DAUN, dOHD, LEOPOLD JOSEPH MARIA, Count von (I705-(16). An Austrian field-marshal and commander-in-chief of the Austrian forces dur ing the Seven Years' War. He was born Septem ber 24, 1705, in Vienna, and entered early upon his military career as an officer in the regiment of his father. In the Turkish campaigns of 1737-39, and in the War of the Austrian Succession, he found opportunities for distinction and rose rap idly in rank, being made a field-marshal and privy councilor after the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. lie was the first director of the military academy at Wiener-Neustadt, and introduced many reforms in the organization of the Austrian Army. In 1757 he succeeded to the chief command. lie took the field against Frederick the Great in Bohemia, and, after a hard-fought battle at Nolin, forced the King to retire from that coun try. He and Prince Charles of Lorraine were thor °uglily beaten by the King of Prussia at Leutben on December 5 of the same year. On October 14, 1758, he gained another victory over Frederick at Hochkirch, and, but for the late arrival of the Prince of Baden-Durla•h with reinforcements, he would probably have annihilated the Prussian army. Again, on .November 25, 1759, at .flaxen, he
compelled the Prussian General Fink to surren der. with 11.000 men. He won no other important victories, and was defeated by Frederick at Tor gall (1760), where he was wounded for the third time upon the field of battle. Ile was brave and a skillful strategist, but too deliberate in his movements and no match for his alert an tagonist. He won victories without following them up, while Frederick. though losing battles, nearly always derived signal advantages from his cam paigns. The Peace of Ilubertsiburg in 1763 closed Dann's act ice military eareer. He lied in Vienna, February 5, 176G. Consult Lehr)? and Tlmte» des Grafen Leopold von Daun (Frank fort and Leipzig, 1759-60). See SEVEN YEARS' WAR.