usel, Vicegradt, Gran, and Buda; was the first who entered sword
in hand into the intrenched camp of the Turks at Hersan; and had
received a commission as Lieutenant-general in the Austrian service.
The storming of Belgrade was the next great event in which Eugene was
called to act; and here, in command of a body of reserve, he attacked
the walls, after the first parties had been repulsed, and succeeded in
forcing his way into the city. The regiments which had failed at first
now rallied; and the path being open, the Imperial forces poured in in
all directions, and Belgrade was taken after a most obstinate defence.

Victor Amadaeus, Duke of Savoy, was shortly after this persuaded by his
cousin Eugene to embrace the interests of the house of Austria; and to
enter into the great alliance which had been formed for the purpose of
depressing France.

The vast power which Louis XIV. had acquired, and the evident
disposition he displayed to extend that power to the utmost, had armed
the fears of all the monarchs of Europe against him. At the same time,
the armies which had conquered for him were dispersed, and the
generals who had led them to victory had in most instances fallen into
the grave. Perhaps these considerations might lead the Duke of Savoy
to withdraw from an alliance which promised little support, and
eminent danger; but he had soon reason to repent of having done so.
Marshal Catinat, the best of Louis's living officers, was ordered to
act against him; the whole of Piedmont quickly fell into the hands of
the French; and on August 18th the duke was completely defeated by the
adverse general. Eugene, who was present, though wounded with a spent
ball, covered the retreat of the troops of Savoy; but the battle was
nevertheless completely lost, and influenced for long the fate of
Piedmont.

After various campaigns in Italy, where little was effected but a
diversion of the French forces from his scene of war in Germany and
the Netherlands, Eugene prevailed upon his cousin the Duke of Savoy,
to lead his troops into France and to draw the French army from Italy,
by carrying the war into their own country. The scheme was a bold one,
but it proved most successful, and Embrun, Quilestre, and Gap, having
fallen, the allied army, under Victor Amadaeus and Eugene, advanced
rapidly into Dauphiny. Terror and consternation spread before them;
and in revenge for the devastation committed by the French in the
Palatinate, they now