Maximilian Ulysses Browne

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Maximilian Ulysses Browne

Maximilian Ulysses Imperial Count Browne , Baron de Camus and Mountany (born October 23, 1705 in Basel , † June 26, 1757 in Prague ) was an Austrian field marshal of Irish descent.

Life

Origin and early career

His parents were Ulysses (von) Browne (* August 24, 1659 - September 1731) and Annabella Fitzgerald , his uncle was the Russian field marshal Georg Browne . He entered the Austrian service at a very young age and distinguished himself in the War of the Polish Succession , in Italy in 1734, in Tyrol in 1735 and in the Turkish War 1737–1739. Maximilian Ulysses Browne was appointed to the Court War Council in 1739 , made field marshal lieutenant and received supreme command in Silesia .

In the War of Succession

When Frederick II broke into this country in 1740 , Browne had to retreat to Moravia and then penetrated from here with Field Marshal Count Neipperg back into Silesia at the end of March. Here he led the right wing in the Battle of Mollwitz and was wounded in the process, while he was in high command in the Battle of Chotusitz in Bohemia under Karl Alexander von Lorraine .

After the Peace of Breslau he faced the French in Bohemia under Khevenhüller and then in Italy under Prince Lobkowitz against the Spaniards. Here he carried out the attack on Velletti on August 11, 1744 . In 1745 he commanded again in Bavaria, then, promoted to Feldzeugmeister , on the Rhine and from 1746 to 1748 back in Italy with an army of 30,000 men. He conquered Guastalla and Parma , occupied Genoa , decided the victory at Piacenza and urged the unsuccessful expedition against Toulon in the Provence one. In 1749 appointed military governor of Transylvania and entrusted with the general command in Bohemia, in 1754 he received the dignity of imperial field marshal.

In the Seven Years War

After the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, he was placed at the head of the army that was drawn together at the Battle of Kolin . On October 1, 1756, Frederick II defeated him in the Battle of Lobositz after a long struggle and heavy losses on both sides.

He then tried to advance to Saxony on the right bank of the Elbe and to detach the Saxon army trapped near Pirna , but this failed. After Frederick II had evacuated Bohemia, Browne took his winter quarters in Prague. When he came to Vienna at the beginning of February 1757 to take part in the deliberations of the Court War Council on the plan for the next campaign, he received the most honorable reception at the court, but the council did not listen to his proposal to take the offensive and take the main power Attacking King in Saxony.

On May 6, 1757 in the Battle of Prague , in which Browne, under the command of Prince Charles of Lorraine , quickly took measures to ward off the attempted outflanking and repulsed the first attack by Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin with great bravery by a cannon ball severely wounded in the thigh. Browne was enclosed with the Austrian army in Prague, but remained in good spirits and rejected the demand for the city to be surrendered. He died on June 26, 1757 in Prague as a result of the injuries he had suffered.

family

Maximilian Browne's ancestors fled Ireland after the Jacobite revolt (1689-1691). Many Irish went into military service on the continent (e.g. Peter von Lacy ). Maximilian's father Ulysses (* August 24, 1659; † September 1731) and his uncle Georg (1657; † October 11, 1729 in Pavia). They were in 1716 by Charles VI. appointed Imperial Count of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (Freiherr von Browne). The brothers were good friends of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough , who had made a name for himself on the battlefield in Germany. His sister Barbara (* 1700 in Limerick, † September 16, 1751 in Mantua) was married to Sergeant General Francis Patrick Freiherr von O'Neillan (born October 4, 1671 in Dysert; † October 3, 1734 in Mantua), who was also in the Served Imperial Army.

He himself was married to Marie Philippine von Martinitz (1705–) from 1726 . Her father was Georg Adam von Martinitz (Jiří Adam Ignác Bořita z Martinic), Viceroy of Naples: Her sons include Generals Philipp (born June 2, 1727 - December 19, 1803), who married Countess Anna Maria von Sztaray in 1777 , and Josef Ulysses (1728 - 13 October 1758). Josef died in the battle of Hochkirch .

reception

Statue of Maximilian Ulysses Browne

Through the imperial resolution of Franz Joseph I of February 28, 1863 Maximilian Ulysses Browne was added to the list of "most famous warlords and generals worthy of constant emulation in Austria" , in whose honor and memory there was also a life-size statue in the general hall of that time The newly established Imperial and Royal Court Weapons Museum (today: Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien ) was built. The statue was created in 1867 by the sculptor Matthias Purkhartshofer (1827-1893) from Carrara marble and was dedicated by Emperor Franz Joseph himself.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Johann Christoph Allmayer-Beck : The Army History Museum Vienna. The museum and its representative rooms . Kiesel Verlag, Salzburg 1981, ISBN 3-7023-0113-5 , p. 34
personal data
SURNAME Browne, Maximilian Ulysses
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Browne, Maximilian Ulysses Reichsgraf (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian field marshal of Irish descent
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1705
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel
DATE OF DEATH June 26, 1757
Place of death Prague