Johann Joseph Philipp Graf Harrach (

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, 22 October 1678 -

, 8 August 1764) was an Imperial Field Marshal and from 1739 to 1762, President of the

Hofkriegsrat The ''Hofkriegsrat'' (or Aulic War Council, sometimes Imperial War Council) established in 1556 was the central military administrative authority of the Habsburg monarchy until 1848 and the predecessor of the Austro-Hungarian Ministry of War. Th ...

(Imperial War Council).

Biography

Johann Joseph Philipp Graf Harrach came from the old Bohemian noble family of

Harrach The House of Harrach is the name of an old and influential German nobility, Austro-German noble family, which was also part of the Bohemian nobility. The ''Grafen'' (Counts) of Harrach were among the most prominent families in the Habsburg Empire ...

. He was the youngest son of Ferdinand Bonaventura I von Harrach (1637 - 1706), an important Austrian diplomat during the reign of Emperor Leopold I and Imperial Ambassador in Spain. His elder brothers were Franz Anton, who became Bishop of Vienna and Archbishop of Salzburg, and Aloys Thomas, Viceroy of Naples.

Military career

Johann Philipp joined the Imperial Army and did his first military service in the War of the Spanish Succession. In the Battle of Cassano (16 August 1705) he took part as commander of an infantry regiment. As a Oberstlieutenant, he fought with distinction at the

Battle of Calcinato The Battle of Calcinato took place near the town of Calcinato in Lombardy, Italy on 19 April 1706 during the War of the Spanish Succession between a French-led force under the duc de Vendôme and an Imperial army under Graf von Reventlow. I ...

(17 April 1706). During the retreat, he held the advancing French army with his Herberstein regiment and six grenadier companies at the bridge over the Chiese River, until his own defeated troops could be regrouped and brought back into action. When the enemy tried to bypass the position, he was able to thwart that plan.
After winning the

Battle of Turin The siege of Turin took place from June to September 1706, during the War of the Spanish Succession. A French army led by Louis de la Feuillade besieged the Savoyard capital of Turin, whose relief by Prince Eugene of Savoy has been called th ...

(7 September 1706), Prince Eugene sent him to Vienna with the news of his victory, because of his services during the campaign. In 1708 Harrach was promoted to Lieutenant Fieldmarshal. He fought until the end of the war and the

Treaty of Rastatt The Treaty of Rastatt was a peace treaty between Kingdom of France, France and Archduchy of Austria, Austria that was concluded on 7 March 1714 in the Margraviate of Baden, Baden city of Rastatt to end the War of the Spanish Succession between bo ...

(1714), including in the battle at Mons, in the Dauphiné and in the Black Forest. In 1716, he fought as Feldzeugmeister in the

Battle of Peterwardein The Battle of Petrovaradin also known as the Battle of Peterwardein, took place on 5 August 1716 during the Austro-Turkish War when the Ottoman army besieged the Habsburg-controlled fortress of Petrovaradin on the Military Frontier of the Ha ...

against the Turks, again under the supreme command of Prince Eugene. He also participated in the

Siege of Temeşvar (1716) The siege of Temeşvar took place from 31 August to 12 October 1716 during the Austro-Turkish War of 1716-1718. The Habsburg army led by Prince Eugene of Savoy, who had just won a crushing victory at Petrovaradin, managed to capture the fort ...

and the

Siege of Belgrade (1717) The siege of Belgrade was the capture by the Habsburg forces under the command of Prince Eugene of Savoy of the strategically-important city of Belgrade from the Ottoman Empire. It took place during the Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718), barel ...

. In 1723 Harrach was promoted to Fieldmarshal.

Diplomatic career

in 1739 Emperor Charles VI appointed him President of the Imperial War Council, an office he held during 23 years, until 1762.
Johann Philipp Graf Harrach died on 8 August 1764 at the age of 85 in Vienna.
As he was also commander of the Austrian province of the Teutonic Order since 1733, a grave monument for him was erected in the Church of the Teutonic Order, Vienna.

Sources

* * ''Die Hofkriegsraths-Präsidenten und Kriegsminister der k. k. österreichischen Armee.'' Verlag des militär-wissenschaftlichen Vereins, Wien 1874. *

Bernhard von Poten Karl Georg Heinrich Bernhard von Poten (8 August 1828 – 22 November 1909), known as Bernhard von Poten, was a royal Prussian colonel best known for his military writing. Family and life Poten was born in Celle into a bourgeois family of offi ...

(Hrsg.): ''Handwörterbuch der gesamten Militärwissenschaften.'' (Reprint d. Ausg. v. 1878, Verlag von Velhagen und Klasing, Bielefeld und Leipzig, Band 4), Archiv Verlag, Braunschweig o. J. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrach, Johann Philipp 1678 births 1764 deaths 18th-century Austrian military personnel Diplomats from Vienna Counts of Austria Nobility from Vienna Field marshals of the Holy Roman Empire Harrach family Austrian army commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718)