At the age of sixteen, Raimondo Montecuccoli began as a private soldier under his uncle, Count Ernesto Raimondo Montecuccoli, a distinguished Austrian general.
19 Facts About Raimondo Montecuccoli
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Raimondo Montecuccoli was severely wounded at the storming of New Brandenburg, and again in the same year at the first battle of Breitenfeld, where he fell into the hands of the Swedes.
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Raimondo Montecuccoli was again wounded at Lutzen in 1632, and on his recovery was made a major in his uncle's regiment.
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Raimondo Montecuccoli did good service at the first battle of Nordlingen, and at the storming of Kaiserslautern in the following year won his colonelcy by a feat of arms of unusual brilliance, a charge through the breach at the head of his heavy cavalry.
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Raimondo Montecuccoli fought in Pomerania, Bohemia and Saxony, and in 1639 he was taken prisoner at Melnik and detained for two and a half years in Stettin and Weimar.
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Raimondo Montecuccoli was appointed to Generalfeldwachtmeister and allowed to temporarily leave the Imperial army in Winter 1642 to fight in the First War of Castro as cavalry commander for the Duke of Modena.
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For some years after the Peace of Westphalia, Raimondo Montecuccoli was chiefly concerned with the business of the Hofkriegsrat, though he went to Flanders and England as the representative of the emperor, and to Sweden as the envoy of the pope to Queen Christina, and at Modena his lance was victorious in a great tourney.
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Raimondo Montecuccoli's army participated in the struggle in Denmark against the invading Swedes, along with Polish troops under Stefan Czarniecki, Frederick William of Brandenburg's army and Danish forces.
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From 1661 to 1664, Raimondo Montecuccoli defended Austria against the Ottoman Empire with inferior numbers.
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Raimondo Montecuccoli's actions were not only hindered by lack of supplies or the overwhelming numbers of the Ottomans but by the Emperor's orders to only risk battle if there was the possibility that Vienna could get in danger.
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Raimondo Montecuccoli was given the Order of the Golden Fleece, and he became president of the Hofkriegsrat and director of artillery in 1668.
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Raimondo Montecuccoli devoted much time to compiling his various works on military history and science.
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Raimondo Montecuccoli opposed the progress of the French arms under Louis XIV, and when the inevitable war broke out he received command of the Imperial forces.
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Raimondo Montecuccoli retired from the army when, in 1674, the Great Elector was named commander in chief, but the brilliant successes of Turenne in the winter of 1674 and 1675 brought him back.
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For months the two famous commanders manoeuvred against each other in the Rhine valley, but on the eve of a decisive battle at Salzbach, Turenne was killed and Raimondo Montecuccoli promptly invaded Alsace, where he engaged in another war of manoeuvre with the Great Conde.
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The rest of Raimondo Montecuccoli's life was spent in military administration and literary and scientific work at Vienna.
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Usually, it is evaluated that as a general, Raimondo Montecuccoli shared with Turenne and Conde the first place among European soldiers of his time.
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In Croatian historiography Raimondo Montecuccoli is mainly seen in a rather negative light for his roles in Austro-Turkish War.
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The collected Opere di Raimondo Montecuccoli was published at Milan, Turin and Venice, and included political essays and poetry.