Eugène-Guillaume Argenteau, comte de Mercy or Eugen Gillis Wilhelm Graf Mercy d'Argenteau (1743 – 4 May 1819) joined the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

army in 1760, became a general officer, and led large formations of soldiers in several actions during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

and the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Early career

Born at

Huy Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the ''sillon industriel'', the former industrial b ...

in the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands nl, Oostenrijkse Nederlanden; french: Pays-Bas Autrichiens; german: Österreichische Niederlande; la, Belgium Austriacum. was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The p ...

in 1743, Argenteau joined the ''Mercy d'Argenteau'' Infantry Regiment Nr. 56 in 1760. That year he fought at the bloody

Battle of Torgau In the Battle of Torgau on 3 November 1760, King Frederick the Great's Prussian army fought an Austrian army under the command of Field Marshal Leopold Josef Graf Daun. The Prussians won a costly victory in one of the bloodiest battles of the Thir ...

. Before the

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� ...

ended, he was present at the storming of Schweidnitz. Promoted to

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in 1773, he transferred to the ''Loudon'' Infantry Regiment Nr. 29. During the

Austro-Turkish War (1787-1791) The term Austro-Turkish War may refer to: * Austro-Turkish War (1593–1606) * Austro-Turkish War (1663–1664) * Austro-Turkish War (1683–1699) * Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718) * Austro-Turkish War (1737–1739) * Austro-Turkish War (1788–1 ...

, he led the 29th as their ''

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...

'' (colonel) and served with distinction at the Siege of Belgrade. In October 1789, he received promotion to ''

General-major 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 ...

''.

French Revolutionary Wars

In 1793, Argenteau served in the Italian theater as

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

to Joseph De Vins, the Austrian army commander. Apparently, he did not get along with the officers of their ally, the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

. He continued to fight in northwestern Italy and was involved in at least two small actions. The French drove his troops from their positions during the

Battle of Loano The Battle of Loano occurred on 23–24 November 1795 during the War of the First Coalition. The French Army of Italy led by Barthélemy Schérer defeated the combined Austrian and Sardinian forces under Olivier, Count of Wallis. Context I ...

on 23 November 1795. He was brought before a

Court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

, but acquitted and in March 1796 promoted to '' Feldmarchal-Leutnant''. In April 1796, he commanded the Right Wing under a new army commander, Johann Beaulieu, a fellow Walloon. During the Montenotte Campaign, the French army under

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

mauled Argenteau's wing at the battles of Montenotte and Dego. After these defeats, Beaulieu's army remained largely paralyzed as the French knocked the

Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

out of the

First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that suc ...

. Despite these events, Argenteau received the Knight's Cross of the

Military Order of Maria Theresa The Military Order of Maria Theresa (german: Militär-Maria-Theresien-Orden; hu, Katonai Mária Terézia-rend; cs, Vojenský řád Marie Terezie; pl, Wojskowy Order Marii Teresy; sl, Vojaški red Marije Terezije; hr, Vojni Red Marije Te ...

in May 1796.

Napoleonic Wars

In 1805, Argenteau led a division in the army of

Archduke Charles Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Laurentius of Austria, Duke of Teschen (german: link=no, Erzherzog Karl Ludwig Johann Josef Lorenz von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian field-marshal, the third s ...

in northern Italy. At the Battle of Caldiero in October, he commanded five divisions of the Center of the army.Smith, p 210 At his retirement from military service in 1808, he was appointed ''

Feldzeugmeister ''Feldzeugmeister'' was a historical military rank in some German and the Austro-Hungarian armies, especially in use for the artillery. It was commonly used in the 16th or 17th century, but could even be found at the beginning of the 20th century ...

'', full general. From 1809 until his death in 1819, he was proprietor (''inhaber'') of the ''Argenteau'' Infantry Regiment Nr. 35. He died 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 ...

Notes

References

* Boycott-Brown, Martin. ''The Road to Rivoli.'' London: Cassell & Co., 2001. *

Chandler, David G. David Geoffrey Chandler (15 January 1934 – 10 October 2004) was a British historian whose study focused on the Napoleonic era. As a young man he served briefly in the army, reaching the rank of captain, and in later life he taught at the Ro ...

''The Campaigns of Napoleon.'' New York: Macmillan, 1966. * Smith, Digby. ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' London: Greenhill, 1998.
Mercy d'Argenteau by Digby Smith, compiled by Leopold Kudrna
{{DEFAULTSORT:Argenteau, Eugene Guillaume 1741 births 1819 deaths People from Huy Austrian soldiers Austrian generals Belgian soldiers Austrian Empire commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Austrian Empire military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars