397 



VILLARS, LOUIS-HECTOR. 



VILLARS, LOUIS-HECTOR. 



383 



Strasbourg, in which he arranged tho plants according to the system 

 of Jussieu. He published several other books and memoirs on various 

 departments of natural history and topography. His principal work 

 on medicine was entitled ' Principes de Medicine et de Uhirurgie,' and 

 was published at Lyon in 1797. He also gave an account of an epi- 

 demic fever which prevailed in Dauphiud during the years ^779 and 

 1780. At his death he left behind him an extensive library and a 

 large collection of plants. In a prospectus of his large work on 

 plants, he named a speeit s I'erardia, after Berard, an apothecary, who 

 lived at Strasbourg, and was a contemporary of the Bauhins, and who 

 left behind him a manuscript work on plants, still in the public library 

 at Strasbourg. A genus of plants has been named in honour of Villars, 

 Villarsia. 



(Jiiog. Univ.; EiBchoff,LehrbuchderBotanik; 'Prefaces' to volumes 

 of the Plants of Dauphing.) 



VILLARS, LOUIS-HECTOR, a mare"chal of France, and one of its 

 most illustrious soldiers, was born at Moulins in 1653. He studied 

 at the college of Juilly, and was, on quitting that seminary, enrolled 

 among the " pages de la grande dcurie." During an excursion of the 

 court to Flanders, Villars obtained leave to visit Holland, and he after- 

 wards accompanied his relation St. Gdran, envoy to the Elector of 

 Brandenburg, to Berlin. On his return to France he served in 

 Holland as a volunteer in the corps commanded by Louis XIV. in 

 person. The spirit of enterprise and observation beyond his years 

 which had spurred him to visit foreign countries, he carried into the 

 camp. The king, who had formerly distinguished him among the 

 other pages on account of his fine figure, remarked one day, " A single 

 shot can't be fired without this boy starting from the ground to 

 witness it." Villars'a courage and activity, and perhaps his fine 

 figure, obtained for him, although his family was out of favour at 

 court, a troop of horse at the age of nineteen. 



The next two years he served in Germany under Turenne, who 

 entertained a high opinion of his talents as a partisan. The Prince of 

 Coade also distinguished him from the crowd of young officers. The 

 mingled good sense and gallantry which he showed at the battle of 

 Sdnef procured for him a regiment of cavalry in 1674, before he had 

 completed his twentyrfirst year. From 1674 till the peace of Nim- 

 wegen in 1678, Villars served in Flanders under the Hare'chal de 

 Luxembourg, and in Alsatia under the Marechal de CrequL The 

 minister Louvois, who had quarrelled with the Marechal de Belle- 

 fonds, Villars's uncle, extended his inveterate enmity to the whole 

 family. The young soldier felt that he had nothing but himself to 

 rely upon ; and he appeared to multiply himself in his search of 

 opportunities of distinction. 



The next ten years of the life of Villars were spent principally in 

 diplomatic employments. On his return to court after the peace of 

 1678, he gave the rein to his amorous propensities, to an extent which 

 attracted general attention, and occasioned much disturbance. He 

 was ordered to rejoin his regiment, but any fear of having lost the 

 king's favour was soon dispelled by his being sent to Vienna to con- 

 dole with Leopold I. on the death of the empress-mother. At Vienna 

 he gained such an influence over the mind of the Elector of Bavaria, 

 that he detached him from the Austrian interest, and rendered him 

 subservient to the views of France. With the approbation of Louis, 

 Villars accompanied the elector on his return to Munich, and followed 

 him into Hungary, when he assumed the command of the Bavarian 

 contingent in the imperial army levied against the Turks. Here, as 

 usual, Villars distinguished himself by his impetuous but not uncal- 

 culatmg valour. On his return to Munich he found a new Austrian 

 emissary opposed to him the beautiful and voluptuous Countess of 

 Kaunitz. The first use made by this lady of the complete ascend- 

 ancy which she soon gained over the elector, was to insist that Villars 

 should be removed from the court, notwithstanding this partial 

 failure, Louis was satisfied with, his ambassador's conduct. Villars 

 was admitted to private interviews ; Madame Maintenon received him 

 at St. Cyr. At last, Louvois relented, and in 1688, on the eve of the 

 war occasioned by the league of Augsburg, conferred upon him the 

 appointment of commissary-general of the cavalry. 



Villars was sent to Munich to attempt to regain his influence over 

 the elector, and detach him from the alliance of Austria. In this he 

 failed, and his life was even in danger from the Austrian party in 

 Bavaria. He was next appointed to command the cavalry of the 

 Mardchal d'Humieres, whose army was stationed in Flanders with 

 ordtrs to act on the defensive. Villars, tired of this inactivity, 

 resumed his old occupation of partisan, and levied contributions as 

 far as Brussels. In 1689 he was created marcchal-de-camp. During 

 the two following years he commanded a body of 15,000 men, which 

 formed a reserve to the army of the Mardchal de Luxembourg. He 

 was subsequently sent to the Rhine to assist with his counsels the 

 Mardchal de Joyeuse, who was hard pressed by the Prince of Baden. 

 In this service he continued till repose was for a short time restored 

 to Europe by the peace of Ryswick in 1697. 



