He fought in Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and France. He became a general before he was 18 years old. European rulers adored him and showered him with titles and estates. How is it possible that the fallen king's illegitimate son made such a career?
James Fitz James was the son of the last Catholic King of England, James II, and his mistress Arabella Churchill, sister of the famous Duke of Marlborough - John Churchill. He was born in 1670 in France, where his father was temporarily in exile. There, the illegitimate descendant received Catholic upbringing in several Jesuit colleges. When he was 16, Jacob, who was already on the English and Scottish thrones, sent him to Paris for further education.
James FitzJames in Pierre Mignard's portrait.
Soon, young James went to Hungary. There, in the battles between the imperial forces and the Turks, he gained military experience. Among other things, he took part in the siege and capture of Buda in 1686. The army of Charles V Leopold of Lorraine, who was in the service of the Habsburgs, then slaughtered Turkish defenders. Local Jews also suffered.
At my father's side
After the campaign, FitzJames went to England. In 1687 his father gave him the titles of Duke of Berwick, Baron Bosworth and Earl of Tinmouth. Honored with these honors, he returned to Hungary. Emperor Leopold I appointed him commander of a cuirassier regiment. At its head, he took part in the Battle of Mohacz, in which the Imperial-Bavarian army defeated Turkish forces. He did so well there that Leopold promoted him to general and presented him with his diamond-framed portrait.
At Mohacz in 1687, young James already commanded a cuirassier regiment.
When James returned to England after these successes, his parent showered him with new dignities. He made him Governor of Portsmouth, Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, and Captain of the Guard, among others. But unfortunately the streak was soon over. King James II was overthrown by a Protestant rebellion and had to flee the country. And the son with him.
The young Duke of Berwick accompanied his father in exile in France. He also stood by his side when Jacob, using the support of Irish Catholics, tried to regain the throne from William III of Orange. James, as a general, took part in several battles. He also fought in the most important one, on the Boyne River. He commanded the cavalry on the right wing. He almost lost his life. His horse was killed and he was almost trampled underfoot. Some soldier saved him in hand-to-hand combat.
The lost battle ruined Jakub's chances of returning to power. However, it did not end the insurgency in Ireland against the incumbent Protestant king. Berwick, although he was only 20 at the time, became commander of the insurgent army. And despite the outnumbered opponent, he was doing quite well. He skillfully defended Limerick, then attacked Birr Castle, tried to capture Cork and Kinsale. In January 1691, he also prevented a large part of William's forces from crossing the River Shannon.
It was, however, the swan song of the uprising. James's military talent was not enough to win the war. In February 1691, the prince left for France, where he began a new chapter in his life.
Under the French banner
After his loss to William, the road to return to England was closed for James. Forced to live in a foreign country, he decided to become a mercenary. After all, he knew and had a talent for warfare. People with such experience in a constantly conflict-torn Europe were in great demand. So he joined the army of Louis XIV. Under French banners, he fought in numerous campaigns against the Dutch and the English.
At the time, Berwick still had not given up hope of regaining the English throne for his father. He even formed a regiment of Irish Mounted Guards to fight in England. Ultimately, however, the unit was incorporated into the French army. A few years later, James returned to this project and created a regiment of foot guards, known as the Duke of Berwick Regiment. In 1701, he donated the troops under his command to the new pope, Clement XI. He then paid tribute to him on behalf of two kings, Louis XIV and the dethroned (meanwhile, he thought) James.
At the Battle of Landen, James was captured by ... his own warrior, Colonel Charles Churchill.
As a subject of the Sun King, James fought not only against his countrymen, but also ... against his family. This was the case when he led the attack on the village of Neerwinden in the Battle of Landen on July 29, 1693. He was then beaten and taken prisoner by his uncle, Colonel Charles Churchill. The krewniak did not let him go. On the contrary, he handed over Berwick to William III of Orange.
Strangely enough, the king of England did not take revenge on his rival's son, beheaded him, or threw him into the Tower. He did not even hold him captive for long. James was quickly exchanged for an English aristocrat imprisoned by the French - the Duke of Ormonde.
James stood faithfully alongside his father, the dethroned King James II Stuart, to ensure his return to the throne.
Sometime later, William probably regretted his generosity. In 1696, James arrived in London in disguise. He was going to act once again in the interest of his parent . He was preparing a conspiracy to overthrow the Protestant king. This mission - worthy of a cloak and dagger movie - was not successful. The prince returned to service in the French army. More than once again he went against his own. In 1702 in Flanders, as a lieutenant general, he led, for example, the pursuit of the English general Godard van Reede.
