Maurice de Saxe

Born Oct. 28, 1696, in Goslar; died Nov. 30, 1750, in Chambord. French military leader and military theoretician; marshal of France (1744).

A natural son of Augustus II, elector of Saxony, and Countess A. von Künigsmark, Maurice obtained the title of count of Saxony in 1711. He served in the Saxon, Polish, and Austrian armies, and in 1720 entered French service. Maurice distinguished himself in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) during the capture of Prague (1741) and Eger (1742). While commanding the French army in Flanders, he won victories over the British-Dutch forces at Fontenoy (1745), Rocour (1746), and Laufeld (1747).

In the treatise My Reveries, Maurice set forth ideas that were advanced for his time on the advantages of conscription over recruitment, on the need to have a regular army system, on infantry attack in columns, and on the role of engineering fortifications on the battlefield. He considered morale very important in war.