Denied permission to serve his native France, Eugene of Savoy joined the Austrian army and quickly rose through the ranks to field marshal, earning the reputation as one of the premier soldiers of his era. The rapid mobility of his army, his strategic use of terrain to his advantage, and his ability to foster loyal and motivated subordinates consistency produced victories. During nearly a half century of field leadership, Eugene proved instrumental in establishing Austria’s dominance over the German states and its rise as an eighteenth-century European power.
Born in Paris on October 18, 1663, to parents exiled from France for their involvement in a plot against Louis XIV, Eugene grew up in the home of his grandmother, who pushed the physically weak and extremely ugly boy toward an ecclesiastical career. Eugene rejected his grandmother’s plans and sought permission to join the French army. When Louis XIV denied his request, Eugene left Paris and journeyed to Austria, where he spent the remainder of his life fighting the country of his birth.
Eugene’s initial successes occurred during the wars waged by Austria to free Hungary from die Turks (1684-88) and the War of the Grand Alliance (1688-97). Each succeeding batde gained Eugene a promotion, advancing him to field marshal at the age of thirty.
Typical of Eugene’s actions during this period was his brilliant victory at Zenta in 1697. Moving his army for ten hours in a rapid march, he completely surprised the Turkish army as it attempted to cross the Zenta River into Transylvania. Eugene hid his advance behind hills and attacked in a pincher movement that pinned the Turks against the river. In the late-afternoon batde, Eugene’s force slaughtered more than twenty thousand of the enemy at die cost of fewer than five hundred of his own soldiers.
In the complex series of wars and alliances of the early eighteenth century, Eugene met a wide variety of enemies as he fought either alongside or against most of the major military leaders of the period. In the 1701 War of the Spanish Succession, he defeated the French at Carpi and in 1704 allied with MARLBOROUGH to gain victory over Franco-Bavarian forces at Blenheim. Two years later, Eugene led the Austrian army into Italy to successfully free that country from French occupadon. At Lille in 1708, Eugene besieged, bombarded, and finally defeated a heretofore impregnable French fortress designed and constructed by the great French engineer SEBASTIEN LE PRESTRE DE VAUBAN.
Later that year, Eugene rejoined Marlborough to defeat the French at Flanders. Eugene’s last major field campaign took place in 1716 against two hundred thousand Turks surrounding his army, which was only a quarter of that size. Eugene neither pan¬icked nor retreated; instead, he did the unexpected and ordered a night attack in which his bayonet charge overran the Turkish ar¬tillery and keyed the victory that gave him Belgrade.
For the remainder of his life, Eugene served as a trusted military adviser to the Austrian court of Emperor Charles VI. Eugene, however, did not act strictly as a deskbound officer of the court. At age seventy, he briefly joined the Austrian army in the Rhine Val¬ley during the War of the Polish Succession. Never fully retired, Eugene died two years later in Vienna, on April 21, 1736.
Throughout his career, Eugene led his troops from the front and suffered wounds in several batdes. He became a master in the use of terrain to support his defenses and in the rapid movement of his army to achieve surprise. Eugene was well liked by his soldiers, and allies considered him loyal and unselfish at a time when those characteristics were rare in field marshals. In fact, except for his fellow Frenchmen, whom he hated until the end, Eugene seemed to get along with anyone who could enhance his ability to defeat whatever enemy he faced at the time. Despite constant war¬fare, Eugene exhibited a gentleness and appreciation of culture not usually found in commanders of his day—or since.
Along with his superior leadership, Eugene greatly influenced warfare of the period and the future through his innovations. Abolishing the sale of commissions, he appointed officers on merit rather than class or birthright. He also established a system of forward supply bases that ensured that his soldiers had ample rations, ammunition, and other necessities. Additional innovations included the coordination of cavalry units that fought from horse¬back and of dragoon units that rode to the battle but dismounted to fight. His use of both cavalry and dragoons in mounted reconnaissance to report enemy locations and to scout terrain advantages remained a characteristic of the Austrian army long after his departure.
Both HERMANN-MAURICE COMTE DE SAXE and FREDERICK THE GREAT [11] studied his methods of organization and conducting war. Napoleon likewise greatly respected Eugene, ranking him as one of the most influential military leaders of all time. Emulated and studied by great captains of the future, Eugene remains one of the greatest soldiers of his generation, rivaled only by his ally and friend Marlborough and his fellow Frenchman Saxe.