Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/212

 206 LAUDON LAUENBURG The Florence branch of the Memphis and Charleston railroad terminates at the county seat. The chief productions in 1870 were 24,126 bushels of wheat, 447,155 of Indian corn, 12,526 of oats, and 5,457 bales of cotton. There were 2,380 horses, 1,115 mules and asses, 2,964 milch cows, 4,288 other cattle, 5,984 sheep, and 16,196 swine. Capital, Florence. II. An E. county of Mississippi, bordering on Alabama, and drained by branches of the Chickasawha river ; area, 700 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 13,464, of whom 6,411 were colored. The Mobile and Ohio, the Alabama and Chatta- nooga, the Alabama Central, and the Vicksburg and Meridian railroads traverse it. The chief productions in 1870 were 140,250 bushels of Indian corn, 23,902 of sweet potatoes, and 3,683 bales of cotton. There were 895 horses, 561 mules and asses, 2,040 milch cows, 4,218 other cattle, 2,314 sheep, and 7,276 swine. Capital, Marion. III. A W. county of Tennes- see, separated from Arkansas by the Mississip- pi, bounded N. in part by Forked Deer river, and S. by the Big Hatchie ; area, about 350 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 10,838, of whom,484 were colored. The surface is level or undulating, and the soil fertile. The chief productions in 1870 were 18,669 bushels of wheat, 443,809 of Indian corn, and 6,337 bales of cotton. There were 1,992 horses, 1,123 mules and ass- es, 2,799 milch cows, 4,727 other cattle, 3,118 sheep, and 22,086 swine. Capital, Eipley. LAUDON, or London, Gideon Ernst, baron, an Austrian general, born at Trotzen, Livonia, Oct. 10, 1716, died at Neutitzschein, Moravia, July 14, 1790. He was descended from an an- cient Scottish family, settled for several cen- turies in Livonia, and at 15 years of age enter- ed the Russian military service, from which he retired after the peace of Belgrade in 1739, with the rank of lieutenant. Having unsuccess- fully applied to enter the service of Frederick the Great of Prussia, he went to Vienna, and received in 1742 a captain's commission in Trenck's corps of pandours, and fought with reputation in the campaigns of Bavaria and the Rhine in 1742 -'4. At an affair of outposts near Saverne he was wounded and taken pris- oner, but was exchanged, and participated in the second Silesian war against Prussia. Disgust- ed with the cruelties of his commander, he left the corps, and after the peace of Dresden (1745) remained for several years in obscurity and poverty. Having at length procured a major's commission in a regiment stationed on the Turkish frontier, he married, embraced the Catholic religion, and devoted much time to the study of mathematics and tactics. At the breaking out of the seven years' war he was appointed lieutenant colonel of a partisan corps charged with supporting the movements of the Austrian army, and in a single year, by his activity, courage, and capacity, acquired the rank of general, notwithstanding that the bat- tles in which he participated were generally disastrous to the Austrians. His commission of 1 general having fallen into the hands of Frederick, the latter sent it to him with a con- gratulatory letter. In 1758 he contributed to raise the siege of OlmiUz, and harassed the re- treat of Frederick, receiving for his services the rank of lieutenant field marshal. The next year he crossed the Brandenburg frontier to cover the operations of Marshal Daun, and end- ed a series of brilliant exploits by deciding the rout of the Prussians at the decisive battle of Kunersdorf, Aug. 12, 1759. Receiving the rank of Feldzeugmeister, he gained the battle of Landshut, June 29, 1760, took the fortress of Glatz, and covered the retreat of Daun after the Austrian defeat at Liegnitz, Aug. 15, with so much skill that Frederick exclaimed : " We must learn from Laudon how to retreat; he leaves the field like a conqueror." He crowned his achievements in the seven years' war by taking by assault, without previous investment, Oct. 1, 1761, the important city of Schweidnitz, filled with provisions and muni- tions of war. During the peace which suc- ceeded he was employed with credit in various public capacities, and in 1766 became a mem- ber of the aulic council of war, and in 1769 commandant general of Moravia. For a num- ber of years he lived in retirement at his estate near Vienna, devoting himself to his favorite studies; but upon the breaking out of the Bavarian war of succession he took the field in Bohemia, and by a skilful concentration of his forces on the Isar prevented a junction be- tween Prince Henry of Prussia and Frederick, thereby securing a decided advantage to the Austrians. In 1778 he was made field marshal. His military career terminated with the cam- paign against the Turks in 1788-' 9, the first act of which he brought to a successful con- clusion by the capture of Belgrade, for which he was appointed generalissimo. He died soon after removing to his headquarters in Moravia, whither the emperor Leopold II. had sent him after the Turkish war. He was simple in his manners and tastes, averse to securing influence by flattering the weaknesses of the great, and beloved by his troops. LAUDOMIERE, Rene Goulain de. See RIBAULT, JEAN. LAUENBURG, a duchy of northern Germany, since 1865 united with the crown of Prussia, but in point of administration entirely inde- pendent. It borders on Liibeck, Mecklenburg, Hamburg, and the Prussian provinces of Han- over and Schleswig-Holstein ; area, 454 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 49,546, all but 155 belonging to the Evangelical church. It has a very fertile soil, extensive forests, and a number of pic- turesque lakes. The principal river is the Elbe. The chief products are corn, vegetables, flax, hemp, fruit, and lumber ; agriculture and cattle breeding are the occupation of the ma- jority of the inhabitants. The diet of the duchies consists, according to the constitution of Dec. 20, 1853, of the ErblandmarscJiall, an office which is hereditary in the family of