Louis Francois Rishelie Marshal of France; great-great-nephew Kal Date of Birth: 13.03.1696 Country: France

1. Biography of Louis François Armand du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu
2. Early Life and Imprisonment
3. Career and Military Achievements
4. Military Strategy and Legacy

Biography of Louis François Armand du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu

Louis François Armand du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, was a Marshal of France, the great-grandnephew of Cardinal Richelieu, and the grandfather of the Governor of Novorossiya. He was born on March 13, 1696, in Paris and died on August 8, 1788, in the same city.

Early Life and Imprisonment

Due to his early love affairs, Richelieu's father arranged for him to be imprisoned in the Bastille, where he spent 14 months in 1711. In 1716, Richelieu was again sent to the Bastille after killing Count Gace in a duel. In 1719, he participated in the Cellamare Conspiracy against the regents, which resulted in several months of imprisonment in the Bastille and subsequent exile in Conflans.

Career and Military Achievements

From 1725 to 1729, Richelieu served as an ambassador to Vienna. In 1733-1734, he took part in the Rhine campaign of the War of the Polish Succession. In 1756, he captured Fort St. Philip on Minorca, driving out the English from the island. In 1757, Richelieu concluded his military career by devastating Hanover. During this campaign, he forced the Duke of Cumberland to sign a capitulation convention of the Hanoverian army at the Cévennes Monastery. However, in the same year, he was recalled to Paris. The official reason was mass looting, but the unofficial reasons were envy from the Duke of Soubise and Louis XV towards Richelieu's military successes.

Military Strategy and Legacy

Richelieu's military strategy aimed to achieve victory through maneuvering and powerful linear fire against the enemy's positions. He believed that the ideal strategy was to "calculate the winners and the losers without a battle" - by assessing the positions and firepower of the opponents before the engagement. Richelieu relied heavily on the "linear attack," which involved sequential artillery and firearm salvoes from different columns. Only after such an attack did Richelieu consider it possible to assault the enemy's positions. This approach aligned with the style of "limited wars" of the 18th century.

Although Richelieu is considered a "forgotten" military leader, his talents are evident from the fact that he never lost a battle. During the Seven Years' War, King Frederick II of Prussia never risked a direct confrontation with him. In the French army, there was a prevailing myth that Richelieu would have undoubtedly won the Seven Years' War against the English. Richelieu was a consistent opponent of the concept of general military service discussed in the mid-18th century. He believed that high firepower would lead to the destruction of a large, unwieldy army within a few hours of intense artillery fire.

Richelieu's ideological views aligned with the Enlightenment thinkers, especially Voltaire. In private letters, he criticized the rule of Louis XV. Richelieu became a hero in Alexandre Dumas' novels "Joseph Balsamo" and "The Queen's Necklace."