Arsenije Sečujac ( sr-cyr, Арсеније Сечујац, german: Arsenius Feiherr Seczujacz von Heldenfeld; 1720 – 13 January 1814) was a

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

general who earned the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

at the very end of his military career and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa, the highest Monarchy decoration, in 1762.

Biography

Early life

An ethnic Serb,
Sečujac was born in 1720, somewhere in

Syrmia Syrmia ( sh, Srem/Срем or sh, Srijem/Сријем, label=none) is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia and Croatia. Most of the region is flat, with the exce ...

, most likely in Eastern Syrmia (in modern Serbia), which at the time was part of the

Slavonian Military Frontier The Slavonian Military Frontier ( hr, Slavonska vojna krajina or ; german: Slawonische Militärgrenze; sr, Славонска војна крајина; hu, Szlavón határőrvidék) was a district of the Military Frontier, a territory in the ...

(where the Slavonia-

Petrovaradin Petrovaradin ( sr-cyr, Петроварадин, ) is a historic town in the Serbian province of Vojvodina, now a part of the city of Novi Sad. As of 2011, the urban area has 14,810 inhabitants. Lying on the right bank of the Danube, across from t ...

Military Infantry Regiment was established later, in 1747). His father was

Đorđe Đorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе;transliterated Djordje) is a Serbian given name, a Serbian variant, derived from Greek '' Georgios'' (''George'' in English). Other variants include: Đurđe, Đurađ, Đura, Đuro, Georgije. It may refer to: * Đor ...

(or ''Georgije''), a Habsburg military commander, and his mother was named Ana Stanisavljević. Two of his brothers also served in the military.

Military career

Sečujac joined the army in 1741 as a

cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

in the

Stara Gradiška Stara Gradiška (, german: Altgradisch) is a village and a municipality in Slavonia, in the Brod-Posavina County of Croatia. It is located on the left bank of the river Sava, across from Gradiška in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Etymology The first w ...

infantry unit, of the Slavonian Military Frontier and fought in many battles during several wars (

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

War of the Bavarian Succession The War of the Bavarian Succession (; 3 July 1778 – 13 May 1779) was a dispute between the Austrian Habsburg monarchy and an alliance of Saxony and Prussia over succession to the Electorate of Bavaria after the extinction of the Bavarian br ...

). During the first years of the Seven Years' War he became a major and in 1762 he was awarded the

Knight's Cross Knight's Cross (German language ''Ritterkreuz'') refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that often denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield. Most frequently the term Knight's Cross is used to refer to the Knight's Cr ...

of the Military Order of Maria Theresa and promoted to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. He received noble status in 1763. Having succeeded the noble status from his father, who had received the ennobling predicate "von Heldenfeld" ( sh, Heldenfeldski), Sečujac was elevated to

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

on 29 December 1767 (and henceforth known as ''Baron Seczujacz von Heldenfeld''). During his lifetime, he served in several

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

s or military bases, ending his career as

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the 66th Slavonian- Brod Military Frontier Infantry Regiment, a unit which he took over as

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in 1777. A chancellery was established, in which the first counselor was bishop (eparch) Petar Petrović of the Archdiocese of Arad; on November 17, the same year, the counselor was general-major and baron Arsenije Sečujac; other notable members were Mihailo Maksimović, Uroš Nestorović, Teodor Avramović. A captaincy which he established was based in

Bela Crkva Bela Crkva ( sr-cyrl, Бела Црква, ; german: Weißkirchen; hu, Fehértemplom; ro, Biserica Albă) is a town and municipality located in the South Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a populatio ...

, but was short-lived, disestablished in 1776. He headed a political group which advocated unity of the Serbian people. He was a supporter of

Dositej Obradović Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, biographer, diarist, philosopher, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist, polyglot and the first minister of education ...

. At the very end of his military career, on 24 February 1783, he was promoted to the rank of

, but he retired on the 10 April that year. He died at the age of 93 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1814.

References

External links

Sečujac (Seczujacz) in a list of Habsburg generalsBiography in Austrian Biographical LexiconColonel Sečujac was commanding officer of the Slavonian-Brod Infantry Regiment from 1777 to 1783.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Secujac, Arsen Military personnel of the Habsburg Monarchy Austrian generals 18th-century Austrian people 19th-century Austrian people 18th-century Serbian people 19th-century Serbian people Barons of Croatia History of Slavonia History of Syrmia People of the Military Frontier 1720 births 1814 deaths Petrovaradin Serbian politicians Habsburg Serbs

Biography

Early life

Military career

See also

References

External links