Army of the Holy Roman Empire in the context of Reichsexekution

In the history of the Holy Roman Empire, the term Imperial Army may refer to:

• Army of the Holy Roman Empire (German: Reichsarmee), the army of the empire as a whole, to which all states contributed when ordered by the Imperial Diet
• Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor (German: Kaiserliche Armee), the standing army owing service to the emperor and largely raised from his states

Maurice de Saxe (28 October 1696 – 20 November 1750), was a prominent soldier, general and military theorist in the first half of the 18th century. The illegitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, he initially served in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire, then the Imperial Army, before entering French service.

Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignano (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736), better known as Prince Eugene, was a distinguished feldmarschall in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th and 18th centuries. Renowned as one of the greatest military commanders of his era, Prince Eugene also rose to the highest offices of state at the Imperial court in Vienna, spending six decades in the service of three emperors.

Born in Paris, to the son of a French count and a niece of Cardinal Mazarin, Eugene was raised at the court of King Louis XIV. Initially destined for the priesthood as the youngest son of a noble family, he chose to pursue a military career at 19. Due to his poor physique and possibly a scandal involving his mother, Louis XIV denied him a commission in the French Royal Army and forbade him from enlisting elsewhere. Embittered, Eugene fled France and entered the service of Emperor Leopold I, cousin and rival of Louis XIV, in whose service his elder brother Louis Julius had just fallen in battle.

Imperial Army (Latin: Exercitus Imperatoris, German: Kaiserliche Armee) or Imperial troops (Kaiserliche Truppen or Kaiserliche) was a name used for several centuries, especially to describe soldiers recruited for, and under the command of the Holy Roman Emperor themself, during the early modern period. The Imperial Army of the Emperor should not be confused with the Army of the Holy Roman Empire (Exercitus Imperii (Romani), Reichsarmee, Armée du Saint-Empire), which could only be deployed with the consent of the Imperial Diet. Imperial units effectively became a standing army of troops under the Habsburg Emperors from the House of Austria, which is why they were also increasingly described in the 18th century as "Austrians", although its troops were recruited not just from the Archduchy of Austria but from all over the Holy Roman Empire.

Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjuzɛf anˈtɔɲi pɔɲaˈtɔfskʲi]; 7 May 1763 – 19 October 1813) was a Polish general, minister of war and army chief, who became a Marshal of the French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars.

A nephew of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stanisław II August (r. 1764–1795), Poniatowski began his military career in 1780 in the Austrian army, where he attained the rank of colonel. In 1789, after leaving Austrian service, he joined the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth army at the request of his uncle. Poniatowski, now in the rank of major general and commander of the Royal Guards, took part in the Polish–Russian War of 1792, leading the crown forces at the victorious Battle of Zieleńce. After the king's support for the Targowica Confederation of 1792, Poniatowski felt compelled to resign. In 1794 he participated in the Kościuszko Uprising and took charge of defending Warsaw - for which the Russian authorities subsequently exiled him until 1798.