, lieutenant-general under Louis XIII. and XIV. was of a noble family in
, lieutenant-general under Louis XIII. and XIV. was of a noble
family in Armagnac, and was born in the year 1600. He
is one of those Frenchmen of distinction who have written
memoirs of their own time, from which so abundant materials are supplied to their history, more than are generally
found in other countries. His memoirs extend from 1617 to
1658. - They were first published at Paris, and at Amsterdam in 1690, under the inspection of Du Chene, historiographer of France, in 2 vols. 12mo, and are now republished in the general collection of memoirs. The life of
iPuy-Segur was that of a very active soldier. He entered
into the army in 1617, and served forty-three years without intermission, rising gradually to the rank of lieutenantgeneral. In 1636, the Spaniards having attempted to pass
the Somme, in order to march to Pans, Puy-Segur was
ordered to oppose them with a small body of troops. The
general, the count de Soissons, fearing afterwards that he
would be cut off, which was but too probable, sent his aidde-camp to tell him that he might retire if he thought proper. “Sir,
”“replied this brave officer,
” a man ordered
upon a dangerous service, like the present, has no opinion
to form about it. I came here by the count’s command,
and shall not retire upon his permission only. If he would
have me return, he must command it." This gallant man
is said to have been at one hundred and twenty sieges, in
which there was an actual cannonade, and in more than
thirty battles or skirmishes, yet never received a wound.
He died in 1682, at his own castle of Bernouille, near
Guise. His memoirs are written with boldness and truth;
contain many remarkable occurrences, in which he was
personally concerned; and conclude with some very useful
military instructions.