Prince of Schwarzenberg | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of the prince of Schwarzenberg | |
| Birth name | Karl Philipp |
| Born | (1771-04-18)18 April 1771 |
| Died | 15 October 1820(1820-10-15) (aged 49) |
| Allegiance |  Habsburg monarchy Austrian Empire |
| Branch | Austrian Army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Imperial Austrian Army of 1806–1867 |
| Years of service | 1789–1820 |
| Rank | Generalissimo |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Order of the Golden Fleece Military Order of Maria Theresa Military Order of Max Joseph Legion of Honour Order of the Holy Spirit Order of the Bath Military William Order |
| Relations | Johann Nepomuk Anton of Schwarzenberg (father) Marie Eleonore Countess ofÖttingen-Wallerstein (mother) |
Karl Philipp, Fürst zuSchwarzenberg (orCharles Philip, Prince of Schwarzenberg; 18/19 April 1771 – 15 October 1820) was anAustrianGeneralissimo and formerField Marshal.[1] He first entered military service in 1788 and fought against the Turks. During theFrench Revolutionary War, he fought on the allied side against France and in that period rose through the ranks of theImperial Army. During theNapoleonic Wars, he fought in theBattle of Wagram (1809), which the Austrians lost decisively againstNapoleon. He had to fight for Napoleon in the battles ofGorodechno andWolkowisk (1812) against the Russians and won. During theWar of the Sixth Coalition, he was in command of the allied army that decisively defeated Napoleon in theBattle of Leipzig (1813).He participated in theBattle of Paris (1814), which forced Napoleon to abdicate.
Schwarzenberg is well-remembered for his participation in the wars against Napoleon from 1803 to 1815. During the War of the Sixth Coalition to defeat Napoleon, Schwarzenberg was a pioneer of theTrachenberg Plan which led to the success at the Battle of Leipzig and later the campaigns against Napoleon on French soil. During the latter stage of the war he won many victories that garnered him fame and reputation as a military commander, particularly during his campaigns inGermany,Switzerland, andFrance during the war in 1814. In the years following the war, Schwarzenberg served as a diplomat for theAustrian Empire and later went on to serve as Austrian ambassador toRussia and also represented Austria at theCongress of Vienna.
Karl Philipp was born 18/19 April 1771 inVienna,[2] the son ofJohann Nepomuk Anton of Schwarzenberg, who was a member of the cadet branch of the Schwarzenberg princedom and Marie Eleonore Countess ofÖttingen-Wallerstein, whose family ruled the region known as theCounty of Öttingen since the 11th Century. Their ancestorLudovicus de Otingen who was a member of a family that is a relative of the imperialHouse of Hohenstaufen, who ruled theHoly Roman Empire during theMedieval Age. He was one of thirteen siblings, seven of whom did not reach adulthood.[3] His family descends from the line of the Princes of the Schwarzenberg of the illustrious and nobleHouse