Laval Graf Nugent von Westmeath (November 3, 1777 - August 21, 1862) was a soldier of Irish birth who fought in the armies of Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 and the Two Sicilies.

Biography

Born at Ballynacor, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Nugent was the son of Count Michael Anton Nugent, Governor of Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

.

In 1793 he joined the Austrian Army, becoming Colonel in 1807, and Chief of Staff of the Army corps of Archduke Johann of Austria

Archduke Johann of Austria

Archduke John of Austria was a member of the Habsburg dynasty, an Austrian field marshal and German Imperial regent .-Biography:...

 in 1809. In 1813 he led the campaign against Viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais

Eugène de Beauharnais

Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Prince Français, Prince of Venice, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and 1st Prince of Eichstätt ad personam was the first child and only son of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la...

, separatin French units in Dalmatia

Dalmatia

Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

 and simultaneously joining the English fleet, thus liberating Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

, Istria

Istria

Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...

 and the Po valley

Po Valley

The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain is a major geographical feature of Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of 46,000 km² including its Venetic extension not actually related to the Po River basin; it runs from the Western Alps to the...

. In 1815 he commanded the right wing of the Austrian Army in Italy, liberated Rome, and defeated Joachim Murat

Joachim Murat

Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...

 at the Battle of Ceprano

Ceprano

Ceprano is a town and comune in the province of Frosinone, in Ciociaria traditional area, part of the Lazio region of central Italy.It is located south of Rome, and c. 127 km north of Naples.-History:...

 and the Battle of San Germano

Battle of San Germano

The Battle of San Germano was the final battle in the Neapolitan War between an Austrian force commanded by Laval Nugent von Westmeath and the King of Naples, Joachim Murat...

.

In 1816 Nugent was given the title of prince by Pope Pius VII

Pope Pius VII

Pope Pius VII , born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was a monk, theologian and bishop, who reigned as Pope from 14 March 1800 to 20 August 1823.-Early life:...

. In 1817 he entered the service of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies

Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies

Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...

. After the outbreak of the Carbonari rebellion

Carbonari

The Carbonari were groups of secret revolutionary societies founded in early 19th-century Italy. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in Spain, France, Portugal and possibly Russia. Although their goals often had a patriotic and liberal focus, they lacked a...

 in 1820, he returned to serve in the Austrian Army. In 1848 he led an Army Corps under Joseph Radetzky von Radetz

Joseph Radetzky von Radetz

Johann Josef Wenzel Graf Radetzky von Radetz was a Czech nobleman and Austrian general, immortalised by Johann Strauss I's Radetzky March...

 against the Piedmontese

Kingdom of Sardinia

The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...

, in the course of the First Italian War of Independence

First Italian War of Independence

The First Italian War of Independence was fought in 1848 between the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Austrian Empire. The war saw main battles at Custoza and Novara in which the Austrians under Radetzky managed to defeat the Piedmontese....

, and also against the Hungarian Revolution of 1848

Hungarian Revolution of 1848

The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was one of many of the European Revolutions of 1848 and closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas...

. He received the title of Field Marshal

Field Marshal

Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...

 in 1849.

Nugent died on 22 August 1862 in the Bosiljevo Castle, near Karlovac

Karlovac

Karlovac is a city and municipality in central Croatia. The city proper has a population of 49,082, while the municipality has a population of 59,395 inhabitants .Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County...

, and his body was later transferred to a sarcophagus in the Doric temple "Peace for the Hero", in Trsat

Trsat

Trsat is part of the city of Rijeka, Croatia. It has a historic castle or fortress in a strategic location and several historic churches. The Croatian noble Prince Vuk Krsto Frankopan is buried in one of the churches. Trsat is a steep hill, 138 m high, rising over the gorge of the Rječina river,...

 above Rijeka

Rijeka

Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...

, next to the sarcophagus of his wife.

Sources

• Laval, Graf Nugent von Westmeath. In Meyers Konversations-Lexikon. 5. Auflage, 1896.
• Nugent, Laval Graf von. In ADB
  Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
  Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie is one of the most important and most comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language....
  
  . Band 24. Duncker & Humblodt, Leipzig 1875-1912. Online: http://mdz10.bib-bvb.de/~db/bsb00008382/images/index.html?seite=51
• Nugent-Westmeath, Laval Graf. In Constantin von Wurzbach, Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich. 20. Band. Wien 1869. Online: http://www.literature.at/webinterface/library/ALO-BOOK_V01?objid=11772&page=436&zoom=3&ocr=