François, duc d'Harcourt
François, duc d'Harcourt (born November 6, 1689 - † July 10, 1750 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye ), was a soldier in France in the 18th century. He took part in the War of Spanish Succession , War of Polish Succession and War of Austrian Succession . He ended his military career in 1749 with the title of Maréchal de France .
family
François d'Harcourt was a member of the House of Harcourt, a noble family from Normandy whose roots stretched back to the 11th century. They hired three marshals of France, another number of high-ranking military officials, ambassadors and pairs of France.
Life
He was the eldest son of Henri, duc d'Harcourt (1654–1718), peer and (1703) Marshal of France, and Marie Anne Claude Brulart de Genlis (1669–1750), dame de Pisy.
After the death of his father on October 19, 1718, he took over his title as Duc d'Harcourt , which was confirmed by the parliament in Paris on January 19, 1719.
Military career
War of the Spanish Succession
He was still a student when he was appointed regiment owner of the "Régiment marquis d'Harcourt cavalerie" on November 23, 1705. In 1706 he served with the Mousquetaires de la garde and took part in the battle of Ramillies that same year . In 1707 he was in the army in Flanders, which, however, did not undertake any major operations that year.
In 1708 he took command of his cavalry regiment and fought on July 11th in the battle of Oudenaarde under the command of his father, Maréchal d'Harcourt. Then he marched with his regiment to the "Armée du Rhin" (Army on the Rhine). Here he took part in the attack against the Besval mill, where he could support the guard . He remained in the army for the next two years, with the "Régiment de Lesart cavalerie" being transferred to him on July 15, 1710 after the death of the previous owner, the Marquis de Lesart, and he gave up his previous regiment.
In 1712 the king commissioned him as Mestre de camp en second to lead the Régiment Dauphin Cavalerie , whereupon d'Harcourt gave up his previous regiment. He was still under his father's command in the Armée du Rhin. In the same year he was appointed Lieutenant-General of Franche-Comté . On February 4, 1713 he took his oath. In the same year he was involved in the capture of Speyer , Worms , Kaiserslautern and the occupation of Freiburg im Breisgau . In 1716 he gave up the "Régiment Dauphin-Cavalerie" again and, after his father's resignation, took over his position on June 26, 1718 as captain lieutenant of the 5th company of the Garde du corps du roi . The promotion to Brigadier des armes du roi took place by certification on October 1st, 1718.
On April 24th, 1728, he was promoted to Maréchal de camp and on May 10th, he was inducted into the Order of the Holy Spirit as Chevalier . On May 10, 1730, he gave up his post as Lieutenant-General of Franche-Comté.
War of the Polish Succession
Seconded to the army in Italy, he was at the siege of Pizzighettone in Lombardy , which surrendered on November 29, 1733. Also in the siege of Milan and Novara , the battle at Colorno and in the battle of Parma . He was sent off with eight escadrons on July 12, 1734 and occupied Reggio and Rubiera the next day . Appointed Lieutenant-General on August 1, he took part in this position on September 19 at the Battle of Guastalla , in which he was wounded on the arm by a musket ball. After the wound had healed, he returned to the army near Cremona .
In 1735 he took part in the sieges and profits of Gonzagua Castle , Riggiolo and Revere (Lombardy) .
In January 1739 he was given the office of Governor General of the Principality of Sedan and its branches .
After the resignation of Maréchal de Coigny , he moved to his post as Governor of Alsace .
War of the Austrian Succession
In 1742 he commanded the "Armée de Bavière" until it was merged with the forces of the Marquis de Ravignan. During this period he fought the Austrians in the Black Forest with battles near Öhringen , Langenau and Lauingen (Danube) . On the Isar he fought back the Austrians who had advanced from Ulm and Ingolstadt . After that he united with the Marquis de Ravignan. This was followed by the siege of Straubing , which was lifted on April 9th in agreement with the enemy. After the death of the Marquis de Ravignan, d'Harcourt was briefly the sole commander, until the Maréchal de Saxe took over the command and d'Harcourt and his troops subordinated to the Maréchal de Maillebois . On September 21, he was assigned to occupy the village of Plan , taking 400 prisoners in the process.
On May 1, 1743, he was in command of the "Armée du Rhin" and commanded the right wing in the battle of Dettingen , where he, at the head of the royal guard, attacked three times and was wounded on the shoulder by a musket ball.
In April 1744 he was appointed commander of the "Armée de la Moselle". With this he moved to Valenciennes in May and to the Moselle in July.
When the imperial general Karl Alexander von Lorraine crossed the Rhine, the Duc d'Harcourt marched into Alsace, where he tried to force the garrison from Zabern to give up and thus block the route to Lorraine. Zabern was defended by 12,000 men under the command of Count Nadasti . D'Harcourt attacked the entrenchments from the front and the rear, which were defended by Pandours and Croats . The crew withdrew on the night of August 15th to 16th - suffering losses of 1,200 men, while the French lost only 71 men.
Then d'Harcourt came to the "Armée du Rhin", where he participated in the siege of Freiburg im Breisgau. Freiburg capitulated on November 6th, the citadel on November 25th. Then change to the "Armée de Flandre", which was under the command of the king. Participation in the siege of Tournai on April 26, 1745. In the battle of Fontenoy he commanded the right wing of the army.
On August 7th he trapped Dendermonde , which capitulated on August 12th. Then he fought in the Battle of Rocourt .
On October 19, 1746 he was appointed Maréchal de France in Fontainebleau .
In 1749 he ended his military career.
Marriage and offspring
- On January 14, 1716 he married Marguerite-Louise-Sophie de Neufville-Villeroy.
The couple had three children:
- Françoise-Claire d'Harcourt, born May 12, 1718 († May 9, 1751), married Emmanuel-Dieudonné de Hautefort, marquis de Hautefort et de Surville on August 4, 1738
- Angélique-Adélaïde d'Harcourt, born August 30, 1719 († September 7, 1744), married Emmanuel de Croÿ , prince de Croÿ-Solre on February 18, 1741
- Gabrielle-Lydie d'Harcourt, * December 21, 1722 († 1801), married Claude-Louis-François de Régnier, comte de Guerchy et marquis de Nangis on May 3, 1740
literature
- M. Pinard: Chronologie historique-militaire. Volume 3. Paris 1761, p. 363 ( digitized on Gallica ).
- Mémoires du temps. In: Gazette de France.
Individual evidence
- ^ Order of April 9, 1712
- ↑ Fontainebleau July 21, 1712
- ^ Lettres du 6 octobre 1733
- ↑ Provisions du 26 janvier 1739
- ↑ Lettres du 26 février 1742
- ↑ Lettres du 1 avril 1744
- ↑ Lettres du May 1, 1746
Web links
- François-Henri d'Harcourt: Discours de réception François-Henri d'Harcourt. 26 février 1789. Website of the Académie française (address on the occasion of the election to the Académie française)
- François, duc d'Harcourt in the Gazette française (google book search)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Harcourt, François d ', duc |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French military |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 6, 1689 |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 10, 1750 |
| Place of death | Saint-Germain-en-Laye |