Dagobert Sigismund, Count von Wurmser (7 May 1724 – 22 August 1797) was an
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
field marshal
Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
during 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 ...
. Although he fought in the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
, the
War of the Bavarian Succession, and mounted several successful campaigns in the Rhineland in the initial years of the French Revolutionary Wars, he is probably most remembered for his unsuccessful operations against
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
during the 1796 campaign in Italy.
Although initially in the Army of France during the Seven Years' War, Wurmser left France after Louis reached a peace agreement with Britain, and joined the military of the
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
. He later took part in the short-lived
War of the Bavarian Succession, also called the so-called ''Kartoffelkrieg'' (Potato War). During the French Revolutionary Wars, Wurmser commanded several imperial Habsburg armies on in the Rhine River valley between 1793 and 1795, and perhaps his most conspicuous achievement was the taking of the
lines of Lauterburg and Weissenburg in October 1793.
In 1796,
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II (german: Franz II.; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor (from 1792 to 1806) and the founder and Emperor of the Austrian Empire, from 1804 to 1835. He assumed the title of Emperor of Austria in response ...
sent him to northern Italy, where the Habsburg military defended Austria's southern territories. In a series of well-fought battles with the French army, under the command of the up-and-coming general
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
, Wurmser was trapped with his army in
Mantua
Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...
; after a negotiated capitulation, Wurmser left the city with his honors and 700 men, and marched back to Vienna. His defeat at Mantua did not diminish the luster of his service in imperial eyes—he was granted another appointment immediately—but he was an old man of 72 years who had spent most of his adult life in arduous campaigning. His health failed him shortly after his appointment and he died in 1797.
Family and early career
Born in
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
, in the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
province of
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
, he was the son of Frantz Jacob Wurmser von Vendenheim. He was christened in the Protestant church of Saint Nicolas and first served in the French Army during the early campaigns of the
Silesian Wars as a cavalry officer under the command of Marshal
Charles, Prince of Soubise
Charles de Rohan (16 July 17151 July 1787), Prince of Soubise, Duke of Rohan-Rohan, Seigneur of Roberval, and Marshal of France from 1758, was a soldier, and minister to kings Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was the last male of his branch of the Hou ...
.
[ Constant Wurzbach. ''Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Österreich.'' Vienna, 1856–91, vol 59, pp. 1-5.] In 1747, he was promoted to Captain of Cavalry.
[Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. ''The Penny cyclopædia''. London: C. Knight, 1833–1843. p. 594.]
He married on 25January 1761 in
Vendenheim (Département du
Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...
) Sophia Henrietta Rosina Juliana von und zu der Thann. She died aged 39 in
Trautenau
Trutnov (; german: Trautenau) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 29,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.
Administrative parts
Trutnov is ...
(
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
) on 27June 1772 as a consequence of childbirth, and was buried in
Michelsdorf (
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
).
In 1750, when his father left Alsace and became a Habsburg subject, Wurmser too left French service and joined the
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
military. He brought with him the legions he commanded from France.
As part of the imperial Austrian army, he participated in the last years of the continental war, sometimes called the "Little War" because it did not involve three of the five great powers of Europe. In these engagements against the Prussians, he showed exceptional command capabilities and a wily and courageous attitude.
On 30January 1761,
Emperor Francis I
Francis I (Francis Stephen; french: François Étienne; german: Franz Stefan; 8 December 1708 – 18 August 1765) was Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Grand Duke of Tuscany. He became the ruler of the Hol ...
raised him to
comital status of the
Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Two years later, Francis' brother,
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander Emanuel of Lorraine (french: Charles Alexandre Emanuel, Prince de Lorraine; german: Karl Alexander von Lothringen und Bar; 12 December 1712 in Lunéville – 4 July 1780 in Tervuren) was a Lorraine-born Austrian general a ...
, the Statthalter of the
Austrian Netherlands, known as an audacious partisan collected his volunteers—a regiment each of Infantry and Hussars, with an artillery company—and joined Austrian service.
[Oscar Criste]
Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser
''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie.'' Herausgegeben von der Historischen Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Band 44 (1898), S. 338–340, Digitale Volltext-Ausgabe in Wikisource. (Version vom 24. März 2010, 13:18 Uhr UTC).
