Note 1357 — Chapter VIII

‘Sa réputation étoit grande et bien établie; le roi d'Espagne avoit été témoin de sa conduite en Lombardie; il demanda au Roi un général si capable de commander ses armées.’ Mémoires de Torcy, vol. i. p. 386. See also History of Alberoni, London, 1719, p. 45. ‘Le duc de Vendôme alloit enfin commander les troupes d'Espagne.’ Mémoires de Noailles, vol. iii. p. 12. According to Berwick, the offer was first made to himself. Mémoires de Berwick, vol. ii. pp. 106, 109. M. Lafuente, without quoting any authority, says (Historia de España, vol. xviii. p. 279), ‘Luego que se perdió la batalla de Zaragoza escribió Felipe al rey Cristianísimo, su abuelo, rogándole que, ya que no pudiera socorrerle con tropas, le enviára al menos al duque de Berwick ó al de Vendome.’ But, as Berwick must have had the means of knowing the real state of the case, he is probably correct in saying that the first application was in his own favour.