Great Saxe

My low-grade interest in the Marechal de Saxe, who lived from 1696-1750, has suddenly flared up into a fever of web-searching. I found the following brief tidbits at an infoplease entry for Saxe:

Saxe, Maurice, comte de, marshal of France, one of the greatest generals of his age. He was the illegitimate son of August II of Poland and Saxony. When very young he entered the Saxon army, and in 1720 he went into French service. In 1726 he obtained leave to make good his claim to the duchy of Courland, but in 1727 the attempt failed. He fought under the duke of Berwick in the War of the Polish Succession. In the War of the Austrian Succession, he led the successful attack on Prague (1741) and later, after becoming (1744) marshal, made his reputation by victories at Fontenoy (1745) and Raucoux (1746) and by the capture of Maastricht (1748). In recognition of his services Louis XV gave him life tenure of the castle of Chambord and (1747) the title of marshal general. His Mes Rêveries (1757) is a remarkable work on the art of war. Maurice de Saxe was notorious for his amorous exploits and for his tragic liaison with Adrienne Lecouvreur. Among his descendants was George Sand. L. H. Thornton has translated (1944) Mes Rêveries.

Other searches reveal titillating mentions of Saxe in the memoirs of Casanova, check out these 2 e-book pages: casanova 1, casanova 2.

Apparently his mistress, the actress Lecouvreur, was poisoned by a rival named Bouillon. Later, an opera was written about her. And how cool is the George Sand connection?