Claude Louis, Comte de Saint-Germain (1707-1778), French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 general, was born on the 15th of April 1707, at the Château of Vertamboz

Vertamboz

Vertamboz is a commune in the Jura department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.- Demographics :As of the census of 1999, the population was 68.The estimate for 2007 was 89.- References :*...

.

Educated at Jesuit schools, he intended to enter the priesthood, but at the last minute obtained from Louis XV

Louis XV of France

Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...

 an appointment as sub-lieutenant. He left France, according to the gossip of the time, because of a duel; served under the Elector Palatine; fought for Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 against the Turks

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

, and on the outbreak of the war of the Austrian Succession

War of the Austrian Succession

The War of the Austrian Succession  – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...

 (1740) joined the army of the elector of Bavaria (who later became emperor under the name of Charles VII

Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles VII Albert a member of the Wittelsbach family, was Prince-elector of Bavaria from 1726 and Holy Roman Emperor from 24 January 1742 until his death in 1745...

), displaying such bravery that he was promoted to the grade of lieutenant field-marshal.

He left Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

 on the death of Charles VII, and after brief service under Frederick the Great joined Marshal Saxe

Maurice, comte de Saxe

Maurice de Saxe was a German in French service who was Marshal and later also Marshal General of France.-Childhood:...

 in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and was created a field-marshal of the French army.