On this day, in the final days of the War of the Austrian Succession, which has been going on since 1741, the Maréchal de Saxe is directing the French army’s siege of Maastricht. M de Valfons, his aide-de-camp, recalls in his memoirs how the news of peace arrived and further bloodshed was averted:
“…Lord Sackville, the Duke of Cumberland’s aide-de-camp, …