War
After the Treaty of the Pyrenees the French armed forces had been sharply reduced in order to save costs. In 1665 they numbered only 50,000 men. Louis XIV however authorised preparations through which the number of soldiers grew to 82,000 by the start of the war. In spring 1667 51,000 French soldiers, who had been raised in 4 days, deployed between Mézières and the sea. The main army consisted of 35,000 men personally commanded by Louis XIV. However, the actual commander was Maréchal Turenne. To the left of the main army, a further French corps drew up in Artois at the coast, under Maréchal Antoine d’Aumont de Rochebaron, whilst another corps under Lieutenant General François de Créquy, marquis de Marines, took over the protection of the main army on the right flank. All three armies were to enter the Spanish territories at the same time, in order to take advantage of the French numerical superiority and not allow the Spanish to concentrate their defence against a single French force.
Read more about this topic: War Of Devolution
Famous quotes containing the word war:
“Once lead this people into war and they will forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“Newspaperman: That was a magnificent work. There were these mass columns of Apaches in their war paint and feather bonnets. And here was Thursday leading his men in that heroic charge.
Capt. York: Correct in every detail.
Newspaperman: He’s become almost a legend already. He’s the hero of every schoolboy in America.”
—Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)
“War. Fighting. Men ... every man in the whole realm is in the army.... Every man in uniform ... An economy entirely geared to war ... but there is not much war ... hardly any fighting ... yet every man a soldier from birth till death ... Men ... all men for fighting ... but no war, no wars to fight ... what is it, what does it mean?””
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)