Editing Maurice de Saxe

{{Short description|Count of Saxony (1696–1750)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title          =Count of Saxony<br/>[[Marshal General of France]]
| name = Maurice de Saxe
| full name = Hermann Maurice de Saxe
| image          =Maurice de Saxe (1696-1750).PNG
| caption = Maurice de Saxe wearing the [[Order of the White Eagle (Poland)|Polish Order of the White Eagle]], 1748
| spouse         =Johanna Viktoria von Loeben
| issue          =August Adolf von Sachsen<br>[[Marie-Aurore de Saxe]]
| father         =[[Augustus II the Strong]]
| mother         =[[Maria Aurora of Königsmarck]]
| birth_date  ={{birth date|1696 |10|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Goslar]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| death_date  ={{death date and age|1750|11|20|1696 |10|28|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Château de Chambord]], [[Kingdom of France]]
| place of burial=[[Saint Thomas Church (Strasbourg)|Saint Thomas Church]], [[Strasbourg]]
| signature = Signatur Moritz von Sachsen (1696–1750).PNG
| module       = {{Infobox military person
  | embed   = yes
  | branch  = {{flagdeco|Holy Roman Empire}} [[Army of the Holy Roman Empire]]<br/>{{flagdeco|Kingdom of France}} [[French Royal Army]]
  | battles = {{Hidden
|Tree-like list
|{{Tree list}}
* [[Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718)]]
** [[Siege of Belgrade (1717)]]
* [[War of the Austrian Succession]]
** [[Battle of Prague (1741)]]
** [[Siege of Tournai (1745)]]
** [[Battle of Fontenoy]]
** [[Siege of Brussels]]
** [[Battle of Rocoux]]
** [[Battle of Lauffeld]]
** [[Siege of Maastricht (1748)]]
{{Tree list/end}}
|-
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  }}
}}
}}

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|image            = Blason Hermann-Maurice de Saxe (1696-1750) Maréchal de France.svg
|image_width      = 200
|caption          = Coat of arms of Maurice de Saxe
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'''Maurice, Count of Saxony''' ({{langx|de|Hermann Moritz von Sachsen}}, {{langx|fr|Maurice de Saxe}}; 28 October 1696&nbsp;– 20 November 1750) was a notable soldier, officer and a famed military commander of the 18th century. The illegitimate son of [[Augustus II the Strong]], King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and Elector of Saxony, he initially served in the [[Army of the Holy Roman Empire]], then the [[Imperial Army (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Army]], before finally entering French service. De Saxe became a [[Marshal of France|Marshal]] and even [[Marshal General of France]]. He is best known for his deeds in the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] and especially for his decisive victory at the [[Battle of Fontenoy]].

==Childhood==

Maurice was born at [[Goslar]], an [[Illegitimacy|illegitimate]] son of [[Augustus II the Strong]], [[King of Poland]], [[Grand Duke of Lithuania]] and [[Elector of Saxony]], and the Countess [[Maria Aurora of Königsmarck]]. He was the first of eight extramarital children whom August acknowledged, although as many as 354 are claimed by sources, including [[Wilhelmine of Bayreuth]], to have existed.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In 1698, the Countess sent him to his father in [[Warsaw]]. Augustus had been [[1697 Polish–Lithuanian royal election|elected King]] of [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]] in the previous year, but the unsettled condition of the country obliged Maurice to spend the greater part of his youth outside its borders. This separation from his father made him independent and had an important effect on his future career.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Military career==
[[File:Jean-Étienne Liotard - Portret van graaf Herman Maurits van Saksen.jpg|thumb|Maurice de Saxe as a [[Marshal of France]] by [[Jean-Étienne Liotard]]]]
[[File:The Battle of Fontenoy, 11th May 1745.png|thumb|The [[Battle of Fontenoy]], 11 May 1745, showing Maurice de Saxe presenting the captured British and Dutch prisoners and colours to [[Louis XV]] and the [[Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765)|Dauphin]]]]
[[File:Bataille de Lawfeld, 2 juillet 1747.jpeg|thumb|[[Battle of Lawfeld]], 2 July 1747: Louis XV pointing out the village of Lawfeld to Maurice]]

