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Josias of Saxe-Coburg

Josias von Wetten, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (26 December 1737-26 February 1815) was a general of the Austrian Empire who was a veteran of the Seven Years' War, Austro-Turkish War, and the French Revolutionary Wars. He was the winner of the Battle of Neerwinden in 1793 and the loser of the Battle of Fleurus a year later.

Biography[]

Wetten was the son of Francis Josias of Saxe-Coburg and Anna-Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and was the great-uncle of Leopold I of Belgium. In 1759 Prince Josias fought in the Seven Years' War and was a Field Marshal by the age of 36. Saxe-Coburg won the Battle of Rymnik in 1787 in the war against the Ottoman Empire, and he married a Moldavian commoner named Theres Stoffreck. 

In 1793 he was given command of the Austrian army in the Austrian Netherlands during the French Revolutionary Wars and won a crushing victory over Charles Dumouriez's French army at the Battle of Neerwinden. However, due to disunity and wrong positioning he lost the Battle of Fleurus in 1794 and not only did he abandon the Netherlands, but he also resigned field command.

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