Charles Eugène de Croÿ (pronounced: [ʃaʁl øʒɛn də kʁwi]; Russian: Карл Евгений де Круа) (1651–1702) was a field marshal and duke from the House of Croÿ.[1]
His father was Jacques Philippe de Croÿ-Roeulx (1614–1685), a descendant of Jean III of Croy-Roeulx, son of Antoine le Grand.
He married Wilhelmina Juliana van den Bergh, daughter of Hendrik van den Bergh and 13 year older than himself. They had no children.
He participated in the 1676 Battle of Lund on the Dano-Norwegian side.
Later on he fought with success in the Austrian army against the Ottoman Turks and participated in both the liberation of Vienna in 1683 and the attack on Belgrade in 1690. On October 18. 1692 he laid the foundation stone of the Petrovaradin Fortress and was promoted to Imperial Field Marshal for his services.
In 1697 he started serving the Russian Tsar Peter the Great and was Chief in Command for his forces for Livonia (Livonia at this time formed part of Sweden and the Polish Commonwealth). He was in command of the Russian forces in the Battle of Narva on 20 November 1700 when he surrendered and was taken prisoner by the Swedes.
He died in Reval (Tallinn) as a prisoner of war in 1702. On demand of his creditors, his body, which rested at St. Nicholas' Church, was not buried for more than 190 years, and, when mummified, was exhibited as a curiosity.[2]
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