At the age of twelve, Maurice served in the [[Imperial Army (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Army]] under [[Prince Eugene of Savoy]], at the sieges of [[Siege of Tournai (1709)|Tournai]] and [[Siege of Mons (1709)|Mons]] and at the [[Battle of Malplaquet]] during the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]. A proposal at the end of the campaign to send him to a [[Jesuit]] college in [[Brussels]] was dropped due to the protests of his mother.

Upon his return to the camp of the Allies at the beginning of 1710, Maurice displayed a courage so impetuous that Prince Eugene admonished him to not confuse rashness with valour.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

He next served under [[Peter the Great]] against the [[Swedish Empire|Swedes]] in the [[Great Northern War]]. In 1711, Augustus formally recognized him and Maurice was granted the rank of [[Count]] (Graf). He then accompanied his father to [[Pomerania]], and in 1712 he took part in the [[Battle of Gadebusch]]. At the age of 17 in 1713 he commanded his own regiment of the [[Royal Saxon Army]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

As an adult, Maurice bore a strong resemblance to his father, both physically and in character. His grasp was so powerful that he could bend a horseshoe with his hand, and even at the end of his life, his energy and endurance were scarcely affected by the illnesses his many excesses had caused.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

On 12 March 1714, a marriage was arranged between him and one of the richest of his father's subjects, Countess [[Johanna Viktoria Tugendreich von Loeben]], but he dissipated her fortune so rapidly that he was soon heavily in debt. The next year (21 January 1715), Johanna gave birth to a son, called August Adolf after his grandfather; the child only lived a few hours. Since Maurice had also given her more serious grounds of complaint against him, he consented to an annulment of the marriage on 21 March 1721.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

After serving [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor]] in [[Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–1718)|a campaign]] against the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1717, he went to Paris to study mathematics, and in 1720 obtained a commission as [[Maréchal de camp]]. In 1725, he entered negotiations for election as Duke of [[Duchy of Courland and Semigallia|Courland]], at the insistence of the Duchess [[Anna of Russia|Anna Ivanovna]], who offered him her hand. He was chosen duke in 1726, but declined marriage with the duchess. He soon found it impossible to resist her opposition to his claims, but with the assistance of £30,000 lent him by the French actress [[Adrienne Lecouvreur]], he raised a force by which he maintained his authority till 1727, when he withdrew and took up residence in Paris.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Lecouvreur was to die mysteriously shortly afterwards: there is controversy as to whether or not she was poisoned by her rival, [[Maria Karolina Sobieska]], [[Duchess of Bouillon]].

At the outbreak of the [[War of the Polish Succession]], Maurice served under [[James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick]], and for a brilliant exploit at the [[Siege of Philippsburg (1734)|Siege of Philippsburg]] he was named [[Lieutenant-General (France)|lieutenant-general]]. In the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] he took command of an army division sent to invade [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]] in 1741, and on 19 November 1741, [[Battle of Prague (1741)|surprised Prague]] during the night, and seized it before the garrison was aware of the presence of an enemy, a ''[[coup de main]]'' which made him famous throughout Europe; he thus repeated the [[Battle of Prague (1648)|exploit of 1648]] of his maternal great-grandfather, [[Hans Christoff von Königsmarck]]. After capturing the fortress of [[Cheb|Eger (Cheb)]] on 19 April 1742, he received a leave of absence, and went to Russia to push his claims for the Duchy of Courland, but returned to his command after getting nowhere.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Maurice's exploits were the sole redeeming feature in an unsuccessful campaign, and on 26 March 1743, his merits were rewarded by promotion to [[Marshal of France]]. He had been given only 50–60,000 men to defend against an enemy army twice as large.<ref>White, p. 138</ref> From this time on, he became one of the great generals of the age. In 1744, he was chosen to command the 10,000 men of the [[Planned French invasion of Britain (1744)|French invasion of Britain]] on behalf of [[James Francis Edward Stuart]], which assembled at [[Dunkirk]] but did not proceed more than a few miles out of harbour before being wrecked by disastrous storms.<ref>White, p. 132</ref> After its termination, he received an independent command in the [[Austrian Netherlands]], and by skilful manoeuvering succeeded in continually harassing the superior forces of the enemy without risking a decisive battle.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

