Count Wirich Philipp von Daun

Count Wirich Philipp von Daun (October 19 1669 - July 30 1741) was an Austrian Field Marshal in the War of Spanish Succession, and father of the better known Leopold Josef Graf Daun.

He was born in Vienna to Wilhelm Graf Daun, also a Field Marshal. Wirich served in the War of Spanish Succession under Eugene of Savoy, and gained his glory in the successful defence of Turin in 1706. He also conquered Gaeta on September 30 1707.

After the war, in 1713 he became first Austrian Viceroy of Naples.
In 1718 he lost the Battle of Milazzo during the War of the Quadruple Alliance, when Spain invaded neighbouring Sicily. In 1724 he became interim Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands in the absence of Eugene of Savoy, where the situation was very difficult after the mismanagement by the previous interim-governor Hercule-Louis Turinetti, marquis of Prié. Daun did not succeed in regaining the sympathy of the Belgians, and was replaced by Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria. From 1725 until 1736 he was Governor of Milan.

Von Daun died at Vienna, and was is buried in the Georgskapelle of the Augustinerkirche, together with his son.

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