Andreas Graf O'Reilly von Ballinlough (3 August 1742 – 5 July 1832) was an Irish-

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n soldier and military commander of Irish origin. His military service extended through the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

War of the Bavarian Succession The War of the Bavarian Succession (; 3 July 1778 – 13 May 1779) was a dispute between the Austrian Habsburg monarchy and an alliance of Electorate of Saxony, Saxony and Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia over succession to the Electorate of Bavaria ...

, Austro-Turkish War,

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

, and

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. He retired from the army in 1810 and died at age 89. Andrew O'Reilly was born in

Ballinlough, County Westmeath Ballinlough Castle is a 17th-century country house situated near the rural town of Clonmellon in County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland on a hill overlooking two of the Westmeath lakes. It is the home of Nicholas and Alice Nugent. Histo ...

, Ireland. His brother, Hugh, was created

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

of Ballinlough in 1795, and in 1812, on the death of their maternal uncle John Nugent, he assumed by Royal license the surname of Nugent (see

Nugent Baronets There have been nine baronetcies held by people with the surname Nugent, four in the Baronetage of Ireland and five in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. Six of the creations are extinct, while three are extant. * Nugent baronets of Moyrath ( ...

). Their sister Margaret married Richard Talbot and was, as a widow, created Baroness Talbot of Malahide in 1831. At the age of 14, Andrew O'Reilly joined the army of

Habsburg Austria The term Habsburg Austria may refer to the lands ruled by the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs, or the historical Austria. Depending on the context, it may be defined as: * The Duchy of Austria, after 1453 the Archduchy of Austria * The '' Erblande ...

and fought against the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. After rising in the army, he married into an aristocratic family in his 40s. He led a cavalry regiment in combat against the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

. In the war with the

First French Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (), was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted u ...

he was promoted to

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

. He played a leading role in the

Battle of Marengo The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. Near the end of the day, the French overcame General ...

in 1800, where he led one of the Austrian attack columns. Even in his 60s he remained a military officer, fighting against the

First French Empire The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

in 1805 and was compelled to surrender Vienna in 1809. From 1803 until his death in 1832, he was

Proprietor (Inhaber) ''Inhaber'', or Proprietor, was a term used in the Habsburg military to denote special honors extended to a noble or aristocrat. The Habsburg army was organized on principles developed for the feudal armies in which regiments were raised by a weal ...

of an Austrian light cavalry regiment.

Early career

He joined the army of

as a volunteer in 1756 and fought in the

. In the

, he achieved promotion to the rank of

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. In 1784 he wed Barbara Gräfin von Sweerts und Sporck (1760–1834) from a Bohemian noble family. That year he also rose in rank to

Oberstleutnant () (English: Lieutenant Colonel) 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, ...

. In 1787 he was ennobled, becoming Andreas

Graf (; feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title ...

O'Reilly von Ballinlough. In 1790 during the war against Turkey he was elevated to

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

and took command of the ''Modena''

Chevau-léger ''Chevau-légers'' ( from French ''cheval''—horse—and ''léger''—light) was a generic French name for light cavalry and medium cavalry. Their history began in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, when the heavy cavalry forces of the ...

Regiment #13, which he led at the Siege of Belgrade in late 1789.Smith & Kudrna, ''Andreas O'Reilly''

French Revolutionary Wars

O'Reilly was promoted to General-Major during the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition () was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797, initially against the Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI, constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French First Republic, Frenc ...

in 1794. He achieved distinction at the

Battle of Amberg The Battle of Amberg, fought on 24 August 1796, resulted in a Habsburg victory by Archduke Charles over a French army led by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. This engagement marked a turning point in the Rhine campaign, which had previously seen Fre ...

on 24 August 1796. At the

First Battle of Zürich The First Battle of Zurich, from 4 to 7 June 1799, forced French General André Masséna to yield the city of Zurich to the Austrians, under Archduke Charles, and to retreat beyond the Limmat, where he managed to fortify his positions, which ...

on 4 June 1799, he led a brigade in

Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze Friedrich Freiherr (Baron) von Hotze (20 April 1739 – 25 September 1799), was a Swiss-born general and Field Marshall- Lieutenant in the Habsburg, Austrian army during the French Revolutionary Wars. He campaigned in the Rhineland during the ...