Marshal of France
After more than a decade of service with Louis, in 1703, FitzJames was naturalized as a French. He was entrusted with increasingly important missions. He was sent to Spain at the head of 18 infantry battalions and 19 cavalry squadrons. There was a war of succession after Charles II, who died in 1700. Louis XIV defended the rights of Philip V, his grandson, who was sitting on the throne. On the spot, the prince fought the combined Portuguese, English and Austrian forces. For helping to defend his title, the King of Spain awarded him with the Order of the Golden Fleece.
In 1705, Berwick returned to France for a while. His next mission was to pacify the rebellious Huguenots and capture Nice. Soon he was promoted again. On February 15, 1706, he was appointed Marshal of France. No wonder:his courage, integrity and military ability were widely admired .
After a short stay in his new homeland, the newly minted marshal returned to Spain to once again join the bloody succession war. There he took command of the combined French and Spanish troops.
In 1705, Louis XIV ordered Duke of Berwick to capture Huguenot Nice. His success earned him the title of French Marshal.
Initially, the anti-French coalition dealt a huge blow to him. The Anglo-Portuguese-Dutch forces, also supported by the Huguenots, captured Madrid. The Allies took advantage of the fact that the prince had left the city, wanting to give them a battle elsewhere. However, it was only a temporary success. The capital was recaptured as early as August 1706. Then FitzJames continued his campaign, reclaiming more towns and villages in Valencia and Murcia. It was a great success to capture Cartagena, a large city in south-eastern Spain in November.
An Englishman at the head of the French, a French at the head of the English
The greatest victory, however, was achieved by the son of an English king on April 25, 1707, at the Battle of Almansa. Once again he fought against his compatriots. Portuguese and British troops stood against the marshal's forces. They were commanded by Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway, a French Huguenot in the English service, and the Marquis de Minas. This is what historian Henry Kamen wrote about the clash in his book The Spanish Empire. A story of heyday and decline :
At dawn on April 25, Berwick deployed his troops in the highlands above the plain in front of Almansa City. It was almost noon when Galway's troops reached the plain and lined up about a mile from the positions of the Bourbon forces. The Franco-Spanish army, commanded by Berwick (...), numbered just over 25,000 soldiers. Half of this army was French, moreover, it consisted of one Irish regiment and the Spanish.
This article was inspired by the novel by Albert Sánchez Piñola entitled “Victus. The fall of Barcelona 1714 ”(Literary Oficyna Noir Sur Blanc 2018).
Galway and Minas had a much smaller force, around 15,000 men - one third of whom were Portuguese, one third English and the rest were Dutch, French Hugongs and Germans; there were no Spaniards in this army. The battle began in the early afternoon, and in just two hours led to the utter defeat of Galway's troops. The Allies lost at least 4,000 killed (mostly English, Dutch and Hugonot), and 3,000 were taken prisoner. The losses would have been much higher if most of the Portuguese had not already fled the first phase of the battle.
Among those taken prisoner were officers, also British. How did Berwick, who "always considered himself an Englishman and tried to avoid fighting the English as much as possible," dealt with this fact? Well, he found a way to show his respect to the defeated. "Two days after the battle, he invited the captured enemy officers to a large party in their honor" - says Kamen.
One too many wars?
The Battle of Almansa was one of the decisive clashes in the Spanish Succession War. And it went down in history as "the only battle in which the English army was commanded by a French and the French by an Englishman." Prince Berwick took advantage of this advantage and regained almost all of Valencia and Aragon for Philip V. For this he was awarded the cities of Liria and Xerica and the princely title.
It was not the end of the honors that flowed to the king's bastard banished from his homeland. After defending southern France as a champion against Piedmontese and German attacks in 1709-1712, Berwick became a French parish.
The Battle of Almansa was the Duke of Berwick's greatest triumph.
The Bourbon monarchy used his abilities many times over. In 1713, after a long and arduous siege, he won Barcelona for the king of Spain. In 1721 he was sent to the south of France to ... stop the plague from progressing there. He also managed to achieve this. No wonder that when Louis XV again clashed with the Habsburg empire - this time the question of succession to the Polish throne was the beginning of the dispute - he put Berwick at the head of his troops again. Due to fate, however, it was to be the last war of this meritorious commander. He died unexpectedly. On June 12, 1734, during the siege of the Philipsbourg fortress on the Rhine, a random cannonball blasted his head off.
The marshal's body was transported to Strasbourg, embalmed and deposited in the local cathedral with military honors. This is how the colorful life of an English duke, a Spanish prince and a French marshal ended in one person, worth a novel or a movie.
Inspiration:
This article was inspired by the novel by Albert Sánchez Piñola entitled “Victus. The fall of Barcelona 1714 ”, Literary Oficyna Noir Sur Blanc 2018.