the Spanish Succession (q.v.). At the beginning of the year
1701 he was sent into Italy once more to oppose his old
antagonist Catinat. He achieved a rapid success, crossing the
mountains from Tirol into Italy in spite of almost insurmountable
difficulties (Journal d. militärwissensch. Verein, No. 5, 1907),
forcing the French army, after sustaining several checks, to
retire behind the Oglio, where a series of reverses equally
unexpected and severe led to the recall of Catinat in disgrace.
The incapable duke of Villeroi, who succeeded to the command
of which Catinat had been deprived, ventured to attack Eugene
at Chiari, and was repulsed with great loss. And this was only
the forerunner of more signal reverses; for, in a short time,
Villeroi was forced to abandon the whole of the Mantuan territory
and to take refuge in Cremona, where he seems to have considered
himself secure. By means of a stratagem, however, Eugene
penetrated into the city during the night, at the head of 2000
men, and, though he found it impossible to hold the town, succeeded
in carrying off Villeroi as a prisoner. But as the duke of
Vendôme, a much abler general, replaced the captive, the
incursion, daring though it was, proved anything but advantageous
to the Austrians. The generalship of his new opponent,
and the fact that the French army had been largely reinforced,
while reinforcements had not been sent from Vienna, forced
Prince Eugene to confine himself to a war of observation.
The campaign was terminated by the sanguinary battle of
Luzzara, fought on the 1st of August 1702, in which each party
claimed the victory. Both armies having gone into winter
quarters, Eugene returned to Vienna, where he was appointed
president of the council of war. He then set out for Hungary
in order to combat the insurgents in that country; but his
means proving insufficient, he effected nothing of importance.
The collapse of the revolt, however, soon freed the prince for the
more important campaign in Bavaria, where, in 1704, he made
his first campaign along with Marlborough. Similarity of tastes,
views and talents soon established between these two great
men a friendship which is rarely to be found amongst military
chiefs, and contributed in the fullest measure to the success
which the allies obtained. The first and perhaps the most important
of these successes was that of Höchstädt or Blenheim
(q.v.) on the 3rd of August 1704, where the English and imperial
troops triumphed over one of the finest armies that France had
ever sent into Germany.
But since Prince Eugene had quitted Italy, Vendôme, who commanded the French army in that country, had obtained various successes against the duke of Savoy, who had once more joined Austria. The emperor deemed the crisis so serious that he recalled Eugene and sent him to Italy to the assistance of his ally. Vendôme at first opposed great obstacles to the plan which the prince had formed for carrying succours into Piedmont; but after a variety of marches and counter-marches, in which both commanders displayed signal ability, the two armies met at Cassano (August 16, 1705), where a deadly engagement ensued, and Prince Eugene received two severe wounds which forced him to quit the field. This accident decided the fate of the battle and for the time suspended the prince’s march towards Piedmont. Vendôme, however, was recalled, and La Feuillade (who succeeded him) was incapable of long arresting the progress of such a commander as Eugene. After once more passing several rivers in presence of the French army, and executing one of the most skilful and daring marches he had ever performed, the latter appeared before the entrenched camp at Turin, which place the French were now besieging with an army eighty thousand strong. Prince Eugene had only thirty thousand men; but his antagonist the duke of Orleans, though full of zeal and courage, wanted experience, and Marshal Marsin, his adlatus, held powers from Louis XIV. which could not fail to produce dissensions in the French headquarters. With equal courage and address, Eugene profited by the misunderstandings between the French generals; and on the 7th of September 1706 he attacked the French army in its entrenchments and gained a victory which decided the fate of Italy. In the heat of the battle Eugene received a wound, and was thrown from his horse. His recompense for this important service was the government of the Milanese, of which he took possession with great pomp on the 16th of April 1707. He was also made lieutenant-general to the emperor Joseph I.
The attempt which he made against Toulon in the course of the same year failed completely, because the invasion of the kingdom of Naples retarded the march of the troops which were to have been employed in it, and this delay afforded Marshal de Tessé time to make good dispositions. Obliged to renounce his project, therefore, the prince went to Vienna, where he was received with great enthusiasm both by the people and by the court. “I am very well satisfied with you,” said the emperor, “excepting on one point only, which is, that you expose yourself too much.” This monarch immediately despatched Eugene to Holland, and to the different courts of Germany, in order to forward the necessary preparations for the campaign of the following year, 1708 (see Spanish Succession, War of the).
Early in the spring of 1708 the prince proceeded to Flanders, in order to assume the command of the German army which his diplomatic ability had been mainly instrumental in assembling, and to unite his forces with those of Marlborough. The campaign was opened by the victory of Oudenarde (q.v.), to which the perfect union of Marlborough and Eugene on the one hand, and the misunderstanding between Vendôme and the duke of Burgundy on the other, seem to have equally contributed. The French immediately abandoned the Low Countries, and, remaining in observation, made no attempt whatever to prevent Eugene’s army, covered by that of Marlborough, making the siege of Lille. The French governor, Boufflers, made a glorious defence, and Eugene paid a flattering tribute to his valour in inviting him to prepare the articles of capitulation himself, with the words “I subscribe to everything beforehand, well persuaded that you will not insert anything unworthy of yourself or of me.” After this important conquest, Eugene and Marlborough proceeded to the Hague, where they were received in the most flattering manner by the public, by the states-general, and above all, by their esteemed friend the pensionary Heinsius. Negotiations were then opened for peace, but proved fruitless. In 1709 France put forth a supreme effort, and placed Marshal Villars, her best living general, in command. The events of this year were very different to those of previous campaigns, and the bloody battle of Malplaquet (q.v.), though a victory for Marlborough and Eugene, led to little result, and this at the cost of enormous losses. The Dutch army, it is said, never recovered from the slaughter of Malplaquet; indeed, the success was so dearly bought that the allies found themselves soon afterwards out of all condition to undertake anything. Their army accordingly went into winter quarters, and Prince Eugene returned to Vienna, whence the emperor almost immediately despatched him to Berlin. From the king of Prussia the prince obtained everything which he had been instructed to require; and having thus fulfilled his mission, he returned into Flanders, where, excepting the capture of Douai, Bethune and Aire, the campaign of 1710 presented nothing remarkable. On the death of the emperor Joseph I. in April 1711, Prince Eugene, in concert with the empress, exerted his utmost endeavours to secure the crown to the archduke, who afterwards ascended the imperial throne under the name of Charles VI. In the same year the changes which had occurred in the policy, or rather the caprice, of Queen Anne, brought about an approximation between England and France, and put an end to the influence which Marlborough had hitherto possessed. When this political revolution became known, Prince Eugene immediately repaired to London, charged with a mission from the emperor to re-establish the credit of his illustrious companion in arms, as well as to re-attach England to the coalition. The mission having proved unsuccessful, the emperor found himself under the necessity of making the campaign of 1712 with the aid of the Dutch alone. The defection of the English, however, did not induce Prince Eugene to abandon his favourite plan of invading France. He resolved, at whatever cost, to penetrate into Champagne; and in order to support his operations by the