War of the Bavarian Succession
In Spring 1778, Wurmser's 30th Hussars were posted in northern Bohemia, to cover the border with Saxony and Silesia.
Friedrich von Nauendorf, the son of the previous Colonel-Proprietor of the Regiment, was a captain in a village outpost, with about 50 Hussars under his command. In early July, the Prussian General
Johann Jakob von Wunsch
Johann Jakob von Wunsch (1717–1788) was soldier of fortune and Prussian general of infantry, and a particularly adept commander of light infantry. The son of a Württemberg furrier, he served in several armies in the course of his lengthy ...
(1717–1788), crossed into Bohemia near the fortified town of
Náchod, in the opening action of the
War of the Bavarian Succession. Nauendorf led his 50 Hussars to engage Wunsch's considerably larger force. When they encountered Wunch's force, he greeted them as friends; by the time the Prussians realized the allegiance of the Hussars, Nauendorf, and his small force had the upper hand, and Wunsch withdrew. The next day, Nauendorf was promoted to major. As the war evolved over the summer, Wurmser's Hussars covered the left flank of the main army, which was positioned in the entrenched heights above
Jaroměř
Jaroměř (; german: Jermer) is a town in Náchod District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. It is known for the Josefov Fortress. Josefov is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban m ...
, in a triple line of
redoubts extending along the river to
Königgrätz.
In October,
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 unt ...
withdrew most of the
Imperial army to the Bohemian border, under threat of intervention by
Catherine II of Russia
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
;
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
did the same. A small force of hussars and dragoons remained in Bohemia to provide a winter cordon, designed to prevent Prussian incursions into Bohemia. Appointed to be commander of the winter cordon, Wurmser ordered a small assault column under command of Colonel Wilhelm Klebeck to attack the village of Dittersbach. Klebeck led a column of Croats into the village. During the action, 400 Prussians were killed, another 400 made prisoner, and eight colors were captured.
Following his successes against the Prussians in 1778, Joseph awarded him the Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa on 21 October 1778.
[Digby Smith. ]
Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser
'' Leonard Kudrna and Digby Smith, compilers. ''A biographical dictionary of all Austrian Generals in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792–1815''
Napoleon Series
Robert Burnham, Editor in Chief. April 2008. Accessed 22 March 2010.
In another raid, in January 1779, Wurmser advanced into the
Grafschaft Glatz in five columns, two of which, commanded by Major General
Franz Joseph, Count Kinsky
Franz Joseph, Count Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau (6 December 1739 – 9 June 1805) was a Habsburg Austrian general in the War of the Bavarian Succession and the French Revolutionary Wars. A nobleman from the House of Kinsky, he began his military ...
, surrounded
Habelschwerdt on 17–18 January. While one column secured the approach, the other, under the leadership of Colonel Pallavicini, stormed the town, captured Major General
Adolph, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld
Adolph, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (29 June 1743 in Ypres – 17 July 1803 in Barchfeld) was a member of the House of Hesse. He was the ruling Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld from 1777 until his death.
Life
Adolph ...
and 714 men, three cannons, and seven colors. Wurmser himself led the third column in an assault on the so-called Swedish blockhouse at
Oberschwedeldorf;
it and the town of Habelschwerdt were set on fire by
howitzer
A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...
s. Major General
Ludwig, Baron of Terzi
Ludwig, Baron von Terzy (1730–1800) was an Austrian General. He served in the War of Bavarian Succession, with particular distinction in one of its few actions of the war. In January 1779, his commander, Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser advance ...
(1730–1800), who was covering with the remaining two columns, threw back the enemy relief and took 300 Prussian prisoners. Meanwhile, Wurmser maintained his position at the nearby village of
Rückerts and town
Reinerz. His forward patrols reached the outskirts of
Glatz, and were able to cover the Silesian borders, almost reaching
Schweidnitz.
Halberschwerdt and Oberschwedeldorf were both destroyed.
French Revolutionary Wars
In 1787, Wurmser received a promotion to
General der Kavallerie General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers o ...
; he held a series of posts in Vienna, Bohemia and
Galicia, becoming commanding general at the latter in 1787 during the
Austrian War with the Ottoman Empire.
