
Johann Peter Beaulieu (26 October 1725-22 December 1819) was a Walloon general under the Holy Roman Empire who fought in the Italian Campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars. He was defeated by French general Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Lodi, leading to his replacement by Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser.
Biography[]
Beaulieu was born in Jodoigne, Austrian Netherlands, Austrian Empire on 26 October 1725 to a family of Walloons. He joined the Austrian army in 1743 and was blooded in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War, suffering a wound at the Battle of Kolin. From 1792 to 1795, he served as a general during the French Revolutionary Wars in Flanders, and he defeated Armand Louis de Gontaut at Mons on 29 April 1792. He also fought at the Battle of Jemappes and the Battle of Fleurus, and was deployed to Italy in 1796.
After being defeated in an attempt to recapture Mantua from the French, Beaulieu ordered a withdrawal. French general Napoleon Bonaparte and a large French army pursued him and gave battle at the town of Lodi. Beaulieu and his General Staff retreated while Karl Philipp Sebottendorf's rear guard fought off the French, but Bonaparte led a massive charge of infantry and cavalry that routed the Austrians. After the fall of Mantua, Beaulieu was replaced by Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, and he retired to Linz, Austria, where he died in 1819.