Karl Eugen von Lorraine-Lambesc

Charles Eugène de Lorraine, prince de Lambesc

Karl Eugen, Prince of Lorraine-Lambesc , French Charles Eugène de Lorraine, prince de Lambesc, duc d'Elbeuf, comte de Brionne; (born September 25, 1751 in Versailles Palace ; † November 21, 1825 in Vienna ) was Count of Brionne (1761-) and Duke of Elbeuf (1763–1789) and, after his emigration, Imperial Austrian General of the Cavalry .

Life

origin

Charles Eugène de Lorraine, Prince of Lambesc came from the branch of the House of Lorraine founded by Claude de Guise , which had held the dignity of Grand Stable Master of France and Governor of Anjou since 1761 . His father Louis-Charles de Lorraine, comte de Brionne (1725–1761) came from the male line that traced back to Duke René II , Henri de Lorraine, comte de Harcourt and Charles de Lorraine, duc d`Elbeuf. His mother Louise de Rohan-Rochefort (1734-1815) came from the house of the Dukes of Brittany . His younger brother, Joseph Maria von Lothringen-Vaudémont, married Countess Louise de Montmorency-Logny (1763-1832) in 1778 and followed his brother into exile in 1791. A sister Marie Josephine (1753-1797) married Prince Viktor Amadeus II of Savoy-Carignan in 1768 , a brother of Princess de Lamballe . The other sister Anne Charlotte (1755–1786) became abbess of the renowned Abbey of Remiremont .

Prince of Lambesc and Duke of Elbeuf

When his father, the Count of Brionne , died in 1761, Charles Eugene, who was just ten years old, succeeded him in this dignity. In 1763 his cousin, Prince Emmanuel Maurice de Lorraine d`Elbeuf , head of the French branch of the House of Lorraine, died. Charles Eugène rose to boss as the young Prince of Lambesc , his younger brother Johann Maria, the abbot of Jumièges and another cousin, the Prince de Marsan, were the last members of the male line of the House of Guise. After visiting the Paris College of Du Plessis, he was made lieutenant on April 29, 1767 and made captain on December 26, 1768. In May 1770 he accompanied Marie Antoinette , Archduchess of Austria, on her entry into France . On March 3, 1773 he became the owner and chief of the Lorraine dragoon regiment. At the age of 26 he became a knight of the royal order of St. Luis in 1777 and in 1785 he took over the German "Royal Allemand" dragoon regiment from the Prince of Nassau-Siegen, which served for the personal protection of the king. As early as April 1788, he led a larger cavalry division in the garrisons of Hainaut and Valenciennes , and on March 9, 1788, he achieved the rank of maréchal de camp .

On July 11, 1789, Finance Minister Jacques Necker was ousted against the will of the lower classes , after which the King appointed the Duke of Broglie as Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Army. Without the king's permission, Baron Peter Viktor von Besenval , commandant of the troops of the Paris garrison and in Île-de-France, gave the order to the Prince of Lambesc to disperse the masses on the Place de la Concorde . On July 12, 1789, his horsemen went through the garden of the Tuileries against masses of people who had gathered in front of revolutionary speakers. He himself fatally injured an old man who did not retreat quickly enough with his saber. A committee appointed by the National Assembly indicted him, but the Châtelet court absolved him of all guilt. The people's anger erupted a few days later when the Bastille was attacked . After several garrison changes, his regiment order had to rush to Stenay to cover the planned escape of the royal family with his regiment loyal to the king. After the massive desertion of his German regiment, he felt compelled to flee to Austria himself without his own protection. On February 1, 1793, the remnants of the Royal Allemand Regiment were taken over into imperial services and in 1798 converted to the Cuirassier Regiment No. 10 "Karl von Lothringen".

Transfer to the imperial military service

Karl Eugen, Prince of Lorraine-Lambesc

On June 18, 1791, on the instructions of Emperor Leopold II , the prince was appointed major general and his younger brother, Prince Joseph Maria, colonel of the Imperial Austrian Army. Already in August 1791 both were assigned to a cavalry command in the Austrian Netherlands and in October 1791 he was given command of an infantry brigade under the command of Field Marshal Bender. After two years of hearing little from him, he quickly became known in the corps of Count von Waldeck in the spring of 1794. When the French army Pichegru broke into the Austrian center on May 22nd, 1794 at the Battle of Tournai , Prince Karl at the head of 4 squadrons attacked the enemy in such a way that over 450 prisoners and 3 guns could be brought in. On June 18, 1794 he was appointed colonel owner of the Cuirassier Regiment No. 21 (from 1798 Cuirassier Regiment No. 7). On June 26, 1794, he hurried to the aid of encircled infantry under Feldzeugmeister Graf von Kaunitz in the second Battle of Fleurus (June 26, 1794) , threw back the French with considerable losses and saved the already lost artillery, for which he did so on May 11, 1796 was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Maria Theresa Order . As early as March 4, 1796, with the rank of October 1, 1795, he had been promoted to Austrian field marshal lieutenant .

Marriages and old age

Countess Anne Zetzner (1764–1818)

In 1799 he took over the position of a commanding general in Eastern Galicia .

• On May 20, 1803 he had a 1st marriage with Countess Anne Zetzner (1764-1818) in Lemberg, nothing more was known about their circumstances.
• On January 23, 1816 he entered into a second marriage with Marie Victoire Folliot von Crenneville (1766-1845), daughter of François Mérédic Folliot and widow of the Minister Count von Colloredo, he separated from her after a few months.

On January 27, 1806, he was promoted to imperial general of the cavalry and on December 31, 1806 to become captain of the Imperial and Royal Arcièren bodyguard . In 1808 he was made Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece by the Emperor . After the restoration, Louis XVIII appointed him. against the resistance his officer corps became peer of France and confirmed him as Duke of Elbeuf . But the Prince of Lambesc renounced his dignity and ended his life in Vienna. There were no children from his two marriages; he died in 1825 as the last male member of the sidelines of the Marquis d'Elboeuf, derived from René de Guise.

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Lambesc, Karl Eugen Prinz von . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 14th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1865, pp. 48–50 ( digitized version ).
• Adolf Schinzl:  Lambesc, Prince Karl Eugen . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 17, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1883, p. 557.
• Egger:  Lothringen, Karl Eugen von ;. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1972, p. 330.