CREQUY, FRANCOIS, CHEVALIER DE (KNIGHT OF), MARQUIS ...

born c. 1624 died Feb. 3, 1687, Paris Crquy also spelled Crqui marshal of France and one of King Louis XIV's most successful commanders during the War of Devolution (166768) and the Third Dutch War (167278). As a boy, Crquy took part in the Thirty Years' War, distinguishing himself so greatly that at the age of 26 he was made a marchal de camp, and a lieutenant general before he was 30. He was regarded as the most brilliant of the younger officers, and won the favour of Louis XIV by his fidelity to the court during the second Fronde. In 1667 he served on the Rhine, and in 1668 he commanded the covering army during Louis XIV's siege of Lille, after the surrender of which the King rewarded him with the marshalate. In 1670 he overran the duchy of Lorraine. Shortly after this Turenne, his old commander, was made marshal-general, and all the marshals were placed under his orders. Many resented this, and Crquy, in particular, whose career of uninterrupted success had made him overconfident, went into exile rather than serve under Turenne. After the death of Turenne and the retirement of Cond, he became the most important general officer in the army, but his overconfidence was punished by the severe defeat of Conzer Brck (1675) and the surrender of Trier and his own captivity which followed. But in the later campaigns of this Dutch war he showed himself again a cool, daring, and successful commander, carrying on the tradition of Turenne and Cond.