[Born at St.-Léger de Foucheret, in Burgundy, 1633. Died 1707. Aged
74.]
Of poor parents, but well descended. At the age of seventeen, entered
the army of Condé, in Spain, then fighting against France. Taken
prisoner in 1653, he went over to the French army, and received his
commission as lieutenant of engineers. His rise was as rapid as his
services were great. At the age of twenty-five, he conducted the sieges
of Gravelines, Ypres, and Oudenarde. He gave the most valuable help in
all the campaigns of Holland and Flanders, from 1667 to 1703; and in
1703 was created Marshal of France. His contributions to the science of
fortification have celebrated his name. He was not only a great builder,
but a shrewd observer, and knew better than any of his contemporaries
how to avail himself, whether in defence, or in attack, of the
circumstances by which he was surrounded, and of the opportunities and
conditions of his time. To him we owe the system of parallel lines,
which he introduced before the city of Maestricht. At the siege of
Philisbourg, he invented the “tir à ricochet,” in which the ball, making
a series of bounds, strikes several times along works against which it
is directed. He also invented the musket, in which the match served in
lieu of the cover to the pan. He afterwards armed the musket with the
bayonet. He vastly improved the system of inundations, that most useful
element of self-defence. His engineering appliances during his long and
indefatigable service were inexhaustible. It is affirmed on authority,
that he repaired three hundred old fortresses, constructed thirty-three
new works, conducted fifty-three sieges, and was present at a hundred
and forty severe engagements. He also left behind him twelve folio
volumes on Strategetics, entitled “Idle Hours.” Vauban was beloved by
the soldiery, for whose safety he was always careful. His humanity is
otherwise known by his endeavour to procure from the king, his master,
the restoration of the Edict of Nantes. To that king he was deeply
attached; although to him, as well as to every other man, he was blunt
in the expression of what he believed to be truth,--straightforward and
manly. He has been called the prince of engineers, and the best of
subjects.