While Wurmser fought Austria's battles in the Balkans, in France, a coalition of the clergy and the professional and bourgeoisie class—the
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and
Third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
estates—led a call for reform of the French government and the creation of a written constitution. Initially, the rulers of Europe viewed the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
as an event between the French king and his subjects, and not something in which they should interfere. In 1790,
Leopold
Leopold may refer to:
People
* Leopold (given name)
* Leopold (surname)
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons''
* Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...
succeeded his brother Joseph as emperor and by 1791, he considered the situation surrounding his sister,
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
, and her children, with greater alarm. In August 1791, in consultation with French ''émigré'' nobles and
Frederick William II of Prussia, he issued the
Declaration of Pillnitz
The Declaration of Pillnitz was a statement of five sentences issued on 27 August 1791 at Pillnitz Castle near Dresden (Saxony) by Frederick William II of Prussia and the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II who was Marie Antoinette's brothe ...
, in which they declared the interest of the monarchs of Europe as one with the interests of Louis and his family. They threatened ambiguous but quite serious, consequences if anything should happen to the royal family. The French émigrés continued to agitate for support of a counter-revolution. On 20 April 1792, the
French National Convention declared war on Austria. In the
War of the First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the Kingdom of France (1791-92), constitutional Kingdom of France and then t ...
(1792–1797), France opposed most of the European states sharing land or water borders with her, plus Portugal and the Ottoman Empire.
Rhine campaign 1793–1794
From February 1793 to January 1794, Wurmser commanded the
Imperial Army of the Rhine.
He commanded the successful storming of the Lauterburg and Weissenburg lines on 13 October 1793. The Lines, a series of earthworks on the south side of the Lauter river, a tributary of the Rhine river in Alsace-Lorraine, offered a major strategic defensive position for the French.
Part of France's Army of the Vosges, under the general command of
Jean Victor Moreau, manned the French position. The three battalions and six squadrons, commanded by General of Brigade Illier, held the position with ten artillery pieces. The French defensive line ran west from
Lauterbourg
Lauterbourg ( or ; ) (historically in English: Lauterburgh) is a Communes of France, commune and Bas-Rhin Departments of France, department in the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. Situated on the Germany, German border a ...
on the Rhine to
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...
. The western part of this line, from Lauterbourg to Wissembourg, was protected by the Lines of Wissembourg, a series of fortifications built nearly a century earlier to protect Alsace from invasion along the flat plain between the Vosges and the Rhine. The Army of the Rhine defended these Lines. The Army of the Rhine also was at Saarbrücken and the Corps of the Vosges linked the two, with camps at Hornbach and Kettrick.
On 20 August, Wurmser directed the 4th Allied Column, and Field Marshal Kavanagh's Hessen and Austrian troops, augmented by a battalion of Emigre troops, to assault part of the works; Kavanagh's attack successfully ousted the French from the position; General Illier was killed by a Hessen Jäger. An unknown number of the 3,000 French defenders were killed or wounded; three officers and 100 men were captured. The testing for the Weissembourg Lines continued for the next 45 days, Each skirmish, each probe, tested the French strength and resolve. In mid-September the Prussians successfully defeated a French assault on
Pirmasens
Pirmasens (; pfl, Bärmesens (also ''Bermesens'' or ''Bärmasens'')) is an independent town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It was famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called ''Lan ...
, a small fortification to the north and east; this success encouraged the Austrian and Prussian alliance to venture a major assault on the French defenses.
Wurmser's force of 33,599 infantry and 9,635 cavalries had whittled away at the Lines, skirmishing throughout August and September with French infantry and cavalry, which always withdrew to the superior defensive position behind the earthen works. While the Prussians marched around the lines, from Pirmasens, Wurmser organized his force into seven columns, and they assaulted the Lines in waves. In the
First Battle of Wissembourg on 13 September the French defenses were successfully breached.
Two months later, the French committed major forces to recover the Lines. Wurmser commanded the Austrian contingent at the defeat at the
Second Battle of Wissembourg on 26 December 1793.
Upper Rhine campaign
From August 1795 to June 1796, Wurmser commanded the Army of the Upper Rhine.
