Camille d'Hostun de la Baume, duc de Tallard (14 February 1652 – 20 March 1728) was a French nobleman, diplomat and military commander, who became a Marshal of France.
Military career
Tallard was granted a commission in the French army at the age of 15.[1] He later served under the prince de Condé in the Netherlands, and from 1674, under Turenne in Alsace. He was promoted maréchal de camp in 1678, and served in the Nine Years' War (1688–1697).
His friendship with King Louis XIV ensured a position of authority.[1] After the war he served for two years as ambassador to the Court of St. James's, where his exceptional knowledge of European political affairs proved highly valuable.[2] When King James II died in September 1701, King Louis recognised James's son as his successor to the throne of England. Consequently, King William III expelled Tallard from London in 1702.[1]
Tallard was placed in overall command of the combined Franco-Bavarian army, but the subsequent Battle of Blenheim on 13 August 1704 resulted in complete destruction of his forces. Decisively beaten, he was captured and taken back to England and housed on parole in Chatsworth, Derbyshire[6] and Newdigate HouseNottingham.[1]
The writer Daniel Defoe reported that his small, but beautiful parterre, after the French fashion was one of the beauties of Nottingham.[7]
On his release in 1711 he returned to France.[9] Despite the calamity of Blenheim, Louis appeared to bear the Marshal no ill will.[1] Tallard was made a duke in 1712 and became a Peer of France in 1715. In King Louis XIV's testament, Tallard was appointed to the Council of Regency but the duc d'Orléans had the testament nullified. He was elected president of the Académie des Sciences in 1724 and, in 1726, he became a French minister of state. He died in 1728.
Family
He married Marie-Catherine de Grolée de Viriville-La Tivolière and had one son;
