Ludwig Anton, Count Baillet de Latour

Ludwig Anton, Count Baillet de Latour
Baillet de Latour coat of arms
Born12 February 1753 (1753-02-12)
Virton, Belgium
Died1 September 1836 (1836-10) (aged 83)
Brussels, Belgium
AllegianceHabsburg monarchy Habsburg monarchy
Austrian Empire Austrian Empire
France France
Service/branchInfantry
Years of service1767–1814
RankFeldzeugmeister
Battles/wars
AwardsOrder of Saint Louis KC, 1814

Ludwig Wilhelm Anton, Count Baillet de Latour-Merlemont (12 February 1753 - 1 September 1836) served as an Austrian general during the French Revolutionary Wars. From a noble family, he joined the Austrian army as a volunteer in 1767 and fought in the War of the Bavarian Succession as a commissioned officer. He was promoted to command an infantry regiment in 1788 and fought in the Austro-Turkish War. He became a Generalmajor in 1794 during the War of the First Coalition against France. He fought in the Rhine campaign of 1795 and led a division in numerous battles during the Rhine campaign of 1796. He was known as Count Baillet or Count Baillet-Merlemont to distinguish him from his higher-ranking older brother Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour. He was promoted Feldmarschall-Leutnant in 1797.

During the War of the Second Coalition, Baillet again led a division in several battles in Germany. During the Ulm campaign in the War of the Third Coalition, he and his division were surrounded and captured in October 1805. From 1807 to 1810, he was the inhaber (proprietor) of an Austrian infantry regiment. He was promoted Feldzeugmeister in 1808. He suddenly resigned his commission in 1810 and transferred his loyalty to France, serving as a General of Division. He retired from the French army in 1814 and died at Brussels in 1836.[1]