Hermann-Maurice, Count of Saxony, usually known to history as Marshal Saxe, The Prodigal Marshal, wrote a glowing page in the military history of mid-eighteenth-century France. His exploits during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48) firmly establish him in the forefront of ancien regime generals. His masterful campaigns against the English, Dutch and Austrians in the low countries during the latter years of the war reversed dismal French prospects in that war and brought Louis XV to the brink of victory. His altogether cunning and circumspect generalship in Flanders resulted in the conquest of that entire region for the French king during the latter years of the war. Maurice defeated the Anglo-Allied armies that opposed him on all three occasions when he met them in full-scale open-field battle. No other French general in history can claim as many victories over English troops commanded by an "English" general.

Had not the brilliant actions of a single brave man at the head of a desperate band intervened to deflect Maurice's coup de grace on his final battlefield, Laufeldt (1748), a victory more famous than Fontenoy (1745), and as complete as Austerlitz (1805), may have been achieved, perhaps raising Maurice to undisputed status as a Great Captain of History.

Yet in spite of his admirable military accomplishments, there has been scant interest in this excellent generalissimo or his campaigns amongst the membership of the Seven Years War Association. The only one of Maurice's victories most of us have even a passing interest in is Fontenoy (1745), and interest in this desperate struggle routinely focuses on the gallant (but ill-advised) assault of the British and Hanoverian infantry under that royal knucklehead, The Duke of Cumberland. In our preoccupation with the exploits of the intrepid British and Hanoverian foot at Fontenoy, we often overlooked that Maurice's masterful dispositions (which acknowledged the superiority of the enemy infantry) neutralized much of the power of the redcoats while showing his own troops to best advantage.

Fortunately, though perhaps not recognized for his campaigning to the extent he should be, Maurice has received a full measure of acclaim as a military visionary, due to the insights and ideas presented in his military classic, Mes Rêveries, a "strange military farrago," as Thomas Carlyle referred to it, written in 1732 while Maurice was recovering from an illness. This article presents for consideration an overview of the life and times of this admirable soldier. I hope the charitable reader will forgive me for also giving a fairly detailed description of Maurice's roots and background in addition to information about his military career. I think the traits he inherited from his forebears helps us to understand his life and times.

I hope also to illustrate that although a great warrior, Maurice, though a product of his age, and certainly not alone in his frailties, had many faults as a person. These too we must reflect upon in order to give a balanced picture of this unusual man. Hopefully, my poor efforts on behalf of this great but virtually forgotten soldier will trigger an interest in others to more deeply research his many campaigns.

More Marshal Saxe

Introduction
Genes: Parents and Family
Early Days
War and Debt
Lessons Learned in Flanders
In Action Against the Swedes

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