to his reputation in the battle of Turin, where he was the first
to enter the hostile entrenchments (September 7, 1706). He served
in one more campaign in Italy, and then went with Eugene to join
Marlborough in the Netherlands, being present in 1709 at the siege
of Tournay and the battle of Malplaquet. In 1710 he succeeded to the
command of the whole Prussian contingent at the front, and in 1712, at
the particular desire of the crown prince, Frederick William, who had
served with him as a volunteer, he was made a general field marshal.
Shortly before this he had executed a _coup de main_ on the castle
of Moers, which was held by the Dutch in defiance of the claims of the
king of Prussia to the possession. The operation was effected with
absolute precision and the castle was seized without a shot being
fired. In the earlier part of the reign of Frederick William I.,
the prince of Dessau was one of the most influential members of
the Prussian governing circle. In the war with Sweden (1715) he
accompanied the king to the front, commanded an army of 40,000 men,
and met and defeated Charles XII. in a severe battle on the island
of Ruegen (November 16). His conduct of the siege of Stralsund which
followed was equally skilful, and the great results of the war
to Prussia were largely to be attributed to his leadership in the
campaign. In the years of peace, and especially after a court quarrel
(1725) and duel with General von Grumbkow, he devoted himself to the
training of the Prussian army. The reputation it had gained in the
wars of 1675 to 1715, though good, gave no hint of its coming glory,
and it was even in 1740 accounted one of the minor armies of Europe.
That it proved, when put to the test, to be by far the best military
force existing, may be taken as the summary result of Leopold's work.
The "Old Dessauer" was one of the sternest disciplinarians in an age
of stern discipline, and the technical training of the infantry, under
his hand, made them superior to all others in the proportion of five
to three (see AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION, WAR OF THE). He was essentially an
infantry soldier; in his time artillery did not decide battles, but he
suffered the cavalry service, in which he felt little interest, to
be comparatively neglected, with results which appeared at Mollwitz.
Frederick the Great formed the cavalry of Hohenfriedberg and Leuthen
himself, but had it not been for the incomparable infantry trained by
the "Old Dessaue