Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 2.djvu/48

 230 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS After the death of Hali from the wounds he had received at Peterwaradin, the command of the Turkish army was given to the Pacha of Belgrade, one of the most skilled officers in the Ottoman service. But Eugene was destined to destroy the Turkish power in Hungary. The campaign of the next year com- menced with the siege of the often-captured Belgrade ; and it was soon completely invested and reduced to sore distress. The Porte, however, was not unmindful of its preservation ; and, in the beginning of August, the pacha appeared on the mountains surrounding the town, with an army of near two hundred thousand men. Thus shut up between a strong fortress and an immense army, with the dysentery in his camp, and his forces enfeebled by long and severe labors, Eugene's situation was as difficult as it is possible to conceive. Notwithstanding every dis- advantage, his usual bold course of action was pursued in the present instance, and met with that success which is almost always sure to attend the combination of daring and skill. After a short delay, to enable himself to employ all his en- ergies (having been himself greatly debilitated by the camp fever), he attacked the Turkish army in their intrenchraents, and at the end of a very short but sev- ere struggle, succeeded in defeating a force more than three times the number of his own. Belgrade surrendered immediately; and the next year, without any great military event, put an end to the war. After the conclusion of peace, Eugene, who had been appointed governor of the Austrian Netherlands, resigned that office, which he had never personally filled, and was appointed vicar-general for the emperor in his Italian dominions. For many years after this Eugene spent his days in peace and tranquillity, endeavoring to raise up a spirit of commerce among the Germans, and to im- prove the finances of his sovereign, by whom he was appreciated and loved. His greatest efforts were in favor of Trieste, which he changed from a petty town to a great commercial city, and which remains to the present day the best and the noblest fruit of all his talents and all his exertions. At first, everything promised that the old age of Eugene would have passed in peace, uninterrupted by any warlike movements ; but he was once more called from his calmer occupations by the short war which broke out with France in Perhaps, in point of military skill, the two campaigns which followed were the most brilliant of Eugene's life ; but with only thirty thousand men, opposed to a force of double that number, he could alone act upon the defensive. He did so, however, with more success than the scantiness of his resources promised. He prevented the French from penetrating into Swabia ; and, though Philipsburg was taken notwithstanding all his efforts, he contrived, by turning the course of the neighboring rivers, to inundate the country on the German side of that city, and to render its possession unprofitable to France. Peace soon succeeded, and with these two campaigns ended Eugene's life as a commander. He lived for some time after this, indeed, amusing himself with the embellishments of his palace and gardens, and employing a great many me-