's Left Wing. His command consisted of one battalion of the ''Peterwardeiner''

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

Regiment # 9, three battalions of the ''Kaunitz'' Infantry Regiment # 20, two squadrons of the ''Coburg''

Dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

Regiment # 6, and two squadrons of Grenz

Hussars A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...

. He transferred to the army of

Michael von Melas Michael Friedrich Benedikt Baron von Melas (12 May 1729 – 31 May 1806) was a Transylvanian-born field marshal of Greek descent for the Austrian Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. He was born in Radeln, Transylvania, Ottoman Empire (nowadays R ...

in Italy and received promotion to

Feldmarschallleutnant Lieutenant field marshal, also frequently historically field marshal lieutenant (, formerly , historically also and, in official Imperial and Royal Austrian army documents from 1867 always , abbreviated ''FML''), was a senior army rank in certai ...

on 6 March 1800.

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

invaded Italy across the

Great St Bernard Pass The Great St Bernard Pass (, , ; ) is the third highest road pass in Switzerland, at an elevation of . It connects Martigny in the canton of Valais in Switzerland with Aosta in the region Aosta Valley in Italy. It is the lowest pass lying on t ...

in May 1800 and seized

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

on 2 June. Reacting to the surprise French offensive, Melas ordered O'Reilly to take 3,000 troops and an artillery convoy to defend

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

. The Austrian army commander hoped to use Piacenza as a base to launch a counterattack against Milan. In the event, Piacenza fell to the French before O'Reilly reached it. On 6 June, after an 11-hour skirmish, he successfully managed to save the artillery convoy and withdraw to the west, while fending off a French column that tried to cut him off.Arnold ''Marengo'', p 120 At the Battle of Montebello on 9 June,

Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz (1738 – 10 May 1809) was a military officer in the armies of the Habsburg monarchy. Of Hungarian origin, Ott fought in the wars against the Kingdom of Prussia, Ottoman Turkey, and the First French Republic in the ...

ordered O'Reilly to hold the village of

Casteggio Casteggio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 61 km south of Milan and about 25 km south of Pavia. As of 31 July 2010, it had a population of 6,537 and an area of 17.8 ...

with six battalions and four squadrons. When

Jean Lannes Jean Lannes, 1st Duke of Montebello, Prince of Siewierz (; 10 April 1769 – 31 May 1809), was a French military commander and a Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was one of Napol ...

advanced that morning, Ott was under instructions to avoid a battle. Yet, when he saw O'Reilly's men come under attack, Ott ignored army

Chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

Anton von Zach's advice and committed his corps to battle. O'Reilly defended Casteggio stubbornly as the French persisted in their attacks for hours. Reinforced by

Claude Perrin Victor Claude-Victor Perrin, Duke of Belluno (; 7 December 1764 – 1 March 1841) was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire in 1807 by Emperor Na ...

, the French finally gained the upper hand and Ott called on O'Reilly to cover the retreat. On 14 June at the

Melas gave O'Reilly command of the 3,000-strong Right Column. The units under his leadership included single battalions of the ''Banater'' #4, ''Warasdiner-Kreutzer'' #5, ''Oguliner'' # 3, and ''Ottocaner'' # 2 Grenz Infantry Regiments, plus one company of ''Mariassy'' Jägers. He also led detachments from three cavalry regiments, three squadrons of ''Nauendorf'' Hussars # 8, two squadrons of Hussars # 5, and one squadron of ''Württemberg'' Dragoons # 8. On the afternoon of the 13th, O'Reilly held Marengo village, which Melas intended to hold in preparation for his planned offensive the next day. In contrast to his stout defense of Casteggio, O'Reilly's performance was weak and Victor captured Marengo after only an hour of fighting. The loss of the village meant that the Austrian army had to fight over the same ground the next day. On the morning of the 14th, the Advance Guard under

Johann Maria Philipp Frimont Johann Maria Philipp Frimont, ''Count of Palota, Prince of Antrodoco'' (3 February 1759 – 26 December 1831) was an Austrian general. Frimont was born at Fénétrange, in the Duchy of Lorraine. He entered the Austrian cavalry as a trooper i ...

and O'Reilly's Right Column soon found

Gaspard Amédée Gardanne Gaspard Amédée Gardanne (; 24 April 1758 – 14 August 1807) was a French general who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. Biography Born in Solliès-Pont on 24 April 1758, Gardanne joined the French royal army in 1779. After the French Revolution he ...

