François Sebastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt or Clairfayt, (14 October 1733 - 21 July 1798), Austrian field marshal, was born at the Castle of Bruille in Hainaut in the Austrian Netherlands. He entered the Austrian army in 1753. In the Seven Years' War (1756 - 1763) he distinguished himself, earning rapid promotion, and receiving the decoration of the order of Maria Theresa. At the conclusion of the peace (Treaty of Hubertusburg, 15 February 1763), though still under thirty, he had already become a colonel. Hainaut (Dutch: Henegouwen) is the westernmost province of Wallonia. ... Originally the term Netherlands referred to a much larger entity than the current Kingdom of the Netherlands. ... The Seven Years War (1754 and 1756–1763) pitted Great Britain, Prussia and Hanover against France, Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Saxony. ... The Treaty of Hubertusburg, signed on 15 February 1763, together with the Treaty of Paris signed on 10 February 1763, marked the end of the French and Indian War and of the Seven Years War. ...

During the outbreak in the Netherlands in 1787, Clerfayt, as a Walloon by birth, came under great pressure to abandon Joseph II, but he resisted all overtures, and in the following year went to the Turkish war with the rank of lieutenant field marshal. In an independent command Clerfayt achieved great success, defeating the Turks at Mehadia and Calafat. The term Walloon may refer to either the Walloon language, or to the ethnic people of the same name. ... Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (March 13, 1741 - February 20, 1790) was a Holy Roman Emperor (1765 - 1790). ... The Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792 was a futile attempt by the Ottoman Empire to regain lands lost to Russia in the course of the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-74. ... Calafat is a town in Dolj county, Romania, on the river Danube, opposite the Bulgarian city of Vidin. ...

In 1792, as one of the most distinguished of the emperor's generals, he received the command of the Austrian contingent in army of the duke of Brunswick, and at Croix-sous-Bois his corps inflicted a reverse on the troops of the French Revolution. In the Netherlands, to which quarter he transferred after Jemappes, he opened the campaign of 1793 with the victory of Aldenhoven and the relief of Maastricht, and on 18 March 1793 proved instrumental in causing the complete defeat of Dumouriez at Neerwinden. Later in the year, however, his victorious career suffered a reverse at Wattignies, and in 1794 he failed in West Flanders against Pichegru. In the course of the campaign. Clerfayt succeeded the duke of Saxe-Coburg in the supreme command, but he failed to make headway against the French, and had to recross the Rhine. The period of the French Revolution in the history of France covers the years between 1789 and 1799, in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo radical restructuring. ... The Battle of Jemappes (November 6, 1792) took place near the town of Jemappes in Hainaut, Belgium, near Mons. ... The Battle of Aldenhoven was fought on October 2, 1794, and resulted in a French victory under General Jourdan against the Austrian army under General Clairfayt. ... Maastricht, also spelled Maestricht, or Mestreech in local language, is a municipality, and capital of the province of Limburg. ... Charles François Dumouriez Charles François Dumouriez ( January 25, 1739 - March 14, 1823) was a French general. ... The Battle of Neerwinden (18 March 1793) took place near the village of Neerwinden in present-day Belgium between the Austrians under Prince Josias of Coburg and the French under General Dumouriez. ... The Battle of Wattignies, during the French Revolutionary Wars, was fought at the village of Wattignies-la-Victoire on October 15 and October 16, Austrians under General Cobourg. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Charles Pichegru (February 16, 1761 _ April 15, 1804), French general, was born at Arbois, or, according to Charles Nodier, at Les Planches, near Lons-le-Saulnier. ... Prince Frederick Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (26 December 1737 - 26 February 1815), a son of Duke Josias Francis of Coburg (German: Koburg) became a famous general of the Holy Roman Empire. ...

In 1795, now field marshal, he commanded on the middle Rhine against Jourdan, and this time the fortune of war changed. Clerfayt beat Jourdan at Höchst and brilliantly relieved Mainz. But Thugut did not approve Clerfayt's action in concluding an armistice with the French, so the field marshal resigned his command and became a member of the Aulic Council in Vienna. He died in 1798. The Rhine canyon (Ruinaulta) in Graubünden in Switzerland Length 1,320 km Elevation of the source Vorderrhein: approx. ... Jean-Baptiste, Count Jourdan (April 29, 1762 - November 23, 1833), was a marshal of France. ... Map of Germany showing Mainz Mainz (French Mayence) is a city in Germany, which is the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... The Aulic Council (from the Latin aula, court in feudal language, in Antiquity a hellenistic type of grand residence, usually private) was originally an executive-judicial council for the Holy Roman Empire. ... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine federal states (Bundesland Wien). ...

A brave and skilful soldier, Clerfayt perhaps achieved more than any other Austrian commander (except the archduke Charles) in the hopeless struggle of small dynastic armies against a French "nation in arms". Archduke Charles Archduke Charles of Austria (Erzherzog Karl) (September 5, 1771 - April 30, 1847) was the younger brother of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. Despite being epileptic, Charles achieved respect both as a commander and as a reformer of Austrias army. ...

See von Vivenot, Thugut, Clerfayt, und Würmser (Vienna, 1869).

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica ( 1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...