(A treatise that Vauban wrote in 1706, in which he discuss...)
A treatise that Vauban wrote in 1706, in which he discusses elements of attack and defense
1706
Vauban was born into a modest family in Saint-Leger-de-Foucherest, which will later be renamed Saint-Leger-Vauban in his honor. His grandfather bought a partial feud and his family became minor nobility. His father was Urbain Vauban, and his mother was Edmee Corvignolle. He got the name Sebastien after a local priest who was his godfather.
A big family tragedy marked Vauban’s childhood. He was left orphaned at the age of 10 but remained at his native place for several more years. He was tutored by a local priest but he also educated himself in math and an accidental discovery of a book on military fortifications led to him showing great interest in this topic.
Carmelite, a Catholic religious order, took Vauban under their care and further educated him in science, mathematics, and geometry. When Louis II de Bourbon (Prince de Conde) was passing through his place in 1651, Vauban agreed to join his forces and help him in a rebellion against Louis XIV.
Prince de Conde was furious that many of his rights were curtailed due to an influential cardinal in the regime of France’s underage King Louis XIV and announce a big civil war in 1651. He didn’t hesitate even to ask help from Spain, even though they were great enemies of France. Vauban joined Conde’s troops and became a young rebel. He soon proved himself and, even though a young cadet, he held some towns in the Argonne and was employed by Conde to help in the Clermont-en-Argonne’s fortification.
However, in 1653 royal troops captured Vauban. Despite being a prisoner of war, he was treated with kindness and respect, which led him to switch sides and becoming a servant of the crown. He participated in a siege to retake Saint Menehould, a town that he previously helped rebels to conquer. In 1654, he was wounded during the siege of Stenay but recovered to take part in the siege of Clermont-en-Argonne later that year. In 1655, he was offered a position of an engineer in the military. However, he had yet to prove himself to become a chief engineer, which was at the time enabled to lead a siege.
Vauban’s first chief engineer was Clerville, with whom he had successfully planned the siege of Landrecies. After working on the sieges of Saint-Ghislain, Conde, and Valenciennes, he was finally promoted to the position of a chief engineer. The first siege under his direction was the siege of Montmedy in 1657 but his greatest success arrived next year when he successfully sieged Gravelines, Oudernaarde, and Ypres.
During the period of peace, Vauban was employed to build some fortifications for defensive purposes. When France bought Dunkirk from England in 1662, it was Vauban who started working on fortifications, designing them in a way that both naval and commercial ambitions could benefit. When the War of Devolution began in 1667, his services were needed again. He directed the sieges on Lille, Tournai, and Douai and conquered all three cities very quickly. King Louis XIV was present and awarded Vauban with the rank of lieutenancy (equivalent to colonelcy today). Vauban and the King began working closely preparing military strategies.
From 1668 to 1672 it was a new period of peace, which Vauban used to focus on establishing and improving the existing defensive fortification. He became “commissary general of fortifications” and was one of the close advisors of the King and the war minister, Marquis de Louvois. He didn’t only dedicate to fortifications in France, he was also asked by the Duke of Savoy to visit Piedmont and help with the defenses of Turin, Vercelli, and Verrue. In 1669, he wrote “Instructions for defense” which will be published almost a century later, in 1740 at Leiden.
Lille was marked to be the focus of defense in the Northern France and Vauban was approved a big budget, which he used to make the make the Citadel of Lille, his masterpiece that was completed in 1671 and can be still seen today. He received the order for a scale model of the fortifications, which he started making since then. These models can be seen at the Invalides.
France declared the Third Dutch War in 1672 and Vauban organized some crucial sieges on organized and well-guarded cities, such as Maastricht where he put in a spectacular victory and conquered the city after only two weeks. Not only he was awarded a large amount of money but he also received the Marchal de Camp rank, which is equivalent to a Brigadier General.
Vauban didn’t waste any time and he continued taking other cities, such as Besancon in 1674 and Valenciennes in 1677, making sure to work on the defensive fortification at the same time. In Besancon, he built another amazing Citadel, which was finished in 1688. When the war ended in 1678, he made sure to fortify Strasbourg, Saarlouis, Belfort, Landau and other cities. He also wrote “General Manual for Fortifications” in 1683.
He participated in the War of the Grand Alliance, successfully taking Philippsburg, Mons, and Namur and proved again to be brilliant in planning the attacks, for which he was promoted to Lieutenant General. During the War of the Spanish Succession at the beginning of the 18th century, Louis XIV focused on defense, which was not the part of the war where Vauban was the best at. His fortresses, including Landau which was one of the cornerstones of defense, were taken several times and his reputation started fading. Despite that, he was made a Field Marshal even though he never actually commanded an army but was in charge of planning the attacks.
Vauban’s health was deteriorating so he was recalled from service in 1703. He dedicated himself to writing and published a tract in 1707, where he protested against the unfair taxes that the peasants had to pay, although they were the foundation of France’s wealth. Although he implemented numerous accurate statistics supporting his claim, the government condemned the book as it was published without their permission. Although Vauban tried to retrieve all of the copies he had personally sold, his ideas were among the ones that influenced Enlightenment economists.
Later in 1707, Vauban suffered from an inflammation of the lungs and died in Paris.
He was educated by a local priest and Carmelite, a Catholic religious order, took care of him after he was left orphaned.
Although he was a young rebel, he soon switched sides and spent most of his life in the service of the French crown.
Vauban was a brilliant military tactician, which is why he was quickly able to rise up in the rankings. He was better on the offensive end, coming up with brilliant plans for the attack and quick conquering of the targeted goal. For the conquering of Maastricht in 1674, he used a system of complete “parallels”, which guarded the soldiers from the enemy’s artillery fire. In his defensive fortifications, he kept what he believed was good from his predecessors and added modifications in order to increase the resistance of the fortress. He wrote a couple of instruction manual related to his field and a treatise “On Siege and Fortification” in 1706, which was later published in 1737.
He was a man that had a wide field of interests so he also wrote on various matters of public concern. This is how he wrote works on inland navigation, routes for canals and the geography of the Vezelay district, as well as pig breeding and forestry. He didn’t hesitate to comment on international affairs and political issues. The work that attracted most attention was Project for a Royal Tythe, where he advocated that peasants should pay such big taxes and instead proposed that there is only a single tax from which nobody would be exempt. The work was condemned by the French government but nonetheless, his position with Louis XIV was safe and he remained one of the King’s favorites up until his death.
Quotations: "The art of fortifying is not only in rules and system but also in common sense and experience"
As a brilliant writer and author of many works in different fields, he became an honorary member of the French Academy of Science.
He is portrayed as honest and unpretentious but being a descendant of only minor nobles, he was sometimes known for his unpolished manners. However, he was very kind and ready to help everybody. During the battles, he was always looking at how to spare lives of soldiers and often didn’t take enough credit for his courageous actions.
Physical Characteristics: Vauban is portrayed as a man of average height who was solidly built. He had martial appearance.
Quotes from others about the person
“The most honourable and virtuous man of his age, incapable of lending himself to anything false or evil" , Duke of Saint Simon
Vauban married Jeanne d'Osnay in 1660. Together, they had two daughters - Charlotte and Jeanne-Francoise, and a son who died in infancy.
His wife was a noblewoman fromt he region of Morvan.
Being placed as the Commisary general of fortifications, and later a Field Marshal of France, Vauban worked closely with the King.
