introduced new methods of training, including the use
of muskets. In 1719, he went to Paris to study math-
ematics, and the following year he was granted a com-
mission in the French army.
While Saxe was in Courland, a Baltic province
(now in both Poland and Russia), he became good
friends with Anna Ivanovna, the dowager duchess of the
state and later Empress Anna of Russia. They allegedly
became romantically involved, and a marriage was con-
sidered, but in 1727 Saxe was expelled by Russian au-
thorities who considered the union unsuitable. He then
returned to France, where he wrote a work on military
science, Mes Réveries (My daydreams), which was fin-
ished in 1732 but not published until 1756 and 1757
in two volumes.
The death of Saxe’s father, King Augustus II of
Poland, on 1 February 1733 set off a race to succeed
him among a number of candidates. These included
the former King Stanislaus I, who had originally been
installed to power by charles XII of Sweden but had
been removed from the throne in 1709; and Frederick
Augustus II, the elector of Saxony, who was the son of
the late Polish king and Saxe’s half brother. Stanislaus
was supported by his father-in-law, Louis XV of France,
while Russia and Austria backed Frederick Augustus.
When Stanislaus took power again as king, a conflict
broke out, known as the War of the Polish Succession
(1733–35), in which Russia invaded Poland, captured
the city of Warsaw, and installed Frederick Augustus as
Augustus III. Saxe sided with the French, serving under
General James FitzJames, duke of berWick, and see-
ing action at Philipsbourg (12 June 1734) near the city
of Württemberg, now in Germany. During this battle,
Berwick was struck by a cannonball and killed; Saxe
then took command and led the French forces to vic-
tory. He was rewarded by the French general Marshal
Adrien Maurice, comte de Noailles, with the rank of
lieutenant general.
The War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48)
soon followed. This conflict was caused by the succes-
sion of Maria Theresa of Austria to the throne left va-
cant by the death in 1740 of her father, Charles VI, the
Holy Roman Emperor. Saxe was given the command of
a division of French forces sent to invade Austria, and he
led them in the siege and subsequent capture of Prague
(now in the Czech Republic) on 19 November 1741. He
also led the taking of the castle at Eger on 19 April 1742.
For these services, Saxe was made a marshal of France on
26 March 1743.
In January 1744, the French king Louis XV made
Saxe commander of an army to be sent to England to
support Charles Edward Stuart, known to history as the
“Young Pretender,” in his fight to win the English throne
from George II. A naval armada was formed at Dunkirk
in France but was destroyed by a storm in March 1744,
before it could sail. Louis XV declared war on England
and also began a conflict on the European continent,
invading the Austrian Netherlands. Saxe was given com-
plete control over the French forces, and once again he
used his military skill to besiege Tournai, but when a
combined Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army under Wil-
liam Augustus, duke of Cumberland, advanced to re-
lieve the siege, Saxe’s forces defeated them at Fontenoy
(11 May 1745). Historian George Bruce writes: “[The
battle] was between 50,000 British, Dutch and Austrian
troops, under the Duke of Cumberland, and 70,000
French under Marshal Saxe. The Duke endeavored to re-
lieve Tournai, which the French were besieging, and the
British troops captured the heights on which the French
were posted. The Prince of Waldeck, however, who com-
manded the Dutch, failed to support the Duke, and the
French being reinforced, the trenches were retaken, and
the Allies beaten back, losing 6,500 men. Tournai fell
shortly afterwards.”
Following Saxe’s victory at Fontenoy, Louis XV gave
him the royal chateau at Chambord, in Loir-et-Cher,
for his life, and in April 1746 Saxe was made a French
citizen. He continued to fight in the Netherlands, see-
ing action at Rocourt, near Liège (1746) and Lawfeldt,
also known as Val (1747). On 10 January 1747, he was
given the title of Marshal-General of France, a title pre-
viously held only by Henri de la Tour d’Averne, Vicomte
Turenne and Claude-Louis-Hector Villars. He finished
by capturing the city of Maastricht (May 1748), ending
the war and forcing a peace, although the last battle he
participated in was Lauffield (2 July 1747). Following
the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, which officially ended the
War of the Austrian Succession, Saxe retired to Cham-
bord, where he died of natural causes on 30 November- However, rumors for many years held that he was
killed in a duel with Louis François de Bourbon, prince
de Conti. Although married, Saxe, like his father, had a
number of mistresses, including the French stage actress
Adrienne Lecouvreur. His great-granddaughter was the
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