The Battle of Malplaquet made a profound impression on Maurice. Although he probably did not fight in it, he was close to the action and certainly experienced all the horrors of its aftermath. He became obsessed with analyzing the battle, especially the French deployment, which included the use of numerous redans to cover vulnerable open sectors of their line. It is probable that at Malplaquet Maurice learned lessons he would cultivate and which would eventually win for him the sobriquet "General Redoubt."

We cannot be too off the mark when we speculate that preparations for the great defensive battle he fought at Fontenoy owed their genesis to his intensive study of Malplaquet. The crushing losses the Allied army suffered at the battle seems to have developed in him a resolve to practice a system of warfare that precipitated battle only when the enemy was caught at some disadvantage, and his later maneuvers when in army command seem to have focused on finessing the enemy into a perilous situation before he ordered an attack. Maurice valued his soldiers' lives. He was never one to order them to fall impetuously upon the enemy without the advantages being theirs. Though he was prone to rashness as a soldier in the ranks, or when leading small contingents early in his career, when in command of an army he was not willing to throw lives away in battles of attrition, and his soldiers came to know this. That is one reason why they loved him. Though Maurice was hardly alone in his desire to conquer through maneuver (this was a veritable religion for many of the practitioners of the art of war during The Age of Reason), it was Maurice who became the consummate master of the art of maneuvering large armies during the War of the Austrian Succession.

During these formative days in Flanders the impressionable Maurice also gained a distaste for siege warfare. He came to believe it to be more wasteful of human life in the long run than was a general engagement in the open field. Although he prosecuted many sieges during his career, study of his campaigns suggest that Maurice was always trying to minimize the cost in time and human suffering that sieges by their nature entail. His operations in the low countries during the War of the Austrian Succession indicate that he often implemented sieges as a means to draw the enemy army into an open field battle as it advanced to raise one of his sieges. This type operation precipitated the battle of Fontenoy.

On other occasions he would deceive the enemy as to his intentions, then by rapid marches appear before an unsuspecting garrison, often catching them poorly prepared to resist. At other times we see his army advancing rapidly after a victory, gobbling up fortified points before they were fully prepared to resist, or were demoralized by the news of a battle lost. Perhaps the most compelling example of Maurice's aversion to siege warfare was the virtually bloodless execution of his brilliant plan that took Prague by coup de main in November, 1741.

Before returning with Maurice to Saxony in January of 1711, it would be remiss not to focus for a moment on the influence his commander and mentor, General Johann Matthias von Schulenburg, had on his developing character during his time in Flanders. Not only was Schulenburg the greatest Saxon general of this period (probably one of the greatest ever), he was perhaps the only individual with whom Maurice was closely associated who set a good example for the boy. Let us face it, when not at war Maurice tended to be a wild, immoral, lecherous, intemperate, self-absorbed spendthrift. Growing up in the household of that undisputed master of debauchery and excess, Augustus II, and with a mother who pampered him from birth, we cannot imagine how he could have been otherwise.

Yet there was a noble aspect to Maurice's character that flowered when he was at war, but was not altogether nonexistent in peacetime. Some of this nobility of spirit was innate to his character. Augustus and Marie Aurora were charming people with compelling personalities who drew people to them. Yet, in spite of whatever nobility of spirit Maurice inherited from the Königsmarcks and Wettins, I am convinced that the "better angels" of Maurice's character were nourished by his association with Schulenburg. Like Maurice, Schulenburg was a Brandenburger, so there was something of a bond there. He gained his apprenticeship at arms while serving on the staff of this soldier of fortune. Maurice too would become a soldier of fortune. Schulenburg was circumspect, temperate, studious, and deeply religious. We can never claim that Maurice was ever temperate nor religious, but when it came to waging war, he did become studious and circumspect, which were character traits not noticeable in our young hero up to this point.

I previously described in brief the ceremony Schulenburg orchestrated on the field of Lützen that marked the beginning of Maurice's military career. As we move toward the description of our hero's exploits while commanding men, It seems appropriate to quote Schulenburg's admonition to his young charge on that occasion, so we can later reflect on whether Maurice took this advice to heart. Placing his hand on the monument which commemorated the death of Gustavus Adolphus at the battle, Schulenburg said to Maurice: "I should like this battlefield to be a happy augury for you. May you inherit the spirit of the great man who died here. Let all your actions be inspired by his gentleness, severity and justice. Never relax discipline in the slightest degree, even when prompted by friendship. Above all, be sure that your personal conduct is above reproach, for that is the one way to ensure respect."

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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