Matthias Gallas

Matthias Gallas, Graf von Campo und Herzog von Lucera (Count of Campo, Duke of Lucera) (Matteo Gallasso; 17 October 1588 in Trento – 25 April 1647 in Vienna) was an Austrian professional soldier during the Thirty Years' War. He distinguished himself in the first half of the war in service of the Catholic League, in the War of the Mantuan Succession, and as one of Albrecht von Wallenstein's Generals. After carrying out the dismissal and elimination of Wallenstein, Gallas became acting supreme commander of the Imperial Army three times between 1634 and 1647 but he never held the function or authority of a Generalissimo. He was a principal architect of the victory of Nördlingen 1634 but his following campaigns were less successful. After leading ineffective offensives against France, he managed to end Swedish attacks on Saxony and to drive them back to the Baltic coast in 1637. Unable to eliminate them or sustain his own forces in the devastated Pomerania, Gallas retreated with his shrunken army in 1638. Because he was unable to stop the following Swedish advance, he lost his command for the first time. Called back in 1643 to stop Lennart Torstensson who soon retreated to attack Denmark, Gallas was ordered to follow him and to support the Danes. This ended in Gallas' most disastrous campaign in which he was outmaneuvered and encircled by the Swedes, who cut him off from his supplies in late 1644. Having lost almost his entire army, he was again relieved from command, only to return to advise and support Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in defending the Erblande against Sweden. Once again, he replaced the Archduke as supreme commander in 1647 but died soon afterwards after suffering many years from ill health. Biography