Battle of Mannheim
Campaign in northern Italy
![Tramonto su Brescia (Foto Luca Giarelli)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Tramonto_su_Brescia_%28Foto_Luca_Giarelli%29.jpg)
In 1796, Wurmser descended into northern Italy, with 25,000 men from his old Army of the Rhine, to unite with Beaulieu's battered army of northern Italy. The two armies met at Trent and marched to Mantua in three columns.
[Frank McLynn. ''Napoleon: A Biography.'' New York: Arcade, 2002, , pp. 121–123.]
Wurmser's columns scored some initial successes. The forward column, under command of under
Peter Quasdanovich moved toward Lake Garda,
and a small reconnaissance force under
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 ...
advanced from the alps on the city of
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...
; there, they found the local French garrison unprepared. At midnight, Klenau led two squadrons of the ''Wurmser'' 8th Hussar Regiment and several other battalions and squadrons in an attack on the French garrison. They captured 600–700 French soldiers stationed there and three officials of the French Directory:
Jean Lannes,
Joachim Murat, and
François Étienne de Kellermann
François Étienne de Kellermann, 2nd Duke of Valmy (4 August 1770 – 2 June 1835) was a French cavalry general noted for his daring and skillful exploits during the Napoleonic Wars. He was the son of François Christophe de Kellermann and the fa ...
. Quasdanovich managed to occupy Lonato.
Wurmser did not count on swift movement by the French. Within two days, Klenau's force retreated in the face of
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
and 12,000 Frenchmen; his small advance guard was quickly pushed out of Brescia on 1 August. At the subsequent
Battle of Lonato of 2–3 August 1796, the French also forced Quasdanovich's column to withdraw into the mountains, with heavy losses. The mopping up operations lasted until mid-August, isolated Quasdanovich's force by
Lake Garda
Lake Garda ( it, Lago di Garda or ; lmo, label=Eastern Lombard, Lach de Garda; vec, Ƚago de Garda; la, Benacus; grc, Βήνακος) is the largest lake in Italy.
It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, about halfway between ...
, and freed the French to concentrate on Wurmser's main force at
Castiglione delle Stiviere
Castiglione delle Stiviere ( Upper Mantovano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Mantua, in Lombardy, Italy, northwest of Mantua by road.
History
The town's castle was home to a cadet branch of the House of Gonzaga, headed by the M ...
, further south; Bonaparte's subsequent victory against Wurmser at the
Battle of Castiglione
The Battle of Castiglione saw the French Army of Italy under General Napoleon Bonaparte attack an army of the Habsburg monarchy led by ''Feldmarschall'' Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser on 5 August 1796. The outnumbered Austrians were defeated ...
forced the old commander across the
Mincio river and allowed the French to return to the
siege of Mantua.
The resumed siege was not without its problems. To move swiftly against Wurmser, Napoleon had abandoned his all his siege equipment, leaving it at Mantua. When he resumed the siege, it was much less effective without his guns.
Furthermore, by early September, many of the scattered Austrian units had rejoined Wurmser's column. Even so, at the
Battle of Bassano
The Battle of Bassano was fought on 8 September 1796, during the French Revolutionary Wars, in the territory of the Republic of Venice, between a French army under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces led by Count Dagobert von Wurmser. The ...
on 8 September, the Austrians were outnumbered almost two to one by the French.
As the Austrian army retreated, Bonaparte ordered a pursuit that caused the Austrians to abandon their artillery and baggage. Most of the third battalion of the 59th ''Jordis'', and the first battalion of the Border Infantry Banat were captured and these units ceased to exist after this battle. The Austrians lost 600 killed and wounded, and 2,000 captured, plus lost 30 guns, eight colors, and 200
limbers and ammunition wagons. Wurmser's column fought its way to besieged
Mantua
Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...
, but emerged suddenly, in an effort to escape, at the Battle of
La Favorita near there on 15 September. This was the second attempt to relieve the fortress; as the Austrians withdrew from the battle, they retreated into Mantua itself, and from 15 September until 2 February 1797, Wurmser was trapped inside the fortress while the city was besieged.
