Massue was born in
Paris. He was the son of the
1st Marquis de Ruvigny, a distinguished French diplomat, and a nephew of Rachel, the wife of
Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton. He was a soldier and served in the French army under
Turenne, who thought very highly of him. Probably on account of his English connections he was selected in 1678 by
Louis XIV to carry out the secret negotiations for a
compact with
Charles II, a difficult mission which he executed with great skill. He succeeded his father as deputy-general of the
Huguenots, and refused Louis's offer, at the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, to retain him in that office. In 1690, having gone into exile with many fellow Huguenots, he entered the service of
William III of England as a major-general, thereby forfeiting his French estates. In July 1691 he distinguished himself at the
Battle of Aughrim, and in 1692 he was for a time commander-in-chief in
Ireland. In November of that year he was created
Viscount Galway and
Baron Portarlington, and received a large grant of seized estates in Ireland. The title had previously belonged to
Ulick Burke, 1st Viscount Galway, a
Jacobite officer who had been killed at Aughrim. In 1693 he fought at
Neerwinden and was wounded. In 1694, with the rank of lieutenant-general, he was sent to command a force in English pay that was to assist the
Duke of Savoy against the French, and at the same time to relieve the distressed
Vaudois. In 1695 Savoy changed sides, the Italian peninsula was neutralised, and Galway's force was withdrawn to the
Netherlands. From 1697 to 1701, a critical period of Irish history, the
Earl of Galway (he was advanced to that rank in 1697) was practically in control of Irish affairs as
Lord Justice of Ireland. After some years spent in retirement, he was appointed in 1704 to command the allied forces in
Portugal together with
François Nicolas Fagel, a post which he sustained with honour and success until the
Battle of Almanza in 1707, in which Galway, in spite of care and skill on his own part, was decisively defeated by the
Duke of Berwick. His
aide de camp was
Hector Francois Chataigner de Cramahé, son in law of
Jacques de Belrieu, Baron de Virazel. Galway scraped together a fresh army, and, although infirm, was reappointed to his command by the home government. He took part in one more campaign, and distinguished himself by his personal bravery in action.
Marquis de Bay defeated him at the
Battle of La Gudina. After this, he retired from active life. His last service was rendered in 1715, when he was sent as one of the lords justices to Ireland during the
Jacobite insurrection. As most of his property in Ireland had been restored to its former owners, and all his French estates had long before been forfeited, Parliament voted him pensions amounting to 1500 pounds a year. He died unmarried. The Irish peerage died with him, but not the French marquisate. The
French Hospital in north London was incorporated under the Great Seal in 1718, with Galway as its governor. ==References==