DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45257#0094
40
THE GRAND CONDE
Paris to receive the ovations of the people ; but, like
a true strategist, the Duke was anxious before all else
to reap the advantages of his victory. In a charac-
teristic letter to his father, who was urging him to
come home, he explained that the enemy had invaded
France, and that he felt that he must remain at the
head of his regiment in order to serve his country,
at least as long as their foes were on French
soil.
His next act was to attack Thionville on the
Moselle, upon which occasion he succeeded in
separating the troops commanded by Beck from
the main army in the Netherlands, thus displaying
a great example of military skill. It was, however,
no longer from Louis XIII that he received his
orders, but from Mazarin and the amiable but
weak and irresolute Anne of Austria. Conde, in
spite of his youth, had therefore to act on his
own responsibility. In the spring of 1645 he won
with Turenne the great battle of Nordlingen,1
where he completely defeated the Austro-Spanish
general Mercy.
The Due d’Aumale, a military man of great
distinction himself, speaks of the three victorious
battles of Rocroy, Thionville, and Nordlingen as
most important in their results, unblemished by
any sort of reverse. He attributes to the Grand
Condd all the qualities necessary for a great
1 Called in Germany “ Allerheim ” to distinguish it from the battle of
Nordlingen, where the Archduke Ferdinand was victorious over Bernard
of Weimar in 1434.
THE GRAND CONDE
Paris to receive the ovations of the people ; but, like
a true strategist, the Duke was anxious before all else
to reap the advantages of his victory. In a charac-
teristic letter to his father, who was urging him to
come home, he explained that the enemy had invaded
France, and that he felt that he must remain at the
head of his regiment in order to serve his country,
at least as long as their foes were on French
soil.
His next act was to attack Thionville on the
Moselle, upon which occasion he succeeded in
separating the troops commanded by Beck from
the main army in the Netherlands, thus displaying
a great example of military skill. It was, however,
no longer from Louis XIII that he received his
orders, but from Mazarin and the amiable but
weak and irresolute Anne of Austria. Conde, in
spite of his youth, had therefore to act on his
own responsibility. In the spring of 1645 he won
with Turenne the great battle of Nordlingen,1
where he completely defeated the Austro-Spanish
general Mercy.
The Due d’Aumale, a military man of great
distinction himself, speaks of the three victorious
battles of Rocroy, Thionville, and Nordlingen as
most important in their results, unblemished by
any sort of reverse. He attributes to the Grand
Condd all the qualities necessary for a great
1 Called in Germany “ Allerheim ” to distinguish it from the battle of
Nordlingen, where the Archduke Ferdinand was victorious over Bernard
of Weimar in 1434.