106 



EUGENE DE BEAUHARNAIS. 



occasion, the applause of Europe, and the entire con- 

 fidence of the imperial armies, although his enemies, 

 envious of his glory, accused him of temerity, in 

 undertaking so hazardous an enterprise. The loss 

 of the Turks at Zenta obliged i ami to accede to the 

 peace of Carlowiu, 1699, which was the first symp- 

 tom of their decline. 



The Spanish war of succession next called Eugene 

 to a new theatre of glory. Italy became the field in 

 \\ liirli he displayed his military talents. He advanced 

 rapidly through the passes of the Tyrol, at the head 

 of 30,000 men, in the face of marshal Catinat, who 

 endeavoured in vain to arrest his progress. Villeroi 

 was still more unsuccessful, being surprised and de- 

 feated, near Cremona, by Eugene. In 1703, he 

 received the command of the army in Germany ; and, 

 being appointed president of the council of war, he 

 was the soul of all important enterprises, to which 

 he imparted great activity; and his efficient co-ope- 

 ration with Marlborough frustrated the plans of 

 France and her allies. In the battle of Hochstadt 

 (Blenheim, see Blenheim), August 13, 1704, the two 

 heroes gained a decisive victory over the French and 

 Bavarian army, commanded by the prince of Bavaria 

 and marshal Tallard, the latter of whom was made 

 prisoner. In 1705, Eugene returned to Italy, where 

 he was severely wounded in an engagement with 

 the French under the duke de Vendome, and being 

 obliged to retire from the field, his army was de- 

 feated ; but Vendome was recalled, and his successor, 

 the duke de la Feuillade, could not withstand 

 Eugene, who now hastened to the relief of Turin, 

 stormed the French lines, forced them to raise the 

 siege, and in one month drove them out of Italy. In 

 1707, he entered France, and laid siege to Toulon ; 

 but the immense superiority of the enemy obliged 

 him to retire into Italy. The following years he 

 fonght on the Rhine, took Lille, and defeated the 

 marshals Villars and Boufflers at the battle of Mal- 

 plaquet, where he himself was dangerously wounded. 

 In this situation, he maintained that calmness pecu- 

 liar to great souls : when the officers urged upon 

 him the necessity of providing for his personal safety, 

 " What need of bandages," said he, " if we are about 

 to die here? If we escape, the evening will be time 

 enough." 



After the recall of Marlborough, which Eugene 

 opposed in person, at London, without success, and 

 the defection of England from the alliance against 

 France, his farther progress was in a great measure 

 checked, more particularly after the defeat of gene- 

 ral Albemarle at Denain. The peace of Rastadt, 

 the consequence of the treaty of Utrecht, was con- 

 cluded between Eugene and Villars in 1714. In the 

 war with Turkey, in 1716, Eugene defeated two 

 superior armies at Peterwaradin and Temesvar, and, 

 in 1717, took Belgrade, after having gained a deci 

 sive victory over a third army that came to its relief. 

 The treaty of Passarovitz was the result of this suc- 

 cess. During fifteen years which followed, Austria 

 enjoyed peace, and Eugene was as active in the 

 cabinet as he had been in the field, when the Polish 

 affairs, in 1733, became the source of a new war. 

 Eugene appeared, in his old age, at the head of an 

 irmy, on the banks of the Rhine, but returned to 

 Vienna, without effecting anything of importance. 

 He died in 1736, at the age of seventy-two. The 

 Austrian department of war, to which he imparted 

 such activity during his presidency, relapsed, after 

 his death, into its former imbecility. 



EUGENE DE BEAUHARNAIS, duke of Leuch- 

 tenberg, prince of Eichstedt, ex-viceroy of Italy, was 

 born September 3, 1781. He was the son of the 

 viscount Alexander Beauharnais, who was guillo- 

 tined 1794, and Josephine Tascher de la Pagerie, 



afterwards wife of Napoleon and empress uf France. 

 During the French revolution, Eugene entered the 

 military service, and, at the age of twelve years, ac- 

 companied his father, when he took the command of 

 the army of the Rhine. After his father's death, he 

 joined Hoche, in La Vende"e, when his mother was in 

 prison. After the 9th Thermidor, he returned to his 

 mother at Paris, and remained three years devoted 

 to study. In 1796, Josephine was married to general 

 Bonaparte, then commander-in-chief of the army of 

 Italy ; and Eugene accompanied his father-in-law in 

 his campaigns in Italy and Egypt. He was pro- 

 moted to a high rank in the service, and, in 1805, 

 created a prince of France and viceroy of Italy. In 

 the same year, he distinguished himself in the cam- 

 paigns against Austria, and, after the peace of 

 January 13, 1806, married the princess Augusta of 

 Bavaria. In 1807, Napoleon made him prince of 

 Venice, and declared him his heir to the kingdom of 

 Italy. He administered the government of Italy 

 with great prudence and moderation, and was much 

 beloved by his subjects. In the war of 1809, he 

 was at first unsuccessful against the archduke John, 

 but soon afterwards gained the battle of llaab, and 

 distinguished himself at Wagram. He conducted 

 himself with great prudence on the occasion of the 

 divorce of Napoleon from his mother. The 3d of 

 March, 1810, Napoleon appointed him successor of 

 the prince primate, who had been created grand- 

 duke of Frankfort. 



In the Russian campaign, he commanded the third 

 corps tTarmee, and distinguished himself in the battles 

 of Ostrowno, Mohilo, and tliat on the Moskwa (Boro- 

 dino). In the disastrous retreat, lie did not desert 

 the wrecks of his division for a moment, but shared 

 its toils and dangers with the soldiers, and encouraged 

 them by his example. To him and to Ney, France 

 was indebted for the preservation of the remains of 

 her army during that fatal retreat. On the departure 

 of Napoleon and Murat,hewas left in the chief com- 

 mand, and showed great talent at that dangerous 

 conjuncture. We find him again at the battle of 

 Lutzen, of May 2, 1813, where, by surrounding the 

 right wing of the enemy, he decided the fate of the 

 day. Napoleon sent him from Dresden to the defence 

 of Italy, now menaced by the enemy's forces, where 

 military operations commenced after the dissolution 

 of the congress of Prague, and the accession of Aus- 

 tria to the league of the allied powers. Eugene 

 maintained the defence of Italy even after the deser- 

 tion of Mnrat. 



After the fall of Napoleon, he concluded an armis- 

 tice with count Bellegarde, by which he delivered 

 Lombardy, and all Upper Italy, to the Austrians. 

 Eugene then went immediately to Paris, and thence 

 to his father-in-law at Munich. He was at the con- 

 gress of Vienna. On the return of Napoleon from 

 Elba, he was obliged to leave Vienna, and retire to 

 Bairettth. He was an inactive spectator of the events 

 in 1815. By the articles of Fontainebleau, an in- 

 demnification was assigned him for the loss of his 

 estates in Italy, which were valued at 2025 millions 

 of francs : but the congress of Vienna, confirmed his 

 dotation in the march of Ancona, and the king 

 of Naples was obliged to pay him five million 

 francs. By an ordinance of the king of Bavaria, 

 he was created duke of Leuchtenberg, November, 

 1817. The Bavarian principality of Eichstedt was 

 bestowed upon him, and his posterity declared capable 

 of inheriting in case of the failure of the Bavarian 

 line. He died at Munich, Feb. 21, 1824, leaving two 

 sons and four daughters. 



Prince Eugene, under a simple exterior, concealed 

 a noble character, and great talents. Honour, inte- 

 grity, humanity, and love of order and justice, were 



