Joseph Cornelius O'Rourke
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Count Joseph Cornelius O'Rourke (1772-1849) was a Russian nobleman and military leader who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He is also particularly well remembered in Serbia where he led a combined Russian and Serb army to defeat the Turks at Varvarin in 1810. A monument in his honor was erected in Serbia in 1910.
The O'Rourke family were originally members of the Jacobite Irish Nobility who fled Ireland following defeat by the Williamites in 1691. The majority of the family moved to France, but a branch also moved to Estonia, which was then a province of the Russian Empire.
Joseph Cornelius was born at Dorpat in 1772. By this time the family had been completely absorbed into Russian high society, and, according to custom, he was immediately enrolled in the Russian Imperial Guard. He first saw action as a young man in Zürich against the French Revolutionary Army and went on to be awarded the Order of Saint George and the Decoration of Saint Anne, serving under General Kutuzov in 1805. Later, O'Rourke raised and equipped his own private regiment and marched to Serbia to fight the Turks. They fought at Prahovo, Bela Palanka, Soko Bania (Sokobanja) and Jassika before the decisive victory at Varvarin. O'Rourke concluded his military career as a Lieutenant General fighting French forces in Germany. He retired to his estate at Vselyub near Minsk and died in 1849.
