession (; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a civil war in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over the succession to Augustus II the Strong, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of ...

(1734), with the title ''marshal-general of the king's armies'', that Turenne had held before him. But he was over eighty years old at this point, and after opening the campaign energetically he died at

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

on 17 June 1734.

Marriage and issue

On 1 February 1702, he married Jeanne Angélique Roque with whom he had a son: # Honoré Armand de Villars, 2nd Duke of Villars (4 October 1702 - May 1770) married Amable Gabrielle de Noailles and had a daughter.

Legacy

Villars's memoirs show us a ''fanfaron plein d'honneur'', as

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

calls him. He was indeed boastful, and also covetous of honours and wealth. But he was also described as an honourable man of high courage, moral and physical, and certainly a very skilled soldier. He was famous for his love for young men as wrote the Duchess of Orleans in her letters.Didier Godard, ''Le Goût de Monsieur. L'homosexualité masculine au XVIIe siècle'', Montblanc, ed. H & O, 2002, p. 171 The memoirs, part of which was published in 1734 and afterwards several times republished in untrustworthy versions, were for the first time completely edited by the Marquis of Vogüé in 1884–92.

References

* Sturgill, Claude C., ''Marshal Villars and the War of the Spanish Succession'', exington University of Kentucky Press,

965 Year 965 ( CMLXV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Nikephoros II conquers the fortress cities of Tarsus and Mopsuestia. The Muslim resid ...

External links

The French Army 1600–1900
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villars, Claude-Louis-Hector De 1653 births 1734 deaths Military personnel from Moulins, Allier People of the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans French military personnel of the Franco-Dutch War French military personnel of the Nine Years' War French army commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession French military personnel of the War of the Polish Succession Marshals General of France Members of the Académie Française Princes of Martigues Dukes of Villars Marquesses of Villars Viscounts of Melun Secretaries of State for War (France) Governors of Provence Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Peers created by Louis XIV