mpaign he was promoted to the command of a company, which
he retained for four years, distinguished by the admirable discipline
of his men, by unceasing attention to the due performance of his own
duty, and by his eagerness to witness, and become thoroughly
acquainted with, every branch of service. In the year 1630, family
circumstances rendered it expedient that he should return to France,
where the Court received him with distinction, and invested him with
the command of a regiment.

Four years elapsed before Turenne had an opportunity of distinguishing
himself in the service of his native country. His first laurels were
reaped in 1634, at the siege of the strong fortress of La Motte, in
Lorraine, where he headed the assault, and, by his skill and bravery,
mainly contributed to its success. For this exploit he was raised, at
the early stage of twenty-three, to the rank of Marechal de Camp, the
second grade of military rank in France. In the following year, the
breaking out of war between France and Austria opened a wider field of
action. Turenne held a subordinate command in the army, which, under
the Cardinal de la Valette, marched into Germany to support the
Swedes, commanded by the Duke of Weimar. At first fortune smiled on
the allies; but, ere long, scarcity of provisions compelled them to a
disastrous retreat over a ruined country, in the face of the enemy. On
this occasion the young soldier's ability and disinterestedness were
equally conspicuous. He sold his plate and equipage for the use of the
army; threw away his baggage to load the wagons with those stragglers
who must otherwise have been abandoned; and marched on foot, while he
gave up his own horse to the relief of one who had fallen, exhausted
by hunger and fatigue. These are the acts which win the attachment of
soldiers, and Turenne was idolized by his.

Our limits will not allow of the relation of those campaigns in which
the subject of this memoir filled a subordinate part. In 1637-38 he
again served under La Valette, in Flanders and Germany, after which he
was made Lieutenant-general, a rank not previously existing in France.
The three following years he was employed in Italy and Savoy, and in
1642 made a campaign in Roussillon, under the eye of Louis XIII. In
the spring of 1643 the king died; and in the autumn of the same year
Turenne received from the queen-mother and regent, Anne of Austria, a
marshal's baton, the appropriate reward of his long a