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Franz Xaver Joseph de Lusignan
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Marquis Franz Xaver Joseph de Lusignan from the House of Lusignan (* 23.) June 1753 in Jaca, Aragon; † 23. December 1832 in Eiwanowitz in Hanna (Eiwanowacz, South Moravia) was a Spanish, French, later Austrian officer (field witness) during the Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars and holder of the line infantry regiment No. 16.
Biography
Since the age of eight he was brought up at the Collège de Juilly of the Oratorian monks in Juilly, not far from Paris. Because of his outstanding achievements he received 1769 from King Ludwig XV. without request a position as sous lieutenant in the Languedoc infantry regiment in Corsica, then from 1771 in Toulon. Later that year he served in Austria as an ensign in Ferrari’s No. 14 infantry regiment. He fought in a Freikorps during the Bavarian War of Succession.
During his stay in the Austrian Netherlands, he was promoted to major in 1789. The following year, he distinguished himself in the battle near Liège by repelling the attack of a surplus of Belgian rebels with only a few soldiers. For this he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and in the 23rd promotion of 19 December 1790 awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order.
As a lieutenant colonel, Lusignan commanded 800 infantry soldiers and 100 horsemen in the two-day fighting at Virton, near the border with France. Under his leadership were four companies of the infantry regiment Bender No. 41, four companies of the Walloon Le Loup hunters, and an escadron of the Esterhazy Hussar regiment No. 32. On October 22, he was attacked at Latour by Jean-Baptiste Cyrus de Timbrune, Comte de Valence's vanguard of the Ardennes Army with a total of 5000 soldiers, 3500 infantrymen, 1500 cavalrymen and six field guns. His troops suffered defeat, the battle continued the next day at Virton, where he was defeated again.
He fought in the Battle of Jemappes in November 1792. As commander of the rear guard, he was captured two weeks later during Archduke Charles' retreat from northeastern Italy by the French, who held him imprisoned until a prisoner exchange. In 1794, the Marquis became colonel and commander of the Infantry Regiment Klebek No. 14. In 1795 he fought on the Upper Rhine under the command of Dagobert Graf von Wurmser and conquered a Redoute during the battles for the Mainz lines.
On 28 February 1797 with rank of 24. In May 1796, the Marquis was promoted to Major General and in January 1797, the Commanding General, Joseph Alvinczy of Berberek Lusignan, gave him the command of the first column of the right wing, with four battalions and 12 companies of light infantry, to relieve the siege of Mantua in the fourth attempt. For this he had to lead his soldiers along the heights of Monte Baldo. During the Battle of Rivol