CLERFAYT (or CLAIRFAYT), FRANCOIS SEBASTIEN CHARLES JOSEPH DE CROIX, COUNT OF (1733-1798)

This article appears in Volume V06, Page 496 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: CHR-CLI

CLERFAYT (or CLAIRFAYT), FRANCOIS SEBASTIEN CHARLES JOSEPH DE CROIX, COUNT OF (1733-1798) , Austrian field

marshal

MARSHAL (med. Lat. marescalcus, from O.H.Ger. marah, horse, and scalc, servant)

, entered the Austrian army in 1753. In the Seven Years' War he greatly distinguished himself, earning rapid promotion, and receiving the decoration of the order of Maria

Theresa

THERESA, ST (1515-1582)

. At the conclusion of the peace, though still under thirty, he was already a colonel. During the outbreak of the Netherlands in 1787, he was, as a Walloon by

birth

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

, subjected to

great

GREAT

pressure to induce him to abandon Joseph II., but he resisted all overtures, and in the following year went to the Turkish war in the rank of lieutenant field

marshal

MARSHAL (med. Lat. marescalcus, from O.H.Ger. marah, horse, and scalc, servant)

. In an independent command Clerfayt achieved

great

GREAT

success, defeating the Turks at Mehadia and Calafat. In 1792, as one of the most distinguished of the emperor's generals, he received the command of the Austrian contingent in the duke of Brunswick's army, and at Croix-sous-Bois his corps inflicted a

reverse

REVERSE

on the troops of the French revolution. In the Netherlands, to which quarter he was transferred after Jemappes, he opened the campaign of 1793 with the victory of Aldenhoven and the relief of Maastricht, and on

March

18th mainly brought about the complete defeat of Dumouriez at Neerwinden. Later in the year, however, his victorious career was checked by the

reverse

REVERSE

Wattignies

WATTIGNIES

, and in 1794 he was unsuccessful in West Flanders against

Pichegru

PICHEGRU, CHARLES (1761-1804)

. In the course of the campaign Clerfayt succeeded the duke of Saxe-Coburg in the supreme command, but was quite unable to make head against the French, and had to recross the Rhine. In 1795, now field marshal, he commanded on the middle Rhine against Jourdan, and this time the fortune of war changed. Jourdan was beaten at Hochst and Mainz brilliantly relieved. But the field marshal's action in concluding an armistice with the French not being approved by Thugut, he resigned the command, and became a member of the Aulic Council in Vienna. He died in 1798. A brave and skilful soldier, Clerfayt perhaps achieved more than any other Austrian

commander

COMMANDER

(except the archduke Charles) in the hopeless struggle of small dynastic armies against a " nation in arms."
See von Vivenot, Thugut, Clerfayt, and Wurmser (Vienna, 1869).

End of Article: CLERFAYT (or CLAIRFAYT), FRANCOIS SEBASTIEN CHARLES JOSEPH DE CROIX, COUNT OF (1733-1798)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/CHR_CLI/CLERFAYT_or_CLAIRFAYT_FRANCOIS.html">
CLERFAYT (or CLAIRFAYT), FRANCOIS SEBASTIEN CHA...
</a>

(Previous)
CLERESTORY, or CLEARSTORY (Ital. chiaro piano, ...

(Next)
CLERGY (M.E. clergie, O. Fr. clergie, from Low ...

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email