Baron Paul Kray of Krajova and Topolya (; ; 5 February 1735 – 19 January 1804), was a soldier and general in Habsburg service during the Seven Years' War, the War of Bavarian Succession, the Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791), and the French Revolutionary Wars. He was born in Késmárk, Upper Hungary (today: Kežmarok, Slovakia).
He withdrew from military service temporarily in 1792 because of poor health, but in 1793, he was recalled to the Habsburg military in the Netherlands at the request of Field Marshal Prince Coburg and fought in the Flanders Campaign.
In 1799 he was appointed commander of the Austrian forces in Italy and Colonel-Proprietor of the Infantry Regiment N.34, a ceremonial position he held until his death. On 18 April 1799, Kray was promoted to Feldzeugmeister for the Battle of Magnano. In the 1800 campaign, Kray commanded the Austrian force on the Upper Rhine, charged with the defense of all approaches to Vienna through the German states. After being out-maneuvered by the French, he was disastrously defeated in five consecutive battles. After the Battle of Neuburg, the French acquired both shores of the river, and commanded access to the Danube waterway as far east as Regensburg. During the subsequent armistice, Emperor Francis II replaced Kray with his brother, Archduke John; Kray was discharged on 28 August 1800 and retired to Pest, Hungary. He died there on 19 January 1804. For all his victories, for his fierce competitiveness on the battlefield, the French soldiers referred to him as Le terrible Kray, le fils cher de la victoire and men from both sides attended his funeral in 1804.
Biography
Early career
Kray was born in Késmárk, Upper Hungary (today: Kežmarok, Slovakia). He was educated in mathematical and other military sciences in Schemnitz and Vienna.
Entering the Austrian army at the age of nineteen in 1754 in the Infantry Regiment 31 "Hallerstein" and fought in the Seven Years' War. In 1778, he was promoted from grenadier captain to major and transferred to Infantry Regiment "Preysach" 39. After the War of Bavarian Succession, he transferred to the 2nd Szeckler Grenz (border) Infantry Regiment as lieutenant colonel. In 1784 he suppressed a Romanian peasants' uprising in Transylvania. Kray served in the Turkish wars of 1787–91. On 10 May 1788, he defeated a superior Turkish force of 5,000 men commanded by Osman Pazvantoğlu and Kara Mustapha Pasha on the borders of Transylvania. He later led the capture of the Krajova fortress; for this, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa on 21 December 1789, in May of the following year, Kray was promoted Generalmajor and subsequently ennobled by Emperor Joseph II with the title of Freiherr "von Krajow und Topolya". In the Austro-Turkish War of 1787 to 1791 he saw active service at Petrozsény and the Vulcan Pass.
War of the First Coalition
Promoted major general in 1790, three years later Kray commanded the advance guard of the Allies under Prince Coburg, operating in Flanders and the Austrian Netherlands. He distinguished himself at Famars, Menin, Wissembourg, Charleroi, Fleurus, and, indeed, at almost every encounter in the Flanders Campaign with the armies of the French Republic, He also defeated French General of Division Jourdan in the clash at Limburg on 16 September. He then fought in various actions, including the victory at Amberg on 24 August, and at the Battle of Würzburg as a divisional commander, when he was largely responsible for the victory of Archduke Charles of Austria. On 6 November, he was defeated by the French in a second clash at Novi Ligure.
The following year he commanded on the Rhine against Jean Moreau. As a consequence of his defeats at the battles of Stockach, Messkirch, Biberach, Iller River, and Höchstädt, Kray was driven into Ulm. However, by a skillful march round Moreau's flank he succeeded in escaping to Bohemia.
Kray died in Pest, Hungary on 19 January 1804.