Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne
| Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne-Bouillon, Viscount of Turenne | |
|---|---|
Marshal Turenne
|
|
| Nickname(s) | Turenne |
| Born |
11 September 1611 Castle of Sedan, Principalty of Sedan (present-day France) |
| Died | 27 July 1675 (aged 63) Sasbach, Duchy of Württemberg (present-day Germany) |
| Allegiance |
 Dutch Republic (1625–1630) Kingdom of France (1630–1675)
|
| Service/branch |
French Army Dutch States Army |
| Years of service | 1625–1675 |
| Rank | Marshal General of France |
| Battles/wars |
Thirty Years War Fronde Franco-Spanish War War of Devolution Franco-Dutch War |
Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, often called simply Turenne (11 September 1611 – 27 July 1675) was the most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family. He achieved military fame and became a Marshal of France. He was one of six marshals who have been made Marshal General of France.
The second son of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne, duc de Bouillon, sovereign Prince of Sedan, by his second wife Elizabeth, daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange, he was born at Sedan. He received a Huguenot education and the usual training of a young noble of the time, but physical infirmity, and particularly an impediment of speech (which he never lost), hampered his progress, though he showed a marked partiality for history and geography, and especial admiration of the exploits of Alexander the Great and Caesar. After his father's death in 1623, he devoted himself to bodily exercises and in a great measure overcame his natural weakness. At the age of fourteen he went to learn war in the camp of his uncle, Maurice of Nassau the Stadtholder of Holland and Prince of Orange, and began his military career (as a private soldier in that prince's bodyguard) in the Eighty Years' War.
Frederick Henry of Nassau, who succeeded his brother Maurice as Stadtholder and Prince of Orange in 1625, gave Turenne a captaincy in 1626. The young officer took his part in the siege warfare of the period, and won special commendation from his uncle (one of the foremost commanders of the time) for his skill and courage at the celebrated siege of 's-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc) in 1629. In 1630 Turenne left the Netherlands and entered the service of France, motivated not only by the prospect of military advancement but also by his mother's desire to show the loyalty of the Bouillon dominions to the French crown.
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