military ambitions. When Louis rejected him as an of-
ficer, Eugène left France in 1683 and offered his services
to Emperor Leopold I of Austria, at that time fighting
Turkish forces trying to invade Eastern Europe. Leop-
old, seeing great promise in this Italian-French soldier,
employed him to help relieve Vienna from the Muslims.
Eugène was so conspicuous in his victory over the Turks
at the battle of Petronell (7 July 1683) and in defense of
Vienna (12 September 1683) that Leopold placed him
in charge of a regiment of dragoons, an unusual honor
for a foreigner. Further action against Muslim forces led
to Eugène being wounded at the battle of Buda (3 Au-
gust 1686) and during the siege of Belgrade (1688), but
he served his commanders, Charles V of Lorraine and
Louis of Baden, with great distinction.
After Eugène had recovered from his wounds, Leo-
pold sent him on a diplomatic mission to Savoy, the
land of his forefathers, where he convinced Duke Victor
Amadeus to send assistance to fight the Turks. Eugène
rose through the ranks of the Austrian military, gain-
ing the rank of feldmarschall (field marshal) in 1693,
when he was only 29 years old. During the War of the
Grand Alliance (1688–97), he served as commander in
chief of the Austrian imperial army and Austria’s allies,
known as the League of Augsburg and then the Grand
Alliance, against France and her allies. In this conflict,
he is best known for his spectacular victory against the
Turkish army at Zenta (11 September 1697), frustrating
the Ottoman attempt to conquer Hungary.
Returning to Vienna, Eugène served in vari-
ous political offices, most notably as a member of the
Emperor’s Privy Council (1700) and as president of
the Imperial War Council (1703). During the War of
the Spanish Succession (1701–14), he served as a com-
mander of imperial forces, fighting the French gener-
als Nicolas de Catinat and the duc de Villeroi at Carpi
(19 July 1701) and Chiari (1 September 1701); in the
latter battle, the French lost some 3,000 dead to only
150 Austrians killed. However, at Luzzara on 22 Au-
gust 1702, Eugène’s forces were defeated by the French
general Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme, Eugène’s own
cousin, who also defeated him at Cassano on 16 August
1705.
In 1704, Eugène joined with the British general
John churchill, duke of Marlborough, to lead allied
forces to victory against the combined French and Ba-
varian army under Count Camille de Tallard and Maxi-
milian II Emmanuel, the elector of Bavaria, at Blenheim
on 13 August 1704. Historian George Bruce writes of
this encounter, one of the major battles of the War of the
Spanish Succession:With the Danube on its right, the Franco-Bavar-
ian army was deployed for three miles along the
top of a rise, from the strongly fortified villages
of Blenheim, to Oberglau to Lutzingen, behind
marshy land coursed by a stream, the Nebel. It
was a strong position, and Marshal Tallard ex-
pected the allies to retreat, rather than attack, in
[the] face of it... but after an overnight surprise
march Marlborough and Eugène arrived early
before the enemy lines. Eugène then attacked the
enemy’s far right near Lutzingen, while Marlbor-
ough made diversionary attacks on Blenheim and
Oberglau to pin down defenders with smaller
numbers.... Prince Eugène had meanwhile
held the attacks of [French General Ferdinand
de] Marsin and the Elector and, after Marlbor-
ough’s charge, he assumed the offensive, routing
the French right and center. The Franco-Bavar-
ian army lost about 40,000 [dead and wounded],
including 16,000 prisoners, among whom was
Marshal Tallard. The allies lost about 12,000. It
was the decisive battle of the war.Prince Eugène of Savoyeugène, pRince De SAvoie-cARignAn 0