View source for Theodor Franz, Count Baillet von Latour

{{Short description|Austrian soldier and statesman}}
{{no footnotes|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Theodor Graf Baillet de Latour
| image         = LatourLitho.jpg
| caption       = Lithograph by [[Josef Kriehuber]]
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|df=y|1780|6|15}}
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|df=y|1848|10|06|1780|06|15}}
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial =
| birth_place  = [[Linz]], [[Archduchy of Austria|Austria]]
| death_place  = [[Vienna]]
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nickname      =
| allegiance    = {{Hungarian Revolution of 1848 participant|Austria}}
| branch        = [[Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars|Imperial and Royal Army]]
| serviceyears  =
| rank          = ''[[Feldzeugmeister]]''
| servicenumber =
| unit          =
| commands      =
| battles       = [[Battle of Marengo|Marengo]]{{spaced ndash}}[[Battle of Ulm|Ulm]]{{spaced ndash}}[[Battle of Dresden|Dresden]]{{spaced ndash}}[[Battle of Leipzig|Leipzig]]
| battles_label =
| awards        = [[Military Order of Maria Theresa]]
| relations     =
| laterwork     = Minister of War
}}
'''Theodor Franz, [[House of Baillet|Count of Baillet von Latour]]''' (15 June 1780{{spaced ndash}}6 October 1848) was an [[Austrian Empire|Austrian]] soldier and statesman. As the Imperial Minister of War, he was killed by a mob at the beginning of the [[Vienna Uprising]].
==Biography==
Latour was born at [[Linz]] the son of Count [[Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour|Maximilian Anton Karl Baillet de Latour]] (1737{{spaced ndash}}1806), a ''[[Generalfeldmarschall|Feldmarschall-Leutnant]]'' in Austrian service during the [[French Revolutionary Wars|Revolutionary Wars]] of [[Walloons|Walloon]] descent. After a military and engineering training at the [[Theresian Military Academy]], he entered the corps of engineers in 1799 and became a member of the general staff of the Austrian [[Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars|Imperial and Royal Army]] in 1804. Latour took part in various military campaigns of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in which he distinguished himself and was highly decorated.
During [[European Restoration]] he filled an array of leadership roles in the military ranks up to a ''[[Feldzeugmeister]]'', and in addition served as the head of the military commission attached to the ''[[Bundesversammlung (German Confederation)|Bundesversammlung]]'' (assembly) of the [[German Confederation]] at Frankfurt, contributed to the design of the fortifications at [[Rastatt]], and finally was director of engineering.
In the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas|Revolutions of 1848]] he was called to head the war ministry in the cabinet of Minister-President Count [[Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont|Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont]], whose direction he saw to without regard to his advanced years. A distinct asserter of [[conservatism]], his efforts especially sought to give the public no cause for unrest. Faced with the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1848|Hungarian Revolution]], Latour backed the loyal forces of Ban [[Josip Jelačić]] and arranged troops to second his campaign. These efforts sparked the [[Vienna Uprising]]: On 6 October 1848 a crowd of students, workers and mutinous soldiers forcibly tried to prevent the troops marching off. In the following street fights, an outraged mob sought Latour out in the war ministry and [[lynching|lynched]] him.
== References ==
* “Latour, Theodor Franz, Graf Baillet von” in ''[[Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie]]'', Band 18 (Leipzig, 1883), S. 16–17. {{in lang|de}}
* [[Carl Schurz]], ''Reminiscences'' (3 volumes), New York: The McClure Company, 1907.  In Chapter VI of Volume I, Schurz recalls Latour's assassination: “minister of war, Count Latour, was hanged to a lamp-post by an infuriated crowd.”
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latour, Theodor Franz, Count Baillet Von}}
[[Category:1780 births]]
[[Category:1848 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Austrian people]]
[[Category:Austrian soldiers]]
[[Category:People of the Revolutions of 1848]]
[[Category:Counts of Baillet-Latour]]
[[Category:Assassinated Austrian politicians]]
[[Category:Austrian Empire commanders of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa]]
[[Category:Politicians from Linz]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Linz]]
[[Category:Politicians assassinated in the 1840s]]