Francis Hector, Duke de Villars, Marshal of France, and Dean of the Marshals, is a Gentleman of a good Family, his Father having been a Commander of the King’s Orders. His Stature is above the middle Size, and he has the Port and Step of a Nobleman. He has an agreeable winning Countenance, and hazel Eyes, which are lively and sparkling. He is a Man of Penetration, crafty, complaisant, and capable of great Affairs. He talks a great deal; but what he says is to the Purpose. He is laborious, attach’d to, and indefatigable in Business, a courageous good Soldier, and a successful General. Satire charges him with Avarice, as it did the Duke of Marlborough his Rival: He is, withal, accused of being too haughty, and too conceited of his Actions, and his Merits. This, indeed, may be true enough; for I myself was Witness to a Conversation, in which he discovered it sufficiently plain. ’Twas the Winter after the Battle of Denain, when the
Marshall being at Dinner with the late[67]M. d’Armagnac, Great Master of the Horse, where I was likewise a Guest; he talked a great deal about his Exploits, to which I listened so attentively, that he took Notice of it; and being unknown to him, he whispered the Master of the Horse in the Ear, to know who I was; and when the Marshal was told that I was a German, he paid me a good deal of Respect. Then resuming his Discourse, and addressing it to me, he talked of his Victory at Denain, with an Air of mighty Self-Applause. But why, said he, did your People drown themselves? I am merciful, I would have given them Quarter; and they ought surely to have asked it. I declare to you, that my Soul was all in Fire for the Honour of Germany. Those Words, Mercy and Quarter, I took for an Insult upon my Country. I was young and hot-headed, and was just going to return him an Answer that would not have become me; however, I kept my Temper, and ’twas not till the second or third Provocation that I made him Answer, That I did not think he ought to be surprized at what the German Troops did, because they had known his Valour sufficiently before the Battle of Denain, but never had a Trial of his Clemency. I saw that he did not relish my Answer, upon which he shifted the Subject, and did not speak a Word more to me all the Time.
Some time after the Peace, however, I made him Satisfaction: ’Twas at the House of the Duchess de Lude, Lady of Honour to the Duchess of Burgundy. There was a great deal of Company, and among the rest, the Marshal de Villars. The Conversation fell upon the Custom of the Ancients, to give Surnames to their Heroes; and the Moderns were blam’d for not doing so too. What
Name should we find for you, Marshal? said the Duchess de Lude. I replied immediately, This would be no difficult Task. I don’t think that any Title would suit the Marshal de Villars better than that of Germanicus Franciscus. This Trifle hit the Marshal’s Taste so nicely, that he put on a smiling Countenance, and said a great many obliging Things to me.
The Marshal de Villars, in his Youth, was a Page to Lewis XIV. He enter’d into the Service very young, and distinguished himself at his first setting-out, so that he really owes his Advancement more to his Services and Merit, than to Fortune. After the Peace of Ryswic, he had the Care of the King’s Affairs at the Emperor’s Court; but was recalled from thence a little before the War began, upon Account of the Succession to the King of Spain, Charles II. When the War was declared, M. de Villars, at that time Lieutenant-General, was in the Army in Germany, commanded by the Marshal Catinat. The Marquis de Villars, with a Detachment from the Army, attack’d the Imperialists near Fridlinguen in 1702. The French said, that he won the Victory; the Germans say, No. Which Party is in the Right, I can’t tell; but be it as it will, the Staff of a Marshal of France was M. de Villars Reward for the Battle. The same Year the Duke of Savoy entring into an Alliance against the two Crowns, at the very Time that he assured them of his Attachment, the Treaty which that Prince made with the Emperor and his Allies, was kept secret for a while, tho’ not so secret but the Elector of Bavaria knew of it; and his Electoral Highness reproaching the Envoy of Savoy with it, that Minister actually swore he knew nothing of the Matter, and that, moreover, he did not believe it; upon which the Marshal de Villars, who was present,
clapp’d his Hand upon the Envoy’s Shoulder, and repeated this Verse to him out of Racine; Tu ne le crois que trop, malheureux Mithridate, i. e. Ah! poor Mithridates! thou believest it but too much. In 1704, the Marshal de Villars was recalled from the Army in Germany, to command in the Cevennois, where he gained Palms and Olives, as well as Laurels; for by his good Nature and Moderation he pacified a Rebellion, which the too great Severity of his Predecessor, the Marshal de Montrevel, had but the more inflamed.
After this, he had the Command of the Army in Germany, and kept it till 1709, when he went into the Netherlands to relieve the Duke de Vendosme, who was sent into Spain. M. de Villars, when in Flanders, retriev’d the Honour of France, which had been sully’d there by several Defeats. For tho’ the French suffer’d another at the Battle of Malplaquet, yet they made so brave a Stand, that the Allies could not help admiring their Courage. The Marshal de Villars, being wounded in the Knee, was obliged to retire, and to leave the Command to the Marshal de Boufflers, who drew off the Army in good Order. They give out, that when the Marshal de Villars heard the News, he said, Villars was not there; he could not be everywhere. The Allies paid dear for this Victory; for they lost twenty-three thousand Men, besides a considerable Number of Officers of Distinction. They might say as Pyrrhus did, after the Defeat of the Romans, One more such a Victory, and I am undone. The French lost eight thousand one hundred thirty-seven Men; and during the whole Course of the War, there was not a more bloody, nor a more obstinate Battle.
The Campaign of 1712 was the most glorious to the Marshal de Villars, of any that he ever made; for he therein gained the Victory at Denain,
and in two Months time took from the Allies what had cost them several Campaigns.
’Twas about the same time, that, upon the Death of the Duke de Vendôme at Vinaroz in Spain, Lewis XIV. conferr’d his Government of Provence upon the Marshal, who was also made a Duke and Peer. They tell a Story, that when he went to take Possession of his Government, and the Deputies of the Province presented him with a Purse full of Lewis d’Ors, One of ’em said, Here, my Lord, is such another Purse as that we gave to the Duke de Vendôme, when, like you, he came to be our Governor; but that Prince refus’d to take it. Ah! said the Marshal de Villars, squeezing the Purse, M. de Vendôme has not left his Fellow behind him.