Early Career
Born in Dresden in the Electorate of Saxony on 29 August 1756, Bellegarde first served in the Saxon army. Transferring his services to Austria in 1771, Bellegarde became an Oberst (colonel) in 1785 and distinguished himself greatly leading dragoons in the Austro-Turkish War (1787-1791). After being appointed a General-Major in 1792, he fought in the War of the First Coalition in the Netherlands campaigns of 1793-1794. After winning promotion to Feldmarshal-Leutnant, he served on the staff of the Archduke Charles in the fighting in Germany. He accompanied Charles to Italy in the following year. He was also employed in the congress of Rastatt.
In 1799 Bellegarde commanded a corps in eastern Switzerland, connecting the armies of Archduke Charles and Aleksandr Suvorov, and finally joined the latter in north Italy. He conducted the siege of the citadel of Alessandria, and was present at the decisive Battle of Novi. After the Austrian defeat at the Battle of Marengo (in which his brother Friedrich Bellegarde commanded a brigade), Emperor Francis II of Austria appointed Bellegarde to command the army in Italy with the rank of General of Cavalry. On 25 December, the French defeated Bellegarde at the Battle of Pozzolo.
Read more about this topic: Count Heinrich Von Bellegarde
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or career:
“...he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea.”
—Bible: New Testament, Mark 6:48.
“Work-family conflicts—the trade-offs of your money or your life, your job or your child—would not be forced upon women with such sanguine disregard if men experienced the same career stalls caused by the-buck-stops-here responsibility for children.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (20th century)