Tassilo Graf Festetics de Tolna (2 June 1813 – 7 February 1883) was a Royal Hungarian court official and an Austrian ''General der Kavallerie'', who commanded the Austrian IV Army Corps during the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

Biography

Born in Vienna into the noble family '' Festetics de Tolna'', Tassilo Festetics was the grandson of the agricultural pioneer György Festetics. In 1827 he joined the Chevauxlegers Regiment No. 2 as a second lieutenant. He served in the army until he left active service on 15 February 1846. Recalled, he took part in the suppression of the

Kraków uprising The Kraków Uprising ( Polish: ''powstanie krakowskie'', ''rewolucja krakowska''; German: ''Krakauer Aufstand''; Russian: ''краковское восстание'') of 1846 was an attempt, led by Polish insurgents such as Jan Tyssowski and ...

and in the campaign in Italy in 1849. On 31 July 1849 he returned to active service as a lieutenant colonel and from September 1849 to July 1857 he commanded Hussar Regiment No. 7. On 25 July 1857, he was promoted to major general, and on 3 April 1858 he received command of a brigade in the V Army Corps. He led his brigade in the

Battle of Solferino The Battle of Solferino (referred to in Italy as the Battle of Solferino and San Martino) on 24 June 1859 resulted in the victory of the allied Second French Empire, French army under Napoleon III and the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, Piedmont- ...

. For his performance, he was awarded the

Order of the Iron Crown The Order of the Iron Crown () was an order of merit that was established on 5 June 1805 in the Kingdom of Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte under his title of Napoleon I, King of Italy. The order took its name from the ancient Iron Crown of Lombard ...

2nd Class. On 21 January 1864, he was promoted to ''Feldmarshall-Leutnant''. During the

of 1866, he received the command of the IV Army Corps, which was part of the North Army, and led it in the

battle of Königgrätz The Battle of Königgrätz (or Sadowa) was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire. It took place on 3 July 1866, near the Bohemian city of Hradec Králové (German: Königgrä ...

, where he was wounded by shrapnel in the foot. On 3 October 1866, he received the Grand Cross of the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

and on 15 August 1869, he was awarded the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

. On 20 April 1879 he was promoted to ''General der Kavallerie''. Tassilo Festetics de Tolna died on 7 February 1883 in Petrovardin.

References

* Oscar Criste, ''Festetics de Tolna, Tassilo Graf'' in'' Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB). Band 48, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1904, S. 523 f. *

Geoffrey Wawro Geoffrey Wawro (born 1960) is an American professor of military history at the University of North Texas, and director of the UNT Military History Center. His focus is modern and contemporary military history, from the French Revolution to the pres ...

, ''The Austro-Prussian War. Austria´s War with Prussia and Italy in 1866'', Cambridge 1996. {{DEFAULTSORT:Festetics de Tolna, Tassilo 1813 births 1883 deaths People from the Austrian Empire Austro-Hungarian generals People of the Austro-Prussian War