Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars
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Marshal General Claude Louis Hector de Villars |
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_-_Palace_of_Versailles.jpg) |
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| Secretary of State for War | |
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In office 1 October 1715 – 24 September 1718 |
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| Monarch | Louis XV |
| Preceded by | Daniel Voysin de la Noiraye |
| Succeeded by | Claude le Blanc |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 May 1653 Moulins, Kingdom of France |
| Died | 17 June 1734 (aged 81) Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia |
| Nationality | French |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 France
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| Service/branch | French Army |
| Years of service | 1671-1734 |
| Rank | Marshal General |
| Battles/wars |
Franco-Dutch War Nine Years' War War of the Spanish Succession War of the Polish Succession |
Claude Louis Hector de Villars, Prince de Martigues, Marquis then Duc de Villars, Vicomte de Melun (8 May 1653 – 17 June 1734) was a general of Louis XIV of France, one of only six Marshals who have been promoted to Marshal General of France.
Villars was born at Moulins (in the present-day département of Allier) in a noble but poor family — his father was the diplomatPierre de Villars. He entered the French army through the corps of pages in 1671. He distinguished himself at twenty in the Siege of Maastricht in 1673 during the Franco-Dutch War and after the bloody Battle of Seneffe a year later he was promoted on the field to mestre de camp (colonel) of a cavalry regiment.
The next promotion would take time in spite of a long record of service under Turenne, The Great Condé and Luxembourg, and of his aristocratic birth. The reason was that he had incurred the enmity of the powerful Louvois, he was finally made maréchal de camp 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 the diplomatist, was employed in an unofficial mission to the court of Bavaria, and there became the constant companion of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria.
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Wikipedia