Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun

Who was Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun?

Otto Ferdinand Graf von Abensperg und Traun, was an Austrian Generalfeldmarschall. The current spelling of the name, and the spelling used in his time, is mostly Abensperg.

He came of a noble family and was born at Ödenburg. He was sent to Halle to complete his education, but in 1693 left the university to serve with the Prussian contingent of the allied army in the Low Countries. He saw much service in the War of the Grand Alliance, and at its close entered the imperial army. The War of the Spanish Succession soon followed, and Traun served with distinction in Italy and on the Rhine till 1709, when he became lieutenant-colonel and aide-de-camp to Field Marshal Count Guido Starhemberg in Spain.

A year later, for specially distinguished services, he was made colonel, and in 1712 chief of a regiment of foot. Soon after the close of the war he was again actively employed, and at the action of Francavilla in Sicily he received a severe wound. For his services in this campaign in southern Italy he was promoted to Generalfeldwachtmeister in 1723. In 1727 he became governor of Messina, and in 1733 attained the rank of lieutenant field marshal.