Laudon, Ernst Gideon Freiherr von bis 1759 E. G. Loudohn oder Loudon#

Laudon, Baron Ernst Gideon von (until 1759 E. G. Loudohn or Loudon), b. Tootsi (Estonia), Feb. 13, 1717, d.  Novy Jičín, Czech Republic (then Neutitschein), July 14, 1790, imperial field marshal (from 1778). Officer in the Russian army 1732-1742, in Austrian service from summer 1744. Several victories in the Seven Years´ War (1758 near Domstadtl in Moravia, 1759 together with Prince Saltykow near Kunersdorf, 1760 near Landshut, then in Silesia) but then defeated near Legnica; succeeded in taking the Swednica fortress by surprise; subsequently excluded from important functions. In the Bavarian Succession, War of the 1778/79 no military successes in Bohemia, but in the Turkish War 1789 he captured Belgrade. Popular with his troops and the people, sensitive and inclined to melancholy. Rival of Count L. Daun and Count F. M. Lacy. Tomb in the grounds of his castle in Hadersdorf (14th district of Vienna), equestrian statue at the Maria Theresia Monument, Vienna.

Literature#