[[File:Philippe-de-Commynes-sieur-d'Argenton-et-al-Mémoires-de-messire-Philippe-de-Comines MG 1108.tif|thumb|Engraving of Maurice de Saxe]]
In the following year, Maurice with 65,000 men [[Siege of Tournai (1745)|besieged Tournai]] and inflicted a severe defeat on the army of the [[Prince William, Duke of Cumberland|Duke of Cumberland]] at the [[Battle of Fontenoy]], an encounter determined entirely by his constancy and cool leadership.<ref>White, p. 147</ref> During the battle, he was unable to sit on horseback due to [[edema]], and was carried about in a wicker chariot.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In recognition of his brilliant achievement, [[Louis XV]] conferred on him the [[Château de Chambord]] for life, and in April 1746, he was naturalised as a French subject. Until the end of the war, he continued to command in the Netherlands, always with success.<ref>White, p. 181</ref> Besides Fontenoy he added [[Battle of Rocoux|Rocoux]] (1746) and [[Battle of Lauffeld|Lawfeldt]] or Val (1747) to the list of French victories. He led the French force which [[Siege of Brussels|captured Brussels]] and it was under his orders that Marshal [[Ulrich Frédéric Woldemar, Comte de Lowendal|Löwendahl]] captured [[Siege of Bergen op Zoom (1747)|Bergen op Zoom]]. He himself won the last success of the war in [[Siege of Maastricht (1748)|capturing Maastricht]] in 1748.

Saxe invented a handheld light-artillery piece that he called an ''amusette'', which fired a half-pound ball a distance of 4,000 paces at a rate of 100 shots an hour.<ref>[[B.H. Liddell Hart|Hart, B.H.L.]], [https://archive.org/details/greatcaptainsunv0000lidd/page/54/mode/2up?view=theater ''Great Captains Unveiled'', pp.54-55] (Books for Libraries Press, 1967).</ref>

In 1747 the title once held by [[Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne|Turenne]] and [[Claude Louis Hector de Villars|Villars]], "Marshal General of the King's camps and armies", was revived for Maurice. But on 20 November 1750 he died at the [[Château de Chambord]] "of a [[epidemic typhus|putrid fever]]".{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

During the last years of his life, Maurice had an affair with a French lady, Marie Rinteau, who at that time was only eighteen years old. In 1748 she gave birth to a daughter, the last of Maurice's several illegitimate children. She was called [[Marie-Aurore de Saxe|Maria Aurora]] (in [[French language|French]]: {{lang|fr|Marie Aurore}}) after her grandmother. She bore the surname {{lang|fr|de la Rivière}} until 1766 when the [[Parlement of Paris]] formally recognized her parentage and she could assume the surname of {{lang|de|von Sachsen}} or {{lang|fr|de Saxe}}. Marie Aurore married firstly in 1766 with Antoine, Count of Horne (1735–1767), an alleged illegitimate son of Louis XV. By her second marriage with Louis Claude Dupin de Francueil (in 1777), she was the grandmother of Amandine Lucile Aurore Dupin, who later became famous as the writer [[George Sand]]. Maria Aurore died on 25 December 1821 when her granddaughter George Sand was seventeen. Sand included details of her grandmother's parentage in her memoires. {{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Writings==

Saxe's work on the art of war, {{lang|fr|Mes Rêveries}} (''My Reveries''), was published after his death in 1757.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bellum.nu/literature/desaxe001.html |title=Reveries on the Art of War |first=Field Marshal Herman Maurice |last=de Saxe |year=1757 |location=London |access-date=May 11, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080205095610/http://www.bellum.nu/literature/desaxe001.html |archive-date=February 5, 2008 }}</ref> Described by [[Thomas Carlyle|Carlyle]] as "a strange military farrago, dictated, as I should think, under [[opium]]", it was praised by [[Frederick the Great]] and described by [[Bernard Montgomery|Lord Montgomery]], more than two centuries later, as "a remarkable work on the art of war".

