- Michael von Melas
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Michael von Melas
Grave of Melas and his wife Josefa in Týnec nad LabemMichael Friedrich Benedikt Baron von Melas (12 May 1729 – 31 May 1806) was a Transylvanian-born field marshal of Greek descent for the Austrian Empire during the Napoleonic Wars.
He was born in Radeln, Transylvania (nowadays Roadeş, part of Buneşti commune, Romania) in 1729 and joined the Austrian army at age 17. He served in the Seven Years' War as aide de camp for Leopold Josef Graf Daun. He was promoted to colonel in 1781. He fought on the lower Rhine in 1794 and the middle Rhine in 1795.
He later led the Austrian army in Italy during Napoleon Bonaparte's campaigns in Italy, part of the War of the Second Coalition. Serving under Russian field marshal Alexander Suvorov, who commanded Second Coalition forces, he commanded Austrian forces in victories at the battles of Cassano, Trebbia and Novi and the Siege of Genoa, and came near another victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Marengo before his handing over control to a subordinate following injuries, and the arrival of General Louis Desaix, affected the outcome. The day after the battle he signed the Convention of Alexandria, ceding control of Italy up to the Mincio River to the French. The Austrians then withdrew.
Melas was then commander in Bohemia.
Later life
Melas retired in 1803 and died in 1806 in Týnec nad Labem, Bohemia.
External links
Categories:- 18th-century Austrian people
- 18th-century Hungarian people
- 18th-century Greek people
- Austrian Field Marshals
- Austrian soldiers
- Hungarian soldiers
- Austrian Empire military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars
- Austrian nobility
- Hungarian nobility
- Hungarian people of Greek descent
- Austrian people of Greek descent
- Austrian people of Hungarian descent
- People from Braşov County
- 1729 births
- 1806 deaths
- Austrian people stubs
- European military personnel stubs
- Hungarian history stubs
- Greek people stubs
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