Eugene of Savoy

Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), Austrian general, considered the foremost strategist of his time.

Eugene was born on October 18, 1663, in Paris, and was originally named François Eugène de Savoie-Carignan. When his mother was exiled by Louis XIV, King of France, Eugene renounced his French citizenship and joined the Austrian army under Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. Eugene participated in various campaigns in the War of the Grand Alliance (1689-1697), distinguishing himself in the struggle against his former sovereign, Louis XIV; he was at the head of victorious forces in several battles. In 1697 he was named commander of the imperial army in Hungary, and in the same year, by routing the Ottoman Turks at Senta, he paved the way for the signing of the Peace of Karlowitz (1699). Louis XIV, seeking to obtain his services, offered to appoint Eugene a marshal of France and ruler of the province of Champagne, but he refused.

On the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701, Eugene was placed in command in Italy, where he won a series of victories culminating in the bloody and indecisive struggle at Luzzara in 1702. He returned to Vienna and was named president of the Imperial Council of War, in which capacity he shared, with the English commander John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, in the victory over the French at Blenheim in 1704. Leopold then sent Eugene to Italy, where the French had thus far been victorious, and he shortly succeeded in raising the siege of Turin and in driving the French from the country. For these achievements he was made governor of Milan and a lieutenant general. In 1708 he commanded the German armies in the victories at Oudenaarde, Lille, and Malplaquet; in all these battles he was again allied with Marlborough.

Eugene suffered the first of a series of defeats by the French at Denain in 1712, and was forced two years later to negotiate the Treaty of Rastatt and Baden. In 1716, soon after receiving the command of the Hungarian army, he defeated the Turks at Peterwardein, at Timişoara, and at Belgrade; on the decisive rout of the Turks two years later, the war ended with the Treaty of Passarowitz. In 1724 he became vicar-general of Italy. Almost ten years later, he assumed command of the imperial army in the War of the Polish Succession. Peace was concluded in 1735, and Eugene relinquished his military office for the last time. He died in Vienna on April 21, 1736.