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DAUN (DHAUN), LEOPOLD JOSEF, COUNT VO...

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 849 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DAUN (DHAUN), See also:LEOPOLD JOSEF, See also:COUNT VON (1705-1766)  , See also:prince of Thiano, See also:Austrian See also:field See also:marshal, was See also:born at See also:Vienna on the 24th of . See also:September 1705 . He was intended for the See also:church, but his natural inclination for the See also:army, in which his See also:father and grandfather had been distinguished generals, proved irresistible . In 1718 he served in the See also:campaign in See also:Sicily, in his father's See also:regiment . He had already risen to the See also:rank of See also:colonel when he saw further active service in See also:Italy and on the See also:Rhine in the See also:War of the See also:Polish See also:Succession (1734-35) . He continued to add to his distinctions in the war against the See also:Turks (1737-39), in which he attained the rank of a See also:general officer . In the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-42), Dams, already a See also:lieutenant field marshal in rank, distinguished himself by the careful leadership which was . afterwards his greatest military quality . He was 849 See also:present at Chotusitz and See also:Prague, and led the advanced guard of See also:Khevenhuller's army in the victorious See also:Danube campaign of 1743 . Field Marshal See also:Traun, who succeeded Khevenhuller in 1744, thought equally highly of See also:Daun, and'entrusted him with the rearguard of the Austrian army when it escaped from the See also:French to attack See also:Frederick the See also:Great . He held important commands in the battles of See also:Hohenfriedberg and Soor, and in the same See also:year (1745) was promoted to the rank of Feldzeugmeister . After this he served in the See also:Low Countries, and was present at the See also:battle of Val . He was highly valued by Maria See also:Theresa, who made him commandant of Vienna and a See also:knight of the See also:Golden Fleece, and in 1754 he was elevated to the rank of field marshal .

During the See also:

interval of See also:peace that preceded the Seven Years' War he was engaged in carrying out an elaborate See also:scheme for the reorganization of the Austrian army; and it was chiefly through his instrumentality that the military See also:academy was established at Wiener-See also:Neustadt in 1751 . He was not actively employed in the first See also:campaigns of the war, but in 1757 he was placed at the See also:head of the army which was raised to relieve Prague . On the 18th of See also:June 1757 Daun defeated Frederick for the first See also:time in his career in the desperately fought battle of See also:Kolin (q.v.) . In See also:commemoration of this brilliant exploit the See also:queen immediately instituted a military See also:order bearing her name, of which Daun was nominated first See also:grand See also:cross . The See also:union of the relieving army with the forces of Prince See also:Charles at Prague reduced Daun to the position of second in command, and as such he took See also:part in the pursuit of the Prussians and the victory of See also:Breslau . Frederick now reappeared and won the most brilliant victory of the See also:age at See also:Leuthen . Daun was present on that field, but was not held accountable for the disaster, and when Prince Charles resigned his command, Daun was appointed in his See also:place . With the campaign of 1758 began the war of manoeuvre in which Daun, if he missed, through over-caution, many opportunities of crushing the Prussians, at least maintained a steady and cool resistance to the fiery See also:strategy of Frederick . In 1758 See also:Major-General Loudon, acting under Daun's instructions, forced the See also:king to raise the See also:siege of See also:Olmutz, and later in the same year Daun himself surprised Frederick at Hochkirch and inflicted a severe defeat upon him (See also:October 14th) . In the following year the war of manceuvre continued, and on the 20th and 21st of See also:November he surrounded the entire See also:corps of General See also:Finck at Maxen, forcing the Prussians to surrender . These successes were See also:counter-balanced in the following year by the defeat of Loudon at See also:Liegnitz, which was attributed to the dilatoriness of Daun, and Daun's own defeat in the great battle of See also:Torgau (q.v.) . In this engagement Daun was so severely wounded that he had to return to Vienna to recruit .

He continued to command until the end of the war, and after-wards worked with the greatest See also:

energy at the reorganization of the imperial forces . In 1762 he had been appointed See also:president of the Hofkriegsrath . He died on the 5th of See also:February 1766 . By the order of Maria Theresa a See also:monument to his memory was erected in the church of the See also:Augustinians, with an inscription styling him the " saviour of her states." In 1888 the 56th regiment of Austrian See also:infantry was named after him . As a general Daun has been reproached for the dilatoriness of his operations, but wariness was not misplaced in opposing a general like Frederick, who was See also:quick and unexpected in his movements beyond all precedent . Less See also:defence perhaps may be made for him on the See also:score of inability to profit by a victory . See Der deutsche See also:Fabius Cunctator, See also:oder Leben u . Thaten S . E. See also:des H . See also:Leopold Reichsgrafen v . Dhaun K.K.F.M . (See also:Frankfort and See also:Leipzig, 1759-1760), and See also:works dealing with the See also:wars of the See also:period .

End of Article: DAUN (DHAUN), LEOPOLD JOSEF, COUNT VON (1705-1766)
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