Claude Frédéric t'Serclaes, Count of Tilly
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Claude Frédéric t'Serclaes, Count of Tilly | |
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 Claude Frederic T'Serclaes, duke of Tilly, painted by Johann Valentin Tischbein, ca 1750 | |
| Born | July 1648 Brussels, Spanish Netherlands |
| Died | April 1723 (aged 74–75) Maastricht, Dutch Republic |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |
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| Service/ | Dutch States Army |
| Years of service | 1667–1723 |
| Rank | Field marshal |
| Battles/wars | |
Claude Frederic T'Serclaes, Count of Tilly, was a soldier and later general in the Dutch States Army.
Early life
He was born in 1648 to Jean Werner T'Serclaes Tilly Marbais and Marie Françoise de Montmorency Robecq. He was a younger brother of Albert Octave who served Philip V of Spain. The grandfather of these brothers was a younger brother of Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly of the Thirty Years War.[1]
Military service
In 1667 Tilly entered Spanish service, but switched to Dutch service in 1672, even though he was a Catholic. In the Dutch army he took part in the Franco-Dutch War, Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession. In the latter, together with the Lord of Slangenburg, he commandeded a small surrounded Dutch army at the Battle of Ekeren. They broke out and defeated a much larger Franco-Spanish force.[1][2] When field marshal Lord Overkirk died in 1708, Tilly became supreme commander of the Dutch army in the Netherlands. He was informally made field marshal in 1701 by Leopold I, but the Dutch States General didn't make that position official, because that would offend the Frisians who wanted their stadtholder, the Prince of Orange in that position.[3] Together with Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy, as head of the Dutch forces, Tilly defeated the French at Malplaquet, although the Dutch army suffered very heavy losses that day.[4] During the battle he commanded the cavalry on the allied left and didn't participate in the Dutch infantry assault led by the Prince of Orange.[5]
After the Peace of Utrecht
Tilly was rewarded the post of governor of Namur in 1713. The next year he was transferred to the same position in 's-Hertogenbosch and in 1718 he was awarded with the governorship of the fortress town of Maastricht.[6]
Personal life
Tilly married Anne Antoinette d'Aspremont-Lynden countess of Reckheim. Anne often stayed with him in the field.[1] In 1723 Tilly died and was buried at the Basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht.[7]
References
- ^ a b c The Spanish Succession n.d.
- ^ Van Nimwegen 2020, p. 267.
- ^ Van Nimwegen 2020, p. 306.
- ^ Van Nimwegen 2020, p. 318.
- ^ MacDowall 2020, p. 21.
- ^ Frey 1995, p. 445-446.
- ^ Blok & Molhuysen 1912.
Sources
- Van Nimwegen, Olaf (2020). De Veertigjarige Oorlog 1672-1712: de strijd van de Nederlanders tegen de Zonnekoning (The 40 Years War 1672-1712: the Dutch struggle against the Sun King) (in Dutch). Prometheus. ISBN 978-90-446-3871-4.
- "Claude-Frédéric T'Serclaes Count Tilly". The Spanish Succession. n.d.
- Frey, Linda S. (1995). The Treaties of the War of the Spanish Succession: An Historical and Critical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-27884-9.
- Blok, P.J.; Molhuysen, P.C. (1912). "Tilly, Claude 't Serclaes". Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Deel 2.
- MacDowall, Simon (2020). Malplaquet 1709: Marlborough's Bloodiest Battle. Osprey. ISBN 978-1-4728-4123-0.
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