François d'Harcourt

François, Duke of Harcourt (November 6, 1689 – Saint-Germain-en-Laye, July 10, 1750), was a military officer in 18th-century France. He participated in the War of the Spanish Succession, the War of the Polish Succession, and the War of the Austrian Succession. He ended his military career in 1749 with the title of Marshal of France.

Biography He was the eldest son of Henri d'Harcourt, 1st Duke of Harcourt (1654–1718), Peer and (1703) Marshal of France, and Marie Anne Claude Brulart de Genlis (1669–1750), Dame de Pisy. Upon his father's death on October 19, 1718, he inherited his title as Duke of Harcourt, which was confirmed by the Parliament in Paris on January 19, 1719.

In the War of the Spanish Succession, he fought in the Battle of Ramillies (1706) and as a Colonel of his own cavalry regiment in the Battle of Oudenaarde (1708) and on the Rhine. In 1712, the King appointed him Mestre de camp to command the Dauphin's Cavalry Regiment. He continued to serve under his father's command in the "Armée du Rhin" until the end of the war.

He was made a Maréchal de camp on April 24, 1728, and a knight of the King's Orders on May 16. During the War of the Polish Succession, he fought in Italy and participated in the Battle of Guastalla. In January 1739, he became Governor of the Principality of Sedan and its dependencies.

He was made Marshal of France at Fontainebleau on October 19, 1746.

Marriage and children François d'Harcourt married Marguerite-Louise-Sophie de Neufville-Villeroy, daughter of Nicolas de Neufville, Duke of Villeroy, on January 14, 1716, but she died 5 months after the wedding.

He remarried on May 31, 1717, Marie-Madeleine Le Tellier de Barbezieux, daughter of Louis François Marie Le Tellier, Marquis de Barbezieux, Minister and Secretary of State for War and Marie Thérèse Delphine d'Alègre. From this last marriage came:

Françoise-Claire d'Harcourt (1718–1751), married Emmanuel Dieudonné de Hautefort, Ambassador of King Louis XV to the Court of Austria from 1749 to 1751. Angélique-Adélaïde d'Harcourt (1719–1744), married Emanuel, Prince of Solre, 7th Duke of Croÿ, Grandee of Spain, Marshal of France (1718–1784). Gabrielle-Lydie d'Harcourt (1722–1801), married Claude Louis François Régnier de Guerchy, Ambassador to London from 1763 to 1767. Louis François d'Harcourt, (1728–1748), Captain of the Bodyguard, predeceased his father.