's French division blocking their path. Gardanne's men, deployed on a narrow front, blunted the Austrian advance for 90 minutes and forced Melas to commit large forces to the attack. While the rest of the army hammered at the main French battle line near Marengo, O'Reilly became preoccupied with Achille Dampierre's 300 to 400 Frenchmen who occupied Stortigliona Farm on the south flank. When the outnumbered defenders withdrew to the south, O'Reilly, displaying "no initiative whatsoever" followed Dampierre. Ignoring the now-exposed French left flank, the Austrian Right Column hunted down Dampierre's force at Cassina Bianca. Dampierre finally surrendered to the ''Oguliner'' Grenz at 7:00pm that evening after losing two-thirds of his men as casualties. But, the small French detachment tied up a significant part of O'Reilly's column during the day Nevertheless, he earned the Knight's Cross of the

Military Order of Maria Theresa The Military Order of Maria Theresa (; ; ; ; ; ) was the highest military honour of the Habsburg monarchy, Austrian Empire and Austro-Hungarian Empire. History Founded on 18 June 1757, the day of the Battle of Kolín, by the Empress Mari ...

on 18 August 1801. Meanwhile, Melas finally cracked the French line near Marengo and organized a pursuit column. At about 3:00pm,

Konrad Valentin von Kaim Johann Konrad Valentin Ritter von Kaim (28 November 1737 (baptised) – 16 February 1801) was a French soldier and Austrian infantry commander during the French Revolutionary Wars. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Pozzolo on Christm ...

's center column lurched into motion, with Ott's Left Column to the north and elements of O'Reilly and Frimont's forces to the south. Late-arriving French reinforcements routed Kaim's center column around 5:00pm. In the stampede that followed, O'Reilly was able to retreat to the bridgehead successfully and covered the withdrawal of Ott's column that evening.

Napoleonic Wars

In 1803, he became Inhaber of the ''O'Reilly'' Chevau-léger Regiment # 3 and held this position during his lifetime. The regiment became noted for its outstanding combat efficiency during the 1809 war. At the beginning of the

War of the Third Coalition The War of the Third Coalition () was a European conflict lasting from 1805 to 1806 and was the first conflict of the Napoleonic Wars. During the war, First French Empire, France and French client republic, its client states under Napoleon I an ...

, O'Reilly led a cavalry division in the ''Armee von Italien'' of

Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Lawrence of Austria, Duke of Teschen (; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian field marshal, the third son of Emperor Leopold II and his wife, Maria Luisa of Spain. He was also the younger brother of ...

. Under his command were the ''Kaiser'' Chevau-léger Regiment # 1 and ''Kienmayer'' Hussar Regiment # 8, a total of 16 squadrons. In the Battle of Verona (1805) on 18 October 1805,

Count Heinrich von Bellegarde Count Heinrich von Bellegarde, Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia ( or sometimes ''Heinrich von Bellegarde''; 29 August 1756 – 22 July 1845), of a noble Savoyard family, was born in Saxony, joined the Saxon army and later entered Habsburg military ser ...

led his corps to support

Josef Philipp Vukassovich Baron Josef Philipp Vukassovich (; 1755 – 9 August 1809) was a Croatian soldier who joined the army of Habsburg monarchy and fought against both Ottoman Empire and the First French Republic. During the French Revolutionary Wars, he comma ...

, whose division was under attack by the French. O'Reilly's division was only lightly engaged before darkness ended the fighting. At the Battle of Caldiero on 30 October, O'Reilly's division participated in the counterattacks which helped restore the Austrian line. For his actions in the war, he earned the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa on 28 May 1806. In 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 I and Napoleon's French Emp ...

