Franz von Mercy | |
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| Born | 1597 |
| Died | (1645-08-03)3 August 1645 (aged 48) Alerheim, Bavaria |
| Resting place | Ingolstadt 48°45′49″N11°25′29″E / 48.76361°N 11.42472°E /48.76361; 11.42472 |
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| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Holy Roman Empire Bavaria |
| Branch | Imperial Army |
| Years of service | 1618–1645 |
| Rank | Generalfeldmarschall |
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Franz Freiherr von Mercy (or Merci), Lord of Mandre and Collenburg (c. 1597 – 3 August 1645), was a German field marshal in theThirty Years' War who fought for the Imperial side and was commander-in-chief of the Bavarian army from 1643 to 1645. In that role, he destroyed a French army atTuttlingen (1643), stalemated another atFreiburg (1644), destroyed a third French army atHerbsthausen (1645) and was killed at theSecond Battle of Nördlingen (1645).
Franz von Mercy was born atLongwy around 1597. His parents were Pierre Ernest de Mercy († 1619), governor of Longwy and Chamberlain of DukeCharles III of Lorraine, and Anne du Hautoy. Of his many siblings, his brothers Heinrich (1596–1659) and Kaspar (1600–1644) also became generals in the Imperial or Bavarian army. Franz entered military service most likely in the army of theCatholic League around the beginning of theThirty Years' War and changed over to imperial service later on. In 1625 he held the rank of captain in the regiment of Hannibal von Schauenburg and in 1626 he was mentioned as chamberlain of ArchdukeLeopold V of Tyrol.[1]
By 1630 he had attained the rank ofObristwachtmeister, and after distinguishing himself at the firstBattle of Breitenfeld, where the Imperial army was destroyed and Mercy wounded, he commanded a regiment of foot with the rank ofObrist on theRhine.[2] He repelled aSwedishattack led byGustaf Horn onKonstanz in 1633. For his brother Ludwig (born 1614), who died of his injuries at the age of 19 on 6 October 1633 shortly after the last attack by the Swedes, Franz von Mercy had an artistic bronze epitaph made in theKonstanz Minster, which is still preserved today.[1] On 2 March 1634, Mercy was taken prisoner in a battle nearThann against the Rhine CountOtto Louis of Salm-Kyrburg-Mörchingen. He was exchanged and from April onward he defendedRheinfelden against a Swedish siege, surrendering on 29 August after running out of food.[3]
He became a general with the rank ofGeneral-Feldwachtmeister, and in 1635, 1636 and 1637 took part in further campaigns under command of DukeCharles IV of Lorraine on the Rhine andDoubs.[2] In 1636 the Imperial army stationed in Lorraine and Burgundy underMatthias Gallas planned an attack onParis from the south, but was stopped by French troops underBernard of Saxe-Weimar. In the course of these campaigns Mercy took part in the siege ofColmar and in the successful relief of the French-besiegedDole in 1636. He besiegedHéricourt unsuccessfully from 2 to 26 January 1637 and in June 1637 was defeated by Bernard atGray with the loss of 1,000 men.[4][5][6]
In September 1638, theelector of Bavaria made himGeneralfeldzeugmeister in the army ofBavaria, then the second largest army inGermany.[4] During 1639, he screened the Imperial siege ofHohentwiel Castle under field marshalGeleen against attacks from theBreisgau. Confronted with a French-Weimarian incursion of the Lower Palatinate under theDuke of Longueville, Mercy and Geleen turned north, crossed the Rhine atSpeyer and entrenched themselves in front of Longueville's army. In November, Longueville entered theRheingau but was soon pushed back by Mercy and Geleen who ended their campaign with regainingAlzey andBacharach.[7] The following year, Mercy took part at the campaign of the main Imperial army underArchduke Leopold Wilhelm andOttavio Piccolomini against the Swedes underJohan Banér. Mercy helped prevent the Swedes from invading Franconia. Repelling the Swedes and their allies toHesse-Kassel, the Imperials and Bavarians laid in camp nearFritzlar for weeks in the immediate vicinity of their opponents. As both sides avoided a major battle, the Archduke concluded his campaign with capturingHöxter at theWeser river in October. Mercy himself returned to south-west Germany in late autumn.[8]