Following the Austrian loss at the
Battle of Rivoli, north of Mantua, on 14–15 January 1797, when clearly there would be no Austrian relief for Mantua, Wurmser sent one of his juniors, Johann von Klenau, to negotiate conditions of surrender with French General
Jean Sérurier, Additional evidence suggests that Bonaparte was present and dictated far more generous terms than the Austrians had expected. Wurmser, who Napoleon held in high esteem, left Mantua with his men and officers, and his battle honors, and marched back to Austrian lands.
[John Ashton. ''English caricature and satire on Napoleon I''. London: Chatto & Windus, 1888, p. 39. Kudrna and Smith]
"Klenau"
Legacy
Of all the field marshals in Habsburg service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Wurmser was recognized among the best. Some historians attribute Austrian problems to its aging general staff, compared to the relatively young general staff of the French Empire. For instance, Wurmser was 72, approaching 73 in the 1796 campaign, and
Peter Vitus von Quasdanovich
Peter Vitus Freiherr von Quosdanovich (Croatian language, Croatian: Petar Vid Gvozdanović; 12 June 1738 – 13 August 1802) was a nobleman and general of the Habsburg monarchy of Croatian descent. He achieved the rank of Feldmarschall-Lieutenant ...
(b. 1738) was nearing 60. Besides the graying general staff, there were also youngsters, and these demonstrated acute military acumen:
Archduke Charles was 26 years old in the 1796 campaign and had been tutored by Hohenlohe-Kirchberg and Wurmser; Schwarzenberg was also young, under 30;
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 ...
, at 31, was the youngest field Marshal in the Habsburg military; and there were many others. But Wurmser may have been hampered more by the
Aulic Council than by his age; Digby Smith points out that he descended into Italy fettered with a new and inexperienced chief of staff sent to him by the Council with battle plans and instructions in writing. These restricted his movements in Italy and prevented him from responding to targets of opportunity.
Broken in health, a ''knight without fear and above reproach'',
Wurmser died in Vienna the following summer.
See also
*
Joseph Alvinczy
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
*
Peter Quasdanovich
*
Paul Davidovich
Baron Paul Davidovich or Pavle Davidović ( sr-cyr, Павле Давидовић) (1737, Buda – 18 February 1814, Komárom) became a general of the Austrian Empire and a Knight of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. He played a major ro ...
Sources
Citations and notes
References
* Ashton, John. ''English caricature and satire on Napoleon I. ''London: Chatto & Windus, 1888.
* Boycott-Brown, Martin. ''The Road to Rivoli.'' London: Cassell & Co., 2001.
*
Carlyle, Thomas. ''History of Friedrich II of Prussia called Frederick the great : in eight volumes.'' Vol. VIII in ''The works of Thomas Carlyle in thirty volumes.'' London: Chapman and Hall, 1896–1899.
* Criste, Oscar. '
Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie.'' Herausgegeben von der Historischen Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Band 44 (1898), S. 338–340, Digitale Volltext-Ausgabe in Wikisource. (Version vom 24. März 2010, 13:18 Uhr UTC).
* Ebert, Jens-Florian. "Nauendorf, Friedrich August Graf." ''Die Österreichischen Generäle 1792–1815''. Accessed 15 October 2009.
* Hirtenfeld, Jaromir. ''Der militär-Maria-Theresien-Orden und seine Mitglieder: nach authentischen Quellen bearbeitet.'' Wien: Hofdruckerei, 1857.
* McLynn, Frank. ''Napoleon: A Biography.'' New York: Arcade, 2002, .
* Rickard, J.
'. In '
''. Peter D Antill, Tristan Dugdale-Pointon, and John Rickard, editors. 9 February 2009. Accessed 23 March 2010.
*
Smith, DigbyKlebeck Leonard Kudrna and Dibgy Smith, compilers. ''A biographical dictionary of all Austrian Generals in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792–1815''
Napoleon Series Robert Burnham, Editor in Chief. April 2008. Accessed 22 March 2010.
* Wurzbach, C., von. ''Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Österreich.'' Vienna, 1856–91, vol 20, 59.
External links
*
German Wikipedia Husaren-Regiment von Tersztyánszky Nr. 8
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wurmser, Dagobert Sigmund Von
1724 births
1797 deaths
Military personnel from Strasbourg
Alsatian nobility
Counts of Austria
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