Prince Frederick Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (german: Friedrich Josias von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld) (26 December 1737 – 26 February 1815) was an

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: ...

nobleman and military general.

Biography

Born at Schloß Ehrenburg in Coburg, he was the youngest son of

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

Francis Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Francis Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (25 September 1697, in Saalfeld – 16 September 1764, in Rodach) was a duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Biography He was the fourth living son of Johann Ernest IV, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the thi ...

and

Princess Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Princess Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (9 September 1700 – 11 December 1780) was a Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. She was the daughter of Louis Frederick I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (15 October 1667 – 24 June 1718) and ...

. He was the great-uncle of King Leopold I of Belgium (1790–1865); and the great-great-uncle of Queen

Victoria of the United Kingdom Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

(1819–1901).

Military career

Josias joined the

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 ...

military as Colonel in 1759, participated in 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� ...

, and rose to the rank of

Lieutenant Field Marshal Lieutenant field marshal, also frequently historically field marshal lieutenant (german: Feldmarschall-Leutnant, formerly , historically also and, in official Imperial and Royal Austrian army documents from 1867 always , abbreviated ''FML''), was ...

by 1773. In the Russo-Turkish-Austrian war of 1788, he commanded an army corps under Freiherr von Laudon, occupying

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

, capturing

Khotyn Khotyn ( uk, Хотин, ; ro, Hotin, ; see other names) is a city in Dnistrovskyi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine and is located south-west of Kamianets-Podilskyi. It hosts the administration of Khotyn urban hromada, one of the h ...

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

and sharing in Aleksandr Suvorov's victory in the Battle of Focșani (1 August 1789). Having completely beaten the main Ottoman army under

Grand Vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...

Koca Yusuf Pasha Koca Yusuf Pasha was an Ottoman statesman. He was grand vizier from 25 January 1786 to 28 May 1789 (during reign of Abdul Hamid I), and Kapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Navy) after 19 December 1789.İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, ''Osmanl� ...

in the Battle of Rymnik, he captured the greater part of

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

, including

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, being welcomed by the population after the flight of

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Nicholas Mavrogenes Nicholas Mavrogenes (or Mavrogenous; el, Νικόλαος Μαυρογένης ''Nikolaos Mavrogenis'' (Greek: "Blackbeard"), ro, Nicolae Mavrogheni ), (1735 – 30 September 1790) was a Phanariote Prince of Wallachia (reigned 1786–1789). He ...

(''see History of Bucharest''), and soon after becoming a field marshal. During the occupation of Moldavia, Josias met Therese Stroffeck, a commoner. On 24 September 1789, in the town of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, she bore him a son, named Frederick. Josias married Therese after their return to Coburg, on 24 December and recognized his son. Frederick was ennobled by the Austrian Emperor on 25 August 1808 and on 17 February 1853 the Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha created him ''Freiherr von Rohmann'', named after the place of his birth. Frederick however, as the child of a morganatic marriage, and his descendants were barred of the succession of the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. In 1793 and 1794 he commanded the army in the Austrian Netherlands during the

Flanders Campaign The Flanders Campaign (or Campaign in the Low Countries) was conducted from 20 April 1792 to 7 June 1795 during the first years of the War of the First Coalition. A coalition of states representing the Ancien Régime in Western Europe – Aus ...

. Due to his victory in 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 ...

Neerwinden Neerwinden is a village in Belgium in the province of Flemish Brabant, a few miles southeast of Tienen. It is now part of the municipality of Landen. The village gave its name to two great battles. The Battle of Neerwinden (1693), first battle w ...

in March 1793, he returned the region to Austrian control. Entering France, he took Condé,

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

, Quesnoy and Landrecies. However, due to unfortunate positioning, partly due to disunity amongst the Allied powers and their forces, he suffered a string of minor setbacks in front of the Revolutionary Army on the

Sambre The Sambre (; nl, Samber, ) is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur. The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Aisne ...

, followed by a decisive defeat at Fleurus (26 June 1794). He thereupon abandoned the Netherlands, which Habsburg diplomats had already decided to give up. Angered by this, and openly criticizing the policies of the Baron Thugut, Josias resigned as Field Marshal (the Count of Clerfayt assumed command in his place) and retired to Coburg, where he later died.

Ancestry

References

*'' Meyers Konversations-Lexikon'' of 1888–89. In turn, it cites: **A. von Witzleben, ''Prinz Friedrich J. von Koburg-Saalfeld, Herzog zu Sachsen'', Berlin, 1859 {{DEFAULTSORT:Coburg, Prince Josias Of Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Austrian Empire commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Austrian Empire military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Field marshals of Austria History of Bucharest Princes of Saxe-Coburg Saalfeld 1737 births 1815 deaths People from Coburg Generals of the Holy Roman Empire Grand Crosses of the Military Order of Maria Theresa