Mercy protected theImperial Diet inRegensburg with his troops from a Swedish attack by Banér in January 1641. When the thawing of the icy Danube stopped the Swedish advance, Imperial and Bavarian troops rallied and forced the Swedes to retreat in flight. In pursuit of the Swedes into Bohemia, the vanguard under Mercy's brother Kaspar repulsed the Swedish rearguard under Erik Slang intoNeunburg vorm Wald, where they capitulated to the Imperial-Bavarian army under Piccolomini and Franz von Mercy after several days resistance. Banér escaped just ahead of Mercy and Piccolomini over thePreßnitz Pass into Saxony. Continuing on the heels of the Swedes, Mercy had to hand over command to his superiorJoachim Christian von Wahl atZeitz on 1 May.[9] Without Banér, who died en route, the Swedes joined the Lüneburg army siegingWolfenbüttel. In an attempt to relieve the fortress, Mercy ambushed and captured 500 besiegers on 28 June. The next day, he commanded the left wing inbattle against the siege army, who could not driven from their positions. Only after Imperial and Bavarian forces had captured numerous towns in the surrounding countryside, their opponents abandoned the siege of Wolfenbüttel in September. Until winter, Mercy took part in the capture ofEinbeck and a futile siege ofGöttingen in November.[10]
In 1642 he received the command of the Bavarian troops inSwabia. In the course of the year he drove the opposing troops from Swabia and parts of the Breisgau. He was appointed a member of theFruitbearing Society byLouis I, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen. Mercy was now considered one of the foremost soldiers in Europe, and was madeGeneralfeldmarschall on 31 May 1643.[4] In 1643 he prevented the Weimarian army under the French MarshalGuébriant from invading Bavaria. As the successor to Wahl, who was in poor health, he also assumed command of the entire Bavarian army. He destroyed the FrenchMarshal Rantzau's Weimarian army at theBattle of Tuttlingen (24–25 November), capturing the marshal and 7,000 men.[5]
In 1644, Mercy opposed the French armies, now under theGreat Condé and theVicomte de Turenne. He capturedFreiburg and subsequently held it in an inconclusive but bloodybattle in August. On 2 May 1645, he defeated Turenne atMergentheim. Later in 1645, fighting once more against Condé and Turenne, Mercy was killed by a musket ball at theBattle of Nördlingen (or Allerheim) on 3 August while leading reinforcements to the focus of the action. On the spot where he fell, a memorial stone with the inscriptionSta, viator, heroem calcas! (Latin:"Halt, traveler; you tread upon a hero!") was set up, allegedly at Condé's instruction.[5] His body was first brought toDonauwörth on an artillery wagon and then toIngolstadt the next day, where he was buried in the Church of Saint Maurice.[5] The French MarshalGramont, who had been captured at the battle, reports of the exuberant reception that Mercy received from the people of the city who had hurried to the gates. He was very popular and highly regarded in Ingolstadt, where he had been the fortress commander and governor.
Mercy was married three times. His first wife was Anna Margareta Bonn von Wachenheim who died around 1628 and made Mercy her sole heir. In 1630, Mercy married Anna Margareta von Schauenburg († 1636), a daughter of Johann Rainer von Schauenburg, the Landvogt ofOrtenau. They had at least one daughter, Claudia (1631 – 1708) who later married Graf Bonaventuravon Fugger (1619 – 1693), the first son ofOtto Heinrich Fugger. The last wife of Franz von Mercy was Maria Magdalena von Flachsland who gave birth to most of his children, including three sons and one daughter who survived their childhood. All sons joined either the Austrian or the bavarian military. The first son Max Leopold inherited Mercy's own BavarianRegiment and later became imperial Generalfeldwachtmeister. The second son Peter Ernst von Mercy died in Austrian service deadly wounded in theSiege of Buda 1686, his son wasCount Claude Florimond de Mercy, generally recognized as the last male descendant of Franz von Mercy. The third son Ferdinand Franz died in 1683 as commander of the Bavarian fortress of Ingolstadt.[1]
Regarding personal names:Freiherr is a former title (translated as'Baron'). In Germany since 1919, it forms part of family names. The feminine forms areFreifrau andFreiin.
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