ject of his mission was well known to Danby, but Ruvigny showed much address in the management of the business, and by co-operating with Barillon succeeded in arranging a secret understanding between Charles and Louis. In the same year he was chosen to succeed his father as deputy-general of the Huguenots. His election gave great satisfaction to his co-religionists, especially to such as had been inclined to regard his father's conduct as somewhat timid. He laboured zealously, but unsuccessfully, to avert their persecution, and after the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685 he declined Louis's well-meant offer of exceptional treatment for himself; and following the example of his father, who, foreseeing the course of events, had prudently in 1680 obtained letters of naturalisation as an English subject, he accompanied him and his brother, Pierre, lord de la Caillemotte, to England in January 1688, being as a special favour allowed to take with him what personal property he liked.
In July 1689 his father, who had estalished himself at Greenwich, died, and in July 1690 his brother, La Caillemotte, was killed at the battle of the Boyne. The event determined Ruvigny, and lie entered the English service as a major-general of horse, though by doing so he forfeited his fine estates in Champagne and Picardy. He was appointed colonel of the Huguenot cavalry, in succession to the Duke of Schomberg, and in May 1691 he proceeded to Ireland. He joined the army under Ginkell at Mullingar, and at the council of war before Athlone gave his voice in favour of forcing the passage of the Shannon. At the battle of Aughrim, 12 July 1691, he commanded the horse of the second line, consisting of his own corps and the royal (or Oxford) regiment of horse guards, and by his spirited attack at a critical moment contributed largely to the victory of the English arms. During the march on Galway he was stationed at Athenry with General Scravenmore and three thousand horse as a corps of observation. He served at the siege of Limerick, and assisted at the negotiations for its capitulation.
After taking part in the festivities at Dublin, he returned to England in November, but on 27 Feb. 1692 he was appointed, though with no higher title than that of major-general Commander-in-chief of the forces in Ireland. He proceeded thither in March, but much of his time that year was spent in England on military business, chiefly in connection with the abortive expedition against St. Malo, of which he had been appointed second in command. On 25 Nov. he was created Viscount Galway and Baron Portarlington, in recognition of his services at the battle of Aughrim, and shortly afterwards received a grant in custodiam, made absolute 26 June 1696, of the forfeited estates of Sir Patrick Trant, situated chiefly in the Queen's County, and amounting to more than fifty-eight thousand English acres.
In April 1693 he left Ireland to join the army in Flanders, and arrived there in time to command the English and Huguenot horse at the battle of Landen. He displayed conspicuous bravery in covering William's retreat at the bridge of Neerhespen. He was apparently wounded in the action, and it is stated by St.-Simon (Mémoires, ed. 1873, i. 95), who was present at the battle, that he was made prisoner by the French, but immediately liberated in order to avoid the necessity of consigning him to the galleys as a traitor. In November he was appointed, with the rank of lieutenant-general, commander-in-chief of the English auxiliary forces in Piedmont, with credentials as envoy extraordinary to the court of Turin. But, says a contemporary, 'il n'y va qu'à regret et par pure obeissance an Roy' (Hist. MSS. Comm. 7th Rep. p. 215). He left London early in December with a considerable sum of money for the relief of the distressed Vaudois, and proceeding through Switzerland for the purpose of raising recruits, he arrived at Turin in March 1694. His position was a difficult one. An excellent officer, he was no match for Victor Amadeus in diplomacy, and though not without his suspicions as to the intrigues of the duke with France, he was completely deceived by his protestations of loyalty to the alliance, and by the readiness with which at his request he granted religious toleration to the Vaudois. The capture of the fort of S. Giorgio and the meeting of a protestant synod at Viglianoto regulate the morals of the army, in which he sat as an elder, were the chief events of the year. The winter was passed in completing his arrangements for the next year's campaign. According to his instructions he was anxious to co-operate with the fleet by an attack on Marseilles, but was compelled to acquiesce in the siege of Casale. The sudden surrender of that fortress surprised him, but his suspicions were set at rest by the apparent sincerity of the duke in renewing the grand alliance. He grumbled at wasted time and neglected opportunities, but even the pilgrimage of the duke to Loretto did not strike him as particularly mysterious; and it was only in August 1696, when the duke threw off the mask and announced his intention of concluding a treaty with France, that he realised how completely
