Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg

Prince Frederick Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (December 26, 1737-February 26, 1815), was a famous general of the Habsburg Emperors.

Born at Schloß Ehrenburg in Coburg, he was the youngest son of Duke Francis Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Anna Sophie, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

Josias joined the Habsburg military as Colonel in 1759, participated in the Seven Years' War, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Field Marshal by 1773. In the Russo-Turkish-Austrian war of 1788, he commanded an army corps under Freiherr von Laudon, occupying Moldavia, capturing Khotyn in Bessarabia and sharing in Aleksandr Suvorov's victory in the Battle of Focşani (August 1, 1789). Having completely beaten the main Ottoman army under Grand Vizier Koca Yusuf Pasha in the Battle of Rymnik, he captured the greater part of Wallachia, including Bucharest, being welcomed by the population after the flight of Prince Nicholas Mavrogenes ("see History of Bucharest"), and soon after becoming a Field Marshal.

During the occupation of Moldavia, Josias met Therese Stroffeck, a commoner. On September 24, 1789, in the town of Roman, she bore him a son, called Frederick. Josias married with Therese after their return to Coburg, on December 24 and recognized his son. Frederick was ennobled by the Austrian Emperor on August 25, 1808 and on February 17, 1853 the Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha created him "Freiherr von Rohmann", named after the place of his birth. Frederick however, as the child of a morganatic marriage, and his descendants were barred of the succession of the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

In 1793 and 1794 he commanded the army in the Austrian Netherlands. Due to his victories in the French Revolutionary Wars, in the Battle of Neerwinden (1793) and the Battle of Aldenhoven (1794), he returned the region to Austrian control. Entering France, he took Condé, Valenciennes, Quesnoy and Landrecies. However, due to unfortunate positioning, partly due to disunity amongst the Allied powers and their forces, he suffered a string of minor setbacks in front of the Revolutionary Army on the Sambre, followed by a decisive defeat at Fleurus (26 June).

He thereupon abandoned the Netherlands, which Habsburg diplomats had already decided to give up. Angered by this, and openly criticizing the policies of the Baron Thugut, Josias resigned as Field Marshal (the Count of Clerfayt assumed command in his place) and retired to Coburg, where he later died.

References

*"Meyers Konversations-Lexikon" of 1888-1889. In turn, it cites:
**A. von Witzleben, "Prinz Friedrich J. von Koburg-Saalfeld, Herzog zu Sachsen", Berlin, 1859