The French military engineer Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban, born May 1, 1633, died March 30, 1707, was the renowned director of French siege-warfare during the wars of Louis XIV. Born of minor nobility, Vauban became a royal engineer in 1655, won the king's favor by his spectacularly successful siege (1667) of Lille, and formed and headed the separate army engineering corps after 1672. His innovative line of eastern border fortresses during the Dutch War (1672-78) provided unprecedented protection against foreign invasion. He eventually built or improved about 300 fortresses, superb examples of early urban planning, and captured about 50 others. Vauban was a military innovator, introducing ricochet fire and the socket bayonet. He designed roads, bridges, canals, dikes, and aqueducts. Vauban became a marshal in 1703. A prolific and thoughtful writer on military engineering and many other subjects of public concern, he lost favor at court after publishing (1707) a proposal for a universal tax without exemption for nobility or clergy.

VISIT ALSO: Site about Marshal Vauban:
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6750/vauban_frame.htm

 

Born July 1, 1654, died June 15, 1712, a French general under Louis XIV, fought for Philip V, French Bourbon heir to the Spanish throne, in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14). He commanded the French forces defending Philip's Italian territories and defeated (1705) Prince Eugene of Savoy at Cassano. In Flanders, Vendome was defeated (1708) by the duke of Marlborough at Oudenaarde. In Spain in 1710 he recaptured Madrid and defeated the Austrians at Villaviciosa.