, Emperor

Napoleon I of France Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

defeated Johann von Hiller at the Battle of Landshut on 21 April 1809 and Archduke Charles at the

Battle of Eckmühl The Battle of Eckmühl fought on 22 April 1809, was the turning point of the 1809 Campaign, also known as the War of the Fifth Coalition. Napoleon I had been unprepared for the start of hostilities on 10 April 1809, by the Austrians under ...

on 22 April. These defeats left Hiller's outnumbered force isolated on the south bank of the Danube. Hiller's retreat left

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

exposed to French capture. Accordingly,

Archduke Maximilian of Austria-Este Archduke Maximilian Joseph of Austria-Este (July 14, 1782 – June 1, 1863), the fourth son of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este and younger brother of Francis IV, Duke of Modena. He was Hochmeister, grand master of the Teutonic Knights from 1 ...

was given the task of garrisoning Vienna with the 35,000 available troops. O'Reilly commanded 14 battalions of second-class Austrian and Bohemian

landwehr ''Landwehr'' (), or ''Landeswehr'', is a German language term used in referring to certain national army, armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large-scale, low-strength fo ...

plus 6,000 armed citizens. Other forces included a brigade of five elite

grenadier A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word ''grenade'') was historically an assault-specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in siege operation battles. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when ...

battalions under

Michael von Kienmayer Michael von Kienmayer (17 January 1756 – 28 October 1828) was an Austrian general. Kienmayer joined the army of the Habsburg monarchy and fought against the Kingdom of Prussia and Ottoman Turkey. During the French Revolutionary Wars, he continue ...

; Joseph Dedovich's division of eight regular, six landwehr, and six volunteer battalions; and four battalions and five squadrons under Armand von Nordmann and Joseph, Baron von Mesko de Felsö-Kubiny. After a bombardment, the inexperienced Maximilian decided to abandon the capital and ordered O'Reilly to surrender with a token garrison. The archduke mismanaged the evacuation and O'Reilly capitulated on 13 May with 2,000 troops, including 13 generals, 17 staff officers, 163 officers. Even worse, the French recovered 100 pieces of artillery and a military chest with 4.5 million

florins The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...

.Petre, pp 256–257 O'Reilly left the army on 7 January 1810, being promoted to

General der Kavallerie General of the Cavalry () 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 of equivalent rank were called ...

upon retirement. He died at Vienna on 5 July 1832, only one month shy of his 90th birthday.

Notes

References

* Arnold, James R. ''Crisis on the Danube.'' New York: Paragon House, 1990; * Arnold, J.R. ''Marengo & Hohenlinden.'' Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword, 2005; * Bowden, Scotty & Tarbox, Charlie. ''Armies on the Danube 1809''. Arlington, Texas: Empire Games Press, 1980. * Newerkla, Stefan Michael. ''Das irische Geschlecht O'Reilly und seine Verbindungen zu Österreich und Russland he Irish O'Reilly family and their connections to Austria and Russia', in: ''Diachronie – Ethnos – Tradition: Studien zur slawischen Sprachgeschichte iachrony – Ethnos – Tradition: Studies in Slavic Language History'' Eds. Jasmina Grković-Major, Natalia B. Korina, Stefan M. Newerkla, Fedor B. Poljakov, Svetlana M. Tolstaja. Brno: Tribun EU, 2020; , pp. 259–279
(accessible online).
* Petre, F. Loraine. ''Napoleon and the Archduke Charles''. New York: Hippocrene Books, (1909); republished 1976. * Schneid, Frederick C. ''Napoleon's Italian Campaigns: 1805–1815''. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2002; * Smith, Digby. ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' London: Greenhill, 1998;

Compiled by Leopold Kudrna for ''Austrian Generals 1792–1815: Andreas O'Reilly'' (se

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oreilly, Andreas Austrian military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Austrian Empire commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Austrian generals Irish soldiers in the Austrian Army 1742 births 1832 deaths Wild Geese (soldiers) Commanders Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa People of the War of the First Coalition

Early career

French Revolutionary Wars

Napoleonic Wars

See also

Notes

References