Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg
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Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
(December 1615 or January 1616 — 11 July 1690), was a marshal of France
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
and a General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
in the English and Portuguese Army.
Descended from an old family of the Palatinate, he was born at Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, the son of Hans Meinard von Schönberg (1582–1616) and Anne, daughter of Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley
Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley
Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley inherited the lordship of Dudley from his father, also Edward Sutton, and was the last of his name to bear the title. He was married to Theodosia Harrington...
. An orphan within a few months of his birth, he was educated by various friends, among whom was Frederick V, Elector Palatine
Frederick V, Elector Palatine
Frederick V was Elector Palatine , and, as Frederick I , King of Bohemia ....
, in whose service his father had been. He began his military career under Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Frederick Henry, or Frederik Hendrik in Dutch , was the sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel from 1625 to 1647.-Early life:...
, and passed (1634) into the service of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, entering that of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1635. His family, and the allied house of the Saxon Schönbergs had already attained eminence in France.
After a time he retired to his family estate at Geisenheim
Geisenheim
Geisenheim is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hessen, Germany, and is known as Weinstadt , Schulstadt , Domstadt and Lindenstadt ....
on the Rhine, but in 1639 he re-entered the Dutch army, in which, apparently, apart from a few intervals at Geisenheim, he remained until about 1650. He then rejoined the French army as a general officer (maréchal de camp), served under Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne,often called simply Turenne was the most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family. He achieved military fame and became a Marshal of France...
in the campaigns against Condé
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé
Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé was a French general and the most famous representative of the Condé branch of the House of Bourbon. Prior to his father's death in 1646, he was styled the Duc d'Enghien...
, and became a lieutenant-general in 1665, receiving this rapid promotion perhaps partly owing to his relationship with Charles de Schomberg, duc d'Halluin.
After the peace of the Pyrenees (1659), the independence of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
was threatened by Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and Schomberg was sent as military adviser to Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
with the secret approval of Charles II of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
. Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
, in order not to infringe the treaty just made with Spain, deprived Schomberg of his French officers. After many difficulties in the three first campaigns resulting from the insubordination of Portuguese officers, Schomberg won the victory of Montes Claros
Battle of Montes Claros
The Battle of Montes Claros, was fought on June 17, 1665, near Vila Viçosa, between Spanish and Portuguese as the last battle in the Portuguese Restoration War....
on June 17, 1665 over the Spaniards under Luis de Benavides Carrillo, Marquis of Caracena
Luis de Benavides Carrillo, Marquis of Caracena
Luis Francisco de Benavides Carrillo de Toledo, Marquis of Caracena, Marquis of Fromista was a Spanish general and political figure...
.
After participating with his army in the revolution which deposed the reigning king Afonso VI of Portugal in favour of his brother Dom Pedro, and ending the war with Spain, Schomberg returned to France, became a naturalised Frenchman and bought the lordship of Coubert near Paris. He had been rewarded by the king of Portugal, in 1663, with the rank of Grandee, the title of count of Mértola
Count of Mértola
The title Count of Mértola was granted to General Schomberg by Afonso VI of Portugal, in 1663, as a reward for Schomberg's services with the Portuguese army...
and a pension of f 5000 a year. In 1673 he was invited by Charles to England, with the view of taking command of the army, but sentiment was so strong against the appointment, as savouring of French influence, that it was not carried into effect.
He therefore again entered the service of France. His first operations in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
were unsuccessful owing to the disobedience of subordinates and the rawness of his troops, but he retrieved the failure of 1674 by retaking Fort de Bellegarde in 1675. For this he was made a marshal, being included in the promotion that followed the death of Turenne. The tide had now turned against the Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
s, and Schomberg's merits had been long ignored on account of his adherence to the Protestant religion. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...
(1685) forced him to leave his adopted country.
Ultimately he became general-in-chief of the forces of the elector of Brandenburg, and at Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
he was the acknowledged leader of the thousands of Huguenot refugees there. Soon afterwards, with the electors consent, he joined the prince of Orange on his expedition to England in 1688, as second in command to the prince. The following year he was made a knight of the Garter, was created Duke of Schomberg
Duke of Schomberg
Duke of Schomberg in the Peerage of England was created in 1689. The title derives from the surname of its holder .-Dukes of Schomberg :*Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg , military commander in the Williamite War in Ireland*Charles Schomberg, 2nd Duke of Schomberg , younger son of the 1st...
, was appointed Master-General of the Ordnance
Master-General of the Ordnance
The Master-General of the Ordnance was a very senior British military position before 1855, when the Board of Ordnance was abolished.-Responsibilities:...
, and received from the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
a vote of 100,000 pounds to compensate him for the loss of his French estates, of which Louis had deprived him.
In August he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Williamite War in Ireland
Williamite war in Ireland
The Williamite War in Ireland—also called the Jacobite War in Ireland, the Williamite-Jacobite War in Ireland and in Irish as Cogadh an Dá Rí —was a conflict between Catholic King James II and Protestant King William of Orange over who would be King of England, Scotland and Ireland...
expedition against the Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
supporters of James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
. After capturing Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus , known locally and colloquially as "Carrick", is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,201 at the 2001 Census and takes its name from Fergus Mór mac Eirc, the 6th century king...
he marched unopposed through a country desolated before him to Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
, but, as the bulk of his forces were raw and undisciplined as well as inferior in numbers to the enemy, he deemed it imprudent to risk a battle, and entrenching himself at Dundalk declined to be drawn beyond the circle of his defences. Shortly afterwards pestilence broke out, and when he retired to winter quarters in Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
his forces were more shattered than if they had sustained a severe defeat.
His conduct was criticized in ill-informed quarters, but the facts justified his inactivity, and he gave what was said at the time to be a "striking example of his generous spirit" in placing at William
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
's disposal for military purposes the £100,000 recently voted him. ln the spring he began the campaign with the capture of Charlemont
Charlemont
Charlemont is a small village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 150 people in the 2001 Census. It is situated within the Armagh City and District Council area...
, but no advance southward was made until the arrival of William. At the Battle of the Boyne
Battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thronesthe Catholic King James and the Protestant King William across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland...
(July 1, 1690), Schomberg gave his opinion against the determination of William to cross the river in face of the opposing army. In the battle he commanded the centre, and while riding through the river without his cuirass to rally his men, was surrounded by Irish horsemen and instantly killed. He was buried in St Patricks Cathedral, Dublin, where there is a monument to him, erected in 1731, with a Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
inscription by Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
.
His eldest son Charles Schomberg
Charles Schomberg, 2nd Duke of Schomberg
Charles Schomberg, 2nd Duke of Schomberg was a General in the British Army, the second person to be Duke of Schomberg, a title in the Peerage of England...
, the second duke in the English peerage, died in the year 1693 of wounds received at the Battle of Marsaglia
Battle of Marsaglia
The Battle of Marsaglia was a battle in the Nine Years' War, fought in Italy on 4 October 1693 between the French army of Marshal Nicolas Catinat and the Allied army of Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy ....
.
His regiment passed into the leadership of Henri de Massue, 1st Earl of Galway
Henri de Massue, 1st Earl of Galway
Henri de Massue, Marquis de Ruvigny, afterward Earl of Galway PC was a French Huguenot soldier and diplomat who was influential in the English service in the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession.-Biography:...
after his death.