August, Graf von Vécsey or August Vécsey de Hernádvécse et Hajnácskeő ( hu, hernádvécsei és hajnácskeői gróf Vécsey Ágoston; 22 August 1775 – 15 January 1857) was an Imperial Austrian general of Hungarian descent who fought in the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

and

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. He won a notable award in 1806 and became a

general officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

in 1809. That year, he commanded a brigade at

Wagram Deutsch-Wagram (literally "German Wagram", ), often shortened to Wagram, is a village in the Gänserndorf District, in the states of Austria, state of Lower Austria, Austria. It is in the Morava (river), Marchfeld Basin, close to the Vienna city ...

during the

War of the Fifth Coalition The War of the Fifth Coalition was a European conflict in 1809 that was part of the Napoleonic Wars and the Coalition Wars. The main conflict took place in central Europe between the Austrian Empire of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis ...

. His brigade was defeated by superior numbers at Feistritz in September 1813. He led his troops during the subsequent Italian campaign in 1813 and 1814. He was promoted to higher rank in 1820 and 1840.

Family

August Vécsey de Hernádvécse et Hajnácskeő was born of parents Oberst (colonel) Siegbert Vécsey de Hernádvécse et Hajnácskeő (1739–1802) and Sophie von Révay (1743–1791) on 22 August 1775 in

Leshniv Leshniv ( ua, Лешнів; russian: Лешнев, Leshnev; pl, Leszniów; yi, לעשנעוו, Leshnev; he, לשניוב, Leshniuv) is a village (''selo'') in Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, in western Ukraine. It belongs to Brody urban hromada, ...

in the Austrian province of Galicia. Leshniv is now located in Ukraine.Smith & Kudrna (2008), ''August de Vécsey'' His father was promoted to Feldmarschall-Leutnant in 1790.Smith & Kudrna (2008), ''Siegbert Vécsey'' August was the great-grandnephew of

General-major Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Stephan Vécsey de Hernádvécse et Hajnácskeő (1719–1802).Smith & Kudrna (2008), ''Stephan Vécsey'' Vécsey married Amalie Karolina Colson (1786–1826) in 1801. They had thirteen children, including

Károly Károly is a very common Hungarian male given name. It is also sometimes found as a Hungarian surname. The origin of this name is the Turkic Karul, which means hawk. Nowadays Károly is considered the equivalent of English Karl or Charles (beca ...

, a Hungarian general and one of

the 13 Martyrs of Arad The Thirteen Martyrs of Arad ( hu, aradi vértanúk) were the thirteen Hungarian rebel generals who were executed by the Austrian Empire on 6 October 1849 in the city of Arad, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary (now in Romania), after the H ...

Military career

He was promoted to

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 26 January 1801 at the end of the

War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war on revolutionary France by most of the European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, N ...

and to Oberstleutnant on 25 November 1805 during the

War of the Third Coalition The War of the Third Coalition) * In French historiography, it is known as the Austrian campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Autriche de 1805) or the German campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Allemagne de 1805) was a European conflict spanni ...

. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the

Military Order of Maria Theresa The Military Order of Maria Theresa (german: Militär-Maria-Theresien-Orden; hu, Katonai Mária Terézia-rend; cs, Vojenský řád Marie Terezie; pl, Wojskowy Order Marii Teresy; sl, Vojaški red Marije Terezije; hr, Vojni Red Marije Te ...

on 28 May 1806. He assumed the rank of Oberst on 31 July 1808 and was named

on 24 May 1809. By this time, the

was raging. At the

Battle of Wagram The Battle of Wagram (; 5–6 July 1809) was a military engagement of the Napoleonic Wars that ended in a costly but decisive victory for Emperor Napoleon's French and allied army against the Austrian army under the command of Archduke Charles ...

on 5–6 July 1809, Vécsey commanded a small brigade of light infantry in

Karl von Vincent Karl Freiherr von Vincent (11 August 1757 – 7 October 1834) fought in the army of Habsburg Austria during the French Revolutionary Wars. He first served as a staff officer then later as a combat commander. During the Napoleonic Wars, he was ...

's division of

Johann von Klenau Johann Josef Cajetan Graf von Klenau, Freiherr von Janowitz ( cs, Jan hrabě z Klenové, svobodný pán z Janovic; 13 April 1758 – 6 October 1819) was a field marshal in the Habsburg army. Klenau, the son of a Bohemian noble, joined the Ha ...

's VI Armeekorps. The unit consisted of 178 men of the ''Broder''

Grenz Infantry Grenz infantry or Grenzers or Granichary (from german: Grenzer "border guard" or "frontiersman"; Serbo-Croatian: graničari, krajišnici, sr-cyr, граничари, крајишници, Russian Cyrillic: граничары) were light infantr ...

Regiment Nr. 7, one 515-man battalion of the ''Warasdiner St. George'' Grenz Infantry Regiment, and a brigade battery made up of six 3-pound cannons.Bowden & Tarbox (1980), 166

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vecsey, August Von 1775 births 1857 deaths Counts of Austria Hungarian nobility Agoston Austrian Empire military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Austrian Empire commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Austrian generals Hungarian generals 18th-century Hungarian people 18th-century Austrian people 19th-century Hungarian people 19th-century Austrian people