Born on 28 September 1746 in Vienna, he entered Daun Infantry Regiment N°59 on 1 June 1763, then later the same year transferred to the First Arcieren Life Guard as Oberleutnant.

Initially he commanded a brigade of four battalions and 16 squadrons in Pál Kray’s column in the Army of the Upper Palatinate under the Archduke Charles.

Detached with a mixed foot and cavalry division, he held up François Joseph Lefebvre at Schweinwurt, preventing him from joining Jean-Baptiste Jourdan's army at the Battle of Würzburg on 3 September 1796.

In 1797 he commanded a column of Franz von Werneck’s right wing under Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour, and served in the retreat after the Battle of Neuwied in April 1797.

In 1800 he commanded a detached division of 25,000 (soon reduced to 10,000) men facing Louis-Gabriel Suchet on the Var River and was involved in clashes during the general offensive of 6 April.

His rearguard was overwhelmed at the Col di Brauis 2 June, and on the following day he was seriously defeated at the Battle of the Tenda Pass.

He led the cavalry of Karl Joseph Hadik von Futak's central attack column at the Battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800.