A common theme of the 18th century [[Age of Enlightenment]] was to emphasise the [[scientific method]] and the idea every activity could be expressed in terms of a universal system.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gay |first=Peter |url=https://archive.org/details/enlightenmentint02gayp |title=The Enlightenment: An Interpretation |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-393-00870-8 |url-access=registration}}</ref> In one sense, {{lang|fr|Mes Rêveries}} followed this by subjecting "military affairs to reasoned criticism and intellectual treatment, and the ensuing military doctrines were perceived as forming a definitive system".<ref>{{cite book|author=Manabrata Guha|title=Reimagining War in the 21st Century: From Clausewitz to Network-Centric Warfare|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rKFky404cuAC|access-date=6 December 2012|year=2011|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-56166-2|page=24}}</ref> Written following [[Prussia]]n expansion during the [[War of the Austrian Succession]], Saxe rejected their rigid discipline; arguing the French character was fundamentally different and their tactics should reflect that, he advocated the use of a deep order or {{lang|fr|[[ordre profond]]}}, rather than relying on firearms.<ref>{{citation|title= From Myth-Conceived to Myth-Understood: France's Revolutionary Ordre Profond Revisited|url=http://ordreprofond.blogspot.ca/|first=Bryan L.|last= Smith|date= Spring 2012 }}</ref>

However, {{lang|fr|Mes Rêveries}} also challenged French military orthodoxy in arguing for a greater focus on mobile warfare, rather than fortifications; this was partly a legacy of [[Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban|Vauban]] (1633–1707), who had revolutionised this field but adherence to his principles meant French engineers became ultra-conservative. As early as 1701, [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough]] argued winning one battle was more beneficial than taking 12 fortresses; Saxe followed this line but his argument was given increased weight by French losses in the 1756–1763 [[Seven Years' War]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Picon |first=Antoine |title=Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment |date=2001 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-57958-246-3 |editor-last=Delon |editor-first=Michel |page=540}}</ref>

Saxe's {{lang|fr|Lettres et mémoires choisis}} (''Selected Letters and Memoirs'') appeared in 1794. His letters to his sister [[Anna Karolina Orzelska]], the Duchess of [[Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck]], preserved at [[Strasbourg]], were destroyed by the bombardment of that place in 1870.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Thirty copies had, however, been printed from the original.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Legacy==
[[File:Intérieur Église St Thomas Strasbourg 114.jpg|thumb|Funerary monument of Maurice de Saxe in Saint Thomas Church, Strasbourg]]

After Maurice de Saxe's death in Chambord, a funerary ceremony was held for him in Paris, but as a Protestant, he could not be buried there. His remains were transported to Strasbourg and temporarily kept at the [[Temple Neuf, Strasbourg|Temple Neuf]]. At [[Louis XV]]'s request, a permanent mausoleum was created by [[Jean-Baptiste Pigalle]] in the [[apse]] of [[St Thomas' Church, Strasbourg]], of which it now marks the focal point. The elaborate monument, under which de Saxe's remains were interred on {{date|1777/08/20}}, shows [[Personifications of death|Death]] holding a sandglass and calling him to the grave while a crying France tries to retain him, and [[Hercules]] weeps on the tomb's side. To the left are France's enemies personnified by three distraught animals: the [[Reichsadler|German eagle]], the [[Dutch Republic Lion|Dutch lion]], and the [[Royal arms of England|British lion]], and their broken flags, while to the right are France's triumphant standards. In the middle stands the heroic marshal holding his [[Baton (military)|baton]], unfazed by his fate. [[Gérard de Nerval]] believed his majestic pose might have inspired the Commendatore's statue in ''[[Don Giovanni]]'', based on the fact that [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] had performed in the church in 1778 shortly after the monument's inauguration.<ref>{{cite web|website=Le Rouge & le Noir |title=Le tombeau du Maréchal de Saxe |date={{date|2014/07/26}} |author=Hans Storck |url=https://www.lerougeetlenoir.org/contemplation/les-contemplatives/strasbourg-le-tombeau-du-marechal-de-saxe}}</ref>

