Count Ferenc Gyulay de Marosnémethi et Nádaska (, 1 September 1799 – 1 September 1868), also known as Ferencz Gyulai, Ferencz Gyulaj, or Franz Gyulai, was a Hungarian nobleman who served as

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: ...

Governor of Lombardy-Venetia and commanded the losing Austrian army at the

Battle of Magenta The Battle of Magenta was fought on 4 June 1859 during the Second Italian War of Independence, resulting in a French-Sardinian victory under Napoleon III against the Austrians under Marshal Ferencz Gyulai. It took place near the town of Magent ...

Biography

Gyulay was born on 1 September 1799 in Pest,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

Ignác Gyulay Count Ignác Gyulay de Marosnémeti et Nádaska, Ignácz Gyulay, Ignaz Gyulai (11 September 1763 – 11 November 1831) was a Hungarian military officer, joined the army of Habsburg monarchy, fought against Ottoman Turkey, and became a general of ...

von Maros-Németh und Nádaska and Maria Freiin von Edelsheim. At the age of seventeen in 1816 he served as a

leutnant () is the lowest Junior officer rank in the armed forces the German-speaking of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High Ge ...

in the 60th "Ignác Gyulay" infantry battalion. In 1820 he was transferred to the

Hesse-Homburg Hesse-Homburg was formed into a separate landgraviate in 1622 by the landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt; it was to be ruled by his son, although it did not become independent of Hesse-Darmstadt until 1668. It was briefly divided into Hesse-Homburg and ...

hussar brigade as an oberleutnant and just a year after he was promoted to

hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian, and Swiss armies. While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has and originally had the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literally ...

of the Imperial

uhlans Uhlans (; ; ; ; ) were a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. While first appearing in the cavalry of Lithuania and then Poland, Uhlans were quickly adopted by the mounted forces of other countries, including France, Russia, P ...

. In 1826 he was appointed the head of the

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

hussar brigade and soon after in 1829 he became the

oberstleutnant () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Lieutenant colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedi ...

of the Hesse-Homburg infantry. In 1831 he was promoted to the rank of

oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...

and in 1838 to generalmajor. In 1846 he was already the

generalleutnant is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of ...

of the 33rd infantry battalion. In 1847 he was the abteilungsführer and military captain of the vicinity of

Triest Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

. Gyulay's first war-time assignment came in 1848 when the

Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

broke out. First he had to face the

Italian states Italy, up until the Italian unification in 1861, was a conglomeration of city-states, republics, and other independent entities. The following is a list of the various Italian states during that period. Following the fall of the Western Roman Em ...

' menace at

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. He had to defend the imperial fleet stationed in Pola of being seized by its insurgent crew. He immediately relieved the Italian-born sailors of their duties and warned the ships already in sail to do the same. He put the cities of Triest and Pola on defense, armed the ships and filled up their missing Italian crew with people from the local commercial ships. He organized an ad hoc boat squadron as well. Gyulay regrouped the troops retreating from

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

at Isonzo. His efforts prevented a joint Napolitan- Sardinian fleet from ambushing the key ports in the Istria. The Battle of Custoza eased the pressure on the Adriatic coast and Gyulay's precautionary measures secured the area. In 1849 Gyulay had been promoted to the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

(''Feldmarschallleutnant'') and that summer was named Austrian Minister of Defense by Emperor

Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

and thus he was involved in

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 or fully Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although t ...

on the Habsburg side. He was at the siege of

Raab Raab is a market town (''Marktgemeinde'') in the district of Schärding in Upper Austria in Austria. History The village historically belonged to the Duchy of Bavaria until the Treaty of Teschen transferred the area to Austria in 1780. During ...

on 28 June followed by the Battle of Komárom, which he left in the early stages due at least in part to the tendency of the emperor and his

adjutant general An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

Grünne to bypass his ministry when making military decisions.Rothenburg, G. ''The Army of Francis Joseph''. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press, 1976. p 40. He was moved to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

to take charge of the 5th army division. In 1857, following the resignation of Joseph Radetzky, Gyulay was named Governor of Lombardy-Venetia, residing at

. In early 1859, the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

/Piedmont, having allied with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, began mobilizing its army, possibly in preparation for an invasion of Italian territories controlled by Austria. On 23 April, Austria issued an ultimatum to the Sardinians, demanding they demobilize. When the Sardinians refused, the

Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, the Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 ( it, Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana; french: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and t ...

began. As commander of Austrian forces in Northern Italy, Count Gyulay, now with the rank of

feldzeugmeister ''Feldzeugmeister'' was a historical military rank in some German and the Austro-Hungarian armies, especially in use for the artillery. It was commonly used in the 16th or 17th century, but could even be found at the beginning of the 20th century i ...

, was ordered to cross the

Ticino River The river Ticino ( , ; lmo, Tesín; French and german: Tessin; la, Ticīnus) is the most important perennial left-bank tributary of the Po. It has given its name to the Swiss canton through which its upper portion flows. It is one of the four ...

on 29 April, the border between Austrian and Sardinian territory. In response, French forces under

Patrice MacMahon Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de MacMahon, marquis de MacMahon, duc de Magenta (; 13 June 1808 – 17 October 1893) was a French general and politician, with the distinction of Marshal of France. He served as Chief of State of France from 1873 to 1 ...

were dispatched to defend their Sardinian allies. On 20 May, an Austrian force under Count Stadion was defeated at the Battle of Montebello, after which Gyulay retreated back into Austrian territory. He then suffered another defeat at the

Battle of Palestro The Battle of Palestro was fought on 30–31 May 1859 between the Austrian Empire and the combined forces of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont and France. The Franco-Piedmontese forces were victorious. It was fought just south to Palestro, a town i ...

. The French army then crossed the Ticino into Austrian territory and captured the village of

Boffalora sopra Ticino Boffalora sopra Ticino (Milanese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy, located about west of Milan. Boffalora sopra Ticino borders the following municipalities: Marcallo con Ca ...

after a small battle. Finally, on 5 June, the main Austrian and French armies met at the

. The Austrians under Gyulay were defeated, leading to his recall to

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. Emperor Franz Josef took personal command of the Austrian army in Lombardy-Venetia, and would go on to lose the subsequent

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 French Army under Napoleon III and Piedmont-Sardinian Army under Victor Emmanuel II (together known ...

. In one of his last military engagements he was reduced to a Regimentskommandeur and was sent to defend

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

from the Piedmontese invasion. Unsuccessful in doing so he surrendered the city in 1866 eventually leading to its annexation to the newly formed Italy. Gyulay died on his birthday in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

References

*Deak, Istvan. ''Beyond Nationalism: A Social & Political History of the Habsburg Officer Corps 1848–1918''. Oxford University Press, 1990. . *Morris, Charles
''One Hundred Years of Conflict Between the Nations of Europe: The Causes and Issues of the Great War''
The John C. Winston Company, Philadelphia, PA, 1914. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyulay, Ferenc Austrian military personnel Austro-Hungarian people Military personnel from Budapest Nobility from Budapest Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia) 1799 births 1868 deaths

Ferenc Ferenc () is a given name of Hungarian origin. It is a cognate of Francis, Francisco, Francesco, François, Frank and Franz. People with the name include: * Ferenc Batthyány, Hungarian magnate and general * Ferenc Berényi, Hungarian artist * ...

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 People of the First Italian War of Independence People of the Second Italian War of Independence