Ernst Gideon von Laudon
During the War of the Polish Succession he took part in the 1734 Siege of Danzig led by Feldmarschall Burkhard Christoph von Münnich, he marched against French troops up to the Rhine in 1735 and back to the Dnieper River into the Turkish campaign.At first rejected by General Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg, he soon was promoted colonel at the behest of Chancellor Wenzel Anton Kaunitz and distinguished himself repeatedly.He drew attention at the small but much reported night raid on Ostritz on 1 January 1757 and during that year fought in Bohemia and Saxony under Feldmarschall Maximilian Ulysses Browne and became a Generalfeldwachtmeister (equivalent to major-general) of cavalry as well as a knight of the newly founded Maria Theresa Military Order.[1] In the Third Silesian War campaign of 1758 came his first opportunity for fighting an action as a commander-in-chief, and he used it so well that Frederick the Great was obliged to give up the siege of Olomouc and retire into Bohemia (Battle of Domstadtl, 30 June).He was rewarded with the grade of lieutenant-field-marshal and having again shown himself an active and daring commander in the campaign of Hochkirch, he was created a Freiherr in the Austrian nobility by Maria Theresa and in the peerage of the Holy Roman Empire by her husband the emperor Francis.In 1760 he sustained a severe reverse at Frederick's hands in the Battle of Liegnitz (15 August 1760), which action led to bitter controversy with Daun and Lacy, the commanders of the main army, who, Laudon claimed, had left his corps unsupported.In 1761 he operated, as usual, in Silesia, but he found his Russian allies as timid as they had been after Kunersdorf, and all attempts against Frederick's entrenched camp of Bunzelwitz failed.Maria Theresa once more persuaded him to remain in the army, and, as his estate had diminished in value owing to agrarian troubles in Bohemia, she repurchased it from him, in 1776, on generous terms.Prior to the marriage, Clara has served as lady's maid to Countess Charlotte of Solms-Sonnewalde (1725–1783), wife of Governor of the Archduchy of Austria, Count Christian August von Seilern und Aspang (1717-1801).
FreiherrSwedish LivoniaMadona MunicipalityLatviaNový JičínMoravian MargraviateHoly Roman EmpireHadersdorfViennaRussian EmpireImperial ArmyGeneralfeldmarschallWar of the Polish SuccessionSiege of DanzigRusso-Turkish War (1735–1739)War of the Austrian SuccessionBattle of SoorSeven Years' WarBattle of DomstadtlBattle of HochkirchSiege of GlatzBattle of LandeshutBattle of KunersdorfBattle of LiegnitzWar of the Bavarian SuccessionAustro-Turkish War (1788–1791)Siege of BelgradeMilitary Order of Maria TheresaCatherine the GreatWalhalla (memorial)Bečváry castleBaltic GermanAustrianPrussianFrederick the GreatRitterlieutenant-colonelSwedishBornemannGermanLatgalianLaudohnLivoniaEarls of LoudounScotlandGreat Northern WarRussiaTreaty of NystadImperial Russian ArmyFeldmarschallBurkhard Christoph von MünnichFrenchDnieper RiverTurkish campaignTreaty of BelgradeSaint PetersburgFreikorpsFranz von der TrenckAlsaceSilesianSecond Silesian WarKarlovacMilitary FrontierBunićWilhelm Reinhard von NeippergWenzel Anton KaunitzOstritzBohemiaSaxonyMaximilian Ulysses BrowneGeneralfeldwachtmeisterMaria Theresa Military OrderThird Silesian WarOlomoucHochkirchKutná HoraKunersdorfPyotr SaltykovFeldzeugmeisterFouquéstormed the important fortressBunzelwitzSchweidnitzLeopold Josef von DaunFranz Moritz von LacyCouncil of WarJoseph IIBečváryKaunitzMoraviaCarlylenew warcapturingBelgradeHabsburg SerbiaKoča Anđelkovićnew emperor LeopoldJohann Ludwig Alexius von LoudonRevolutionaryNapoleonic WarsFeldmarschall-LeutnantBösingOfficerCroatialady's maidSolms-SonnewaldeGovernorArchduchy of AustriaBaltic Coat of arms bookCarl Arvid von KlingsporSiegmund L'AllemandGiuseppe Ceracchipublic domainChisholm, HughEncyclopædia Britannica