Wilhelm Lothar Maria, Freiherr von Kerpen (24 May 1741 – 26 December 1823) joined the army of

Habsburg Austria The term Habsburg Austria may refer to the lands ruled by the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs, or the historical Austria. Depending on the context, it may be defined as: * The Duchy of Austria, after 1453 the Archduchy of Austria * The ''Erbland ...

and rose to the rank of

general officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

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 ...

. He led a brigade under

Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Prince Frederick Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (german: Friedrich Josias von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld) (26 December 1737 – 26 February 1815) was an Austrian nobleman and military general. Biography Born at Schloß Ehrenburg in Coburg, he wa ...

during the

War 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 Kingdom of France (1791-92), constitutional Kingdom of France and then t ...

. In the spring of 1796 he transferred to Italy where he commanded a brigade at the start of the Montenotte Campaign. Later that year he was ordered to help defend the

County of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with the secularised pr ...

. After being promoted to

Feldmarschall-Leutnant 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 ...

, he led a force against

Barthélemy Catherine Joubert Barthélemy Catherine Joubert (, 14 April 1769 – 15 August 1799) was a French general who served during the French Revolutionary Wars. Napoleon Bonaparte recognized his talents and gave him increased responsibilities. Joubert was killed while ...

's French corps at

Salorno Salorno sulla Strada del Vino (; german: Salurn ) is the southernmost ''comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about southwest of the city of Bolzano. It is one of only five mainly Italian-speaking municipalities in S ...

, Klausen, and

Brixen Brixen (, ; it, Bressanone ; lld, Porsenù or ) is a town in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography First mentioned in 901, Brixen is the third largest city and oldest town in the province, and the artistic and ...

in March 1797. That year he became

Proprietor (Inhaber) A Proprietor, or Inhaber, was a term used in the Habsburg military to denote special honors extended to a noble or aristocrat. The Habsburg army was organized on principles developed for the feudal armies in which regiments were raised by a wealth ...

of Infantry Regiment Nr. 49, a position he held until his death. Kerpen was deputy to the commanding general of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

from 1803 to 1807. He became Imperial Privy Councilor and Chamberlain in 1807. He was commanding general of Inner Austria from 1807 to 1809, during which time he received promotion to

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 ...

. He served as Vice President of the

Aulic Council The Aulic Council ( la, Consilium Aulicum, german: Reichshofrat, literally meaning Court Council of the Empire) was one of the two supreme courts of the Holy Roman Empire, the other being the Imperial Chamber Court. It had not only concurrent juris ...

from January 1810 to November 1813. In the latter year he retired from military service. He died at

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 1823, having never married.

References

* * 1741 births 1823 deaths People from Enzkreis Austrian soldiers Austrian generals Austrian Empire military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Austrian Empire commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Barons of Austria Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars {{mil-hist-stub