Marshal de Créquy : French Thirty Years War Command Base

Hello guys,

Today I would like to share a new command base for my French army of the Thirty Years' War, featuring Marshal Charles de Créquy and a dismounted French elite cavalryman, a guardsman.

Both miniatures are my own creations, using Meshy.ai, based on historical illustrations. For Marshal de Créquy, I used a contemporary engraving as my main reference, while the dismounted cavalryman was inspired by an illustration from Helion's book on the Battle of Rocroi.

The idea was to create a small command vignette representing one of the most important French commanders of the war in northern Italy.

A little history: Marshal de Créquy (1578–1638)

Charles de Blanchefort, Duke of Lesdiguières and Marshal of France, was an experienced French commander whose military career began during the reign of Henry IV. He served in several campaigns in Savoy and Piedmont, became Marshal of France in 1621 and inherited the title of Duke of Lesdiguières in 1626.

During the Franco-Spanish War, Créquy commanded French forces in northern Italy, operating alongside the army of Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy, against the Spanish troops defending the Duchy of Milan.

His most famous engagement was the Battle of Tornavento, fought on 22 June 1636, against the Spanish army commanded by the Marquis of Leganés. The battle was a particularly bloody and exhausting encounter, with both armies suffering heavy casualties. Although the French and Savoyards retained the battlefield, the fighting failed to produce a decisive strategic result.

Créquy continued campaigning against the Spanish in 1637,  defending Asti and fighting at Mombaldone.

His military career came to an abrupt end on 17 March 1638, when he was killed by a cannonball while reconnoitring the Spanish siege of Breme, in Lombardy, which eventually fell to the Spanish, as well as Vercelli, in Savoy. His death deprived the French army of one of its most experienced commanders on the Italian front.

For this miniature, I wanted to recreate the appearance of this veteran marshal as faithfully as possible, using his period portrait rather than a generic seventeenth-century officer.

                                                        Inspiration for the dismounted cavalryman.

I hope you like this latest addition to my French army!

Historical references:

- Luca Stefano Cristini & Giuseppe Pogliani, *La battaglia di Tornavento del 1636 e la guerra dei 30 anni in Italia*. Soldiershop Publishing, 2011.

- Memoriales y cartas del Conde Duque de Olivares, CEEH, for the Italian campaigns and Créquy's death at Breme.

- Helion & Company, The Battle of Rocroi, for the dismounted French cavalryman.