Louis-Georges-Erasme de Contades

Marquis de Contades (1704-1793)

Louis-Georges-Erasme de Contades (born October 2, 1704 near Beaufort in Anjou , † January 19, 1793 in Livry ) was a French military leader and Marshal of France .

Life

He joined the French army in 1720, was promoted to Capitaine in the Régiment des Gardes françaises in 1729 and on March 10, 1734 to the Colonel in the Régiment de Flandre . On June 15, 1734 he took over the Régiment d'Auvergne and was wounded in the battle of Parma .

On October 18, 1734 he was promoted to Brigadier des armées du roi and on to the Maréchal de camp . His appointment as Lieutenant-général (France) | Lieutenant-général followed on May 1, 1743, that of Inspecteur General of the Infantry in 1745 and that of Maréchal de France in 1758.

In 1762 he became the owner of the Régiment de Touraine

He distinguished himself in the wars of 1733–1748 under the Marshal of Saxony through punctuality, caution and vigilance and commanded an army corps on the Lower Rhine in the Seven Years War under d'Estrees and Clermont from 1757–1758 .

After Clermont's defeat in the Battle of Krefeld , he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army in his place. After he had succeeded in pushing Duke Ferdinand of Braunschweig back to the right bank of the Rhine, he was appointed marshal in 1758.

In 1759 he was given command of the entire French army in Germany. After Broglie's victory near Bergen, he advanced through Hesse and Westphalia to the Weser , but lost the battle near Minden against the Duke of Brunswick on August 1st . He had to retreat to the Rhine, whereupon he was recalled by the command at Broglie's drive in September.

literature

• Meyers Konversationslexikon , Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig and Vienna, fourth edition 1885–1892, pp. 256–257