Allegiance Kingdom of France Years of service fl. 1734-1792 Name Victor-Francois, duc | Service/branch Army Rank Marshal of France | |
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Born 19 October 1718
Paris ( 1718-10-19 ) Died 30 March 1804(1804-03-30) (aged 85)
Munster Battles/wars War of the Austrian Succession
Seven Years' War
American Revolutionary war
French Revolutionary Wars | ||
Victor Francois de Broglie, 2nd duc de Broglie (19 October 1718 – 30 March 1804) was a French aristocrat and soldier and a marshal of France. He served with his father, Francois-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, at Parma and Guastalla, and in 1734 obtained a colonelcy.
In the War of the Austrian Succession he took part in the storming of Prague in 1742, and was made a brigadier. In 1744 and 1745 he saw further service on the Rhine, and he succeeded his father as 2nd duc de Broglie on the old duke's death in 1745. He was made a Marechal de Camp, and he subsequently served with Marshal de Saxe in the Low Countries, and was present at Roucoux, Val and Maastricht. At the end of the war he was made a Lieutenant-general.
During the Seven Years' War he served successively under Louis Charles Cesar Le Tellier, duc d'Estrees, Charles de Rohan, prince de Soubise, and Contades, being present at all the battles from Hastenbeck onwards. His victory over Prince Ferdinand at Bergen (1759) won him the rank of marshal of France from the French King Louis XV and the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire Reichsfurst from Emperor Francis I.
In 1759 he won the Battle of Bergen and followed that with the capture the city of Minden, later fighting at the Battle of Minden under the command of Contades whom he would succeed in command. In 1760 he won an action at the Korbach, but was defeated at Villinghausen in 1761. After the war he fell into disgrace and was not recalled to active employment until 1778, when he was given command of the troops designed to operate against Great Britain, when France intervened on The Thirteen Colonies' side during the American war of independence. He played a prominent part in the French Revolution, which he opposed with determination; he commanded troops at Versailles in July 1789 and briefly served as Louis XVI's minister of war before fleeing France. After his emigration, the duc de Broglie commanded the "Army of the Princes" for a short time (1792).
Since the duke's eldest son, Charles-Louis-Victor, prince de Broglie, died in the Terror, the succession fell to his grandson, who became the third duc de Broglie. He died at Munster in 1804.