The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton

[Born at St.-Léger de Foucheret, in Burgundy, 1633. Died 1707. Aged 74.] Of poor parents, but well descended. At the age of seventeen, entered the army of Condé, in Spain, then fighting against France. Taken prisoner in 1653, he went over to the French army, and received his commission as lieutenant of engineers. His rise was as rapid as his services were great. At the age of twenty-five, he conducted the sieges of Gravelines, Ypres, and Oudenarde. He gave the most valuable help in all the campaigns of Holland and Flanders, from 1667 to 1703; and in 1703 was created Marshal of France. His contributions to the science of fortification have celebrated his name. He was not only a great builder, but a shrewd observer, and knew better than any of his contemporaries how to avail himself, whether in defence, or in attack, of the circumstances by which he was surrounded, and of the opportunities and conditions of his time. To him we owe the system of parallel lines, which he introduced before the city of Maestricht. At the siege of Philisbourg, he invented the “tir à ricochet,” in which the ball, making a series of bounds, strikes several times along works against which it is directed. He also invented the musket, in which the match served in lieu of the cover to the pan. He afterwards armed the musket with the bayonet. He vastly improved the system of inundations, that most useful element of self-defence. His engineering appliances during his long and indefatigable service were inexhaustible. It is affirmed on authority, that he repaired three hundred old fortresses, constructed thirty-three new works, conducted fifty-three sieges, and was present at a hundred and forty severe engagements. He also left behind him twelve folio volumes on Strategetics, entitled “Idle Hours.” Vauban was beloved by the soldiery, for whose safety he was always careful. His humanity is otherwise known by his endeavour to procure from the king, his master, the restoration of the Edict of Nantes. To that king he was deeply attached; although to him, as well as to every other man, he was blunt in the expression of what he believed to be truth,--straightforward and manly. He has been called the prince of engineers, and the best of subjects.