Guy Aldonce de Durfort, duc de Lorges

Guy Aldonce de Durfort, duc de Lorges (painting by Merry-Joseph Blondel)

Guy Aldonce de Durfort, duc de Lorges et de Quantin (called Marshal Lorges) (born August 22, 1630 in Duras , † October 22, 1702 in Paris ) was a Marshal of France . During the War of the Palatinate Succession , he penetrated the Rhineland in 1692 and 1693.

family

He came from an at least partially Huguenot family and was the fourth son of Guy Aldonce de Durfort (1605-1665), marquis de Duras, Count of Rozan and of Lorges. The mother was Élisabeth de La Tour d'Auvergne. This was a daughter of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, duc de Bouillon and the sister of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne . The brother Jacques-Henri de Durfort, duc de Duras later also became Marshal of France. Another brother was Louis de Duras, 2nd Earl of Feversham , general in the service of James II.

He himself was married to Genovefa Fremont. With this he had a son and four daughters. The daughter Gabrielle married Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon , Geneviève married Antonin Nompar de Caumont . The son of Guy Nicolas de Durfort de Lorges also entered the army.

Life

Lorges joined the military at an early age and was a cavalry officer who stood out for his fearlessness. He served on various campaigns to Flanders , the Netherlands and the Rhine. He rose to the Maréchal de camp af and was appointed lieutenant-général . In the campaigns of 1674 and 1675 during the Dutch War , he served under his uncle Turenne. After his death, the army demanded that he be his successor. But he had to share command with Nicolas de Bautru, Marquis de Vaubrun . The army withdrew under his command, pursued by Raimondo Montecuccoli and successfully attacked several times by the imperial army, back across the Rhine.

In gratitude, Louis XIV appointed him Marshal in 1675. In the following year he also received an officer position in the Garde du corps du roi . As such, he accompanied the king to all sieges in which he took part during the war.

In 1685 he was sent to England to congratulate James II on his accession to the throne. Lorges was accepted into the Order of the Holy Spirit by the King in 1689 . He was also made governor of Guyenne and military commander of other areas.

In the same year he replaced his brother Marshal Duras as commander between the Maas and Queich . In 1690 and 1691 he protected this section of the border from the Allies. In 1692 an imperial army crossed the Rhine. Longres holed up in a fortified camp. He brought in further reinforcements and used the enemy’s inaction to cross the Rhine himself and take Pforzheim . At Ötisheim he defeated Friedrich Karl von Württemberg-Winnental and took him prisoner. The French plundered Neuenbürg and set Knittlingen on fire. Then he forced Landgrave Karl von Hessen-Kassel to break off the siege of Ebernburg .

At the beginning of the campaign of 1693 he took Heidelberg . He hardly intervened when his soldiers brutally attacked the defenseless. Fires broke out that destroyed the city. Lorges also had the castle destroyed. In June he drove Ludwig von Baden from his position. as a result he drove high war contributions in Württemberg. Zwingenberg on Bergstrasse was stormed. These successes prompted Louis XIV to send further troops under the Dauphin Louis de Bourbon, dauphin de Viennois, to this area . The opposing armies tried to outmaneuver, but Lorges could not bring the margrave to battle. Overall, the advance remained without consequences and the French troops retreated across the Rhine. As a result, Lorges received no more military commands, but was appointed governor of Lorraine .

As early as 1691 he had combined various goods that he owned or acquired, and this area was elevated to a duchy.

Individual evidence

1. ↑
   

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2. ↑ Report from Marshal Guy Aldonce de Durfort, duc de Lorges to Louis XIV. On the capture and destruction of Heidelberg ( memento of the original from August 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

literature

• Johann S. Publication , Johann G. Gruber (Hrsg.): Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste . Section 1: Johann G. Gruber (Ed.): A – G. Part 28: Drus - Dziewonna. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1836, p. 402 f.
• William Young: International Politics and Warfare in the Age of Louis XIV and Peter the Great. A Guide to the Historical Literature. Universe, New York NY et al. 2004, ISBN 0-595-32992-6 , pp. 227 f.