Franz Josef von Hallwyl

Franz Josef von Hallwyl (2 September 1719 – 6 April or 7 May 1785) was a Swiss mercenary in the service of France who reached the rank of maréchal de camp.

Biography

Hallwyl was born on 2 September 1719 in Solothurn, in the Swiss canton of Solothurn, into the noble Hallwyl family.[1] He was the son Abraham Gabriel von Hallwyl, a lieutenant-colonel in French service and commander of Thann, and Anna Franziska de Tayac, a native of Thann.[1] Hallwyl began his military career in 1733, as a cadet in the French Army's Royal Piedmont cavalry regiment.[1] Appointed ensign in the Swiss Guards in 1740, Hallwyl served as an officer in the War of the Austrian Succession, seeing combat in Italy, Flanders and Germany.[1] He was made a knight of the Order of Saint Louis for his distinguished service at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745.[1]

In 1752, Hallwyl was made colonel of the Karrer Regiment, a Swiss mercenary infantry unit, which was henceforth known as the Hallwyl Regiment.[1] He remained with the colonel's company at the depot in Rochefort while the rest of the regiment was stationed overseas in Saint-Domingue.[1] Hallwyl married Marie Thérèse de Mydorge, likely from Aix-en-Provence, in 1757.[1] He was promoted to brigadier in 1760, to maréchal de camp in 1762, and was created a French count.[2][1]

After the dissolution his regiment in 1763, Hallwyl received an annual pension of 20,000 livres from the French Crown.[1] King Stanisław II August of Poland made him a knight of the Order of the White Eagle in 1777.[1] In 1782, Hallwyl was appointed military commander of Colmar, where he died on 6 April or 7 May 1785, aged 66.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thomas Frei: "Franz Josef von Hallwyl" in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 10 October 2007.
  2. ^ Lutz, Markus (1812). Nekrolog denkwürdiger Schweizer aus dem achtzehnten Jahrhundert. Aarau: Heinrich Remigius Saurländer, pp. 204-205.
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