The intrigues which preceded the Spanish War of Succession were 

 now in full vigour. In 1699 Villars was entrusted with the delicate 

 mission of ambassador-extraordinary to Vienna. He spent three years 

 at that court, at the time when it and the court of Versailles were 

 incessantly busied by every means short of actual war to thwart each 

 other's views upon the throne of Spain. Villare, with a sleepless 



patience, strangely contrasting with his impetuosity in war, watched 

 md unravelled all the tortuous intrigues of the Austrian court. He 

 kept Louis and his ministers informed of every movement of Austria, 

 and by blunt and opportune applications more than once deterred 

 the emperor from steps which would have promoted his views. The 

 personal animosity felt by the Austrian court to Villars was extreme ; 

 be was personally insulted, attempts were made to implicate him in 

 bhe rebellious movements of Hungary, and his life was threatened. The 

 courtiers affected to shun him ; Prince Eugene alone continued on a 

 footing of unreserved friendly intercourse. Villars persevered, and 

 though more of the honour of insuring the accession of Louis' grand- 

 son to the Spanish throne was attributed to others than he fult to be 

 consistent with a due sense of his services, even Louis XIV. was 

 satisfied with his conduct. 



On the commencement of hostilities in 1701 Villars was sent to the 

 army commanded by Villeroi in Italy. Dissatisfied with his general 

 he obtained his recall. On his return to Paris he married Mademoi- 

 selle de Varangeville, to whom he was passionately attached. On the 

 appointment of Catinat to the army of Germany, Villars joined him, 

 but it is alleged that he found the genius of his commander enfeebled 

 by age. In 1702 Villars was sent, at the head of thirty battalions, 

 forty squadrons, and thirty pieces of artillery, to disengage the elector 

 of Bavaria, who was surrounded on all sides by the Austrian troops. 

 Villars had now attained his forty-ninth year, and this was the first 

 time he had commanded in chief. 



The events of Villars's campaign in Germany in 1703 are faithfully 

 and instructively portrayed in his correspondence with the elector, 

 Louis XIV., and his minister-at-war, and the letters of the general 

 officers under his command, published at Amsterdam in 1762. The 

 French general was everywhere successful, but the imbecility of the 

 Elector of Bavaria neutralised all his victories. Disgusted with his 

 position, Villars. petitioned to be recalled, and by his importunity 

 wrung from the king a reluctant permission. On his return to France, 

 it was proposed to send him to Italy, but the Duke de Vendotne was 

 his senior marcchal, and in his connection with the Elector of Bavaria 

 Villars had had enough of military partnership with a prince of the 

 royal blood. Louis forbore to insist upon his undertaking the Italian 

 campaign, for there was a more important charge to intrust to him. 



This charge was to terminate the war of the Cevennes. With the 

 sanction of the king, he repaired to the scene of action, resolved to 

 put an end to the troubles less by rigour than by gentler methods. 

 In Lamoignon, the intendant of the province, he found a coadj utor 

 participating in his sentiments, master of the necessary local informa- 

 tion, and prompt in action. Together these associates pursued the 

 Camisards into their most secluded retreats. A few examples of 

 severity to those who resisted were followed by the extension of 

 lenity, and even concessions to their religious scruples, to all who laid 

 down their arms. Cavalier, the ablest leader of the Camisards, was 

 gained by the humanity and soldierly frankness of Villars. Peace was 

 on the eve of being restored to the province, when emissaries of 

 England and Savoy rekindled the dissensions. The insincerity of the 

 court co-operated with foreign intrigue, but the watchfulness of Villars 

 cut off all assistance from beyond the frontier, and the insurgents of 

 the Cevennes ceased to be dangerous. Villars saved his king, at the 

 moment when he had all Europe on his arms, from the additional 

 embarrassment of a civil war. He was received with the highest 

 honours on his return to Versailles. 



From the spring of 1705, till the conclusion of the peace of Rastadt 

 in 1714, the life of Villars was a series of campaigns. Sent by the 

 king in the former year to inspect and strengthen the defences of the 

 eastern frontier, he took post on the heights near Fronsberg, where he 

 covered Thionville, was in a position to succour Luxembourg if neces- 

 sary, and, by means of the fortified posts at Bouzonville and Bour- 

 gaiche, kept open the communication with Sarre-Louis. Confident iu 

 the strength of his position, he did not entrench it, lest he should 

 render his soldiers apprehensive. Marlborough appeared before this 

 camp, at the head of 110,000 men ; he examined it at all points for four 

 days, and then retired. This encampment, more generally known by 

 the name of Sirek than Fronsberg, astonished everybody. The prompt 

 decision and fearlessness of Villars were well known, but the skill 

 shown in selecting a strategic position, and the self-control evinced in 

 keeping on the defensive, were unexpected. The moment the enemy 

 retired, he gave vent to his natural impetuosity by resuming the 

 offensive ; he burst into Alsatia, forced the lines of Weissenburg, pre- 

 sented himself before Lauterburg, and, to conceal the weakness which 

 prevented him laying siege to that place, crossed the line between 

 Fort Louis and Strasbourg, and laying the whole country between 

 the river and Schwarzwald under contribution, closed the campaign 

 of 1705. In 1706 he took Lauterburg and Hagenau, in the latter of 

 which the enemy kept his reserves of artillery and stores. This 

 success was neutralised by Villars's loss of the great battle of Ramillies 

 in Flanders, where he was forced to succumb to the superior genius 

 of Marlborough, and by the minister Chamillard's withdrawing some 

 of his best troops. In 1707 Villars crossed the Rhine; forced the 

 lines of Stolhofen on the 23rd of May ; established his head-quarters 

 at Rastadt on the evening of the same day, and the next occupied 

 Stuttgard. He invited Charles XII. of Sweden, who had invaded 

 Saxony, to make a junction with hia army under the walls of Niirn- 