Maurice de Saxe has been the focus of several biographical works. Many previous errors in former biographies were corrected and additional information supplied in Karl von Weber's ''Moritz Graf von Sachsen, Marschall von Frankreich, nach archivalischen Quellen'' [''Moritz Count of Saxony, Marshal of France, according to archival sources''] (Leipzig: Tauchnitz, 1863), in [[Saint-René Taillandier]]'s ''Maurice de Saxe, étude historique d'après les documents des archives de Dresde'' [''Maurice of Saxe, historical study according to the documents in the archives of Dresden''] (1865) and in {{ill|Karl Friedrich Vitzthum von Eckstädt|de}} ''Maurice de Saxe'' (Leipzig, 1861).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

A biography in English is [[Jon Manchip White]]'s ''Marshal of France: The Life and Times of Maurice, Comte de Saxe (1696–1750)'' (Rand McNally & Company, Chicago, 1962). See also the military histories of the period, especially Carlyle's ''Frederick the Great''.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

He is honoured in the [[Walhalla Memorial]].

== Ancestry ==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
| 1= 1. '''Maurice de Saxe'''
| 2= 2. [[Augustus II the Strong]]
| 3= 3. Countess [[Maria Aurora von Königsmarck]]
| 4= 4. [[John George III, Elector of Saxony]]
| 5= 5. [[Princess Anna Sophie of Denmark]]
| 6= 6. Count [[Kurt Christoph von Königsmarck]]
| 7= 7. Maria Kristina Wrangel
| 8= 8. [[John George II, Elector of Saxony]]
| 9= 8. [[Magdalene Sibylle of Brandenburg-Bayreuth]]
| 10= 10. [[Frederick III of Denmark]] 
| 11= 11. [[Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg]]
| 12= 12. Count [[Hans Christoff von Königsmarck]]
| 13= 13. Barbara Maria Agata von Leesten
| 14= 14. [[Herman Wrangel]]
| 15= 15. Countess [[Amalie Magdalena of Nassau-Siegen]]
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Saxe, Maurice}}
*{{cite book|first=Jon Manchip |last=White |publisher= Rand McNally|year=1962|title=Marshal of France: the life and times of Maurice, comte de Saxe, 1696–1750|isbn=978-1-258-13994-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jf1kpwAACAAJ}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Maurice de Saxe}}
*[http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks19/1900971h.html Child of Chequer'd Fortune: The Life, Loves and Battles of Maurice de Saxe], Maréchal de France by [[Marjorie Bowen]] at [http://gutenberg.net.au/ Project Gutenberg Australia]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxe, Maurice, Count Of}}
[[Category:1696 births]]
[[Category:1750 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Goslar]]
[[Category:French people of German descent]]
[[Category:Marshals of France]]
[[Category:Marshals General of France]]
[[Category:French military writers]]
[[Category:Counts of the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:House of Wettin|Maurice]]
[[Category:Illegitimate children of Augustus II the Strong]]
[[Category:French military personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession]]
[[Category:French male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Dukes of Courland]]
[[Category:Imperial Army (Holy Roman Empire) personnel]]
[[Category:Albertine branch]]
[[Category:Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)]]
[[Category:Sons of kings]]
[[Category:Sons of prince-electors]]