The most commonly used route from Paris to Versailles passed over Sèvres Bridge. Once across the bridge, one reached Saint Luke.
Opposite Saint Luke Palace stood a small hill called Brimorion. A bridgehead had been built on the hill, and together with Saint Luke's garrison, it protected Sèvres Bridge.
Prince Eugene's mistake at Landrecies had been to place his reserves on the other side of the bridge. When his main army arrived, they could not cross the river and could only watch helplessly as the entire force was wiped out.
Naturally, the French would not make the same mistake. Sèvres Bridge was named after the town of Sèvres, which was famous for its porcelain. Nobles of the old era liked to use porcelain, but porcelain imported from China was so expensive that even nobles did not dare use it freely. As early as the seventeenth century, Sèvres had become a town that imitated Chinese porcelain.
Before Louis XIV, Versailles had merely been the king's hunting residence. Like Vincennes Forest, it was only the size of a village. Later, it became a gathering place for nobles from all over France. Urban planning began in the eighteenth century, along with churches, inns, and schools. The settlement expanded northward, and on the eve of the French Revolution, this satellite city of Paris had already become France's de facto capital.
Neither Sèvres nor Versailles had enough space to establish a military camp, but Meudon Forest lay on the vital route between them, directly opposite Saint Luke.
The first Duke of Broglie, François-Marie de Broglie, was the third son of the Count of Broglie. He had served as a Marshal of France during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV, and had taken part in the War of the Spanish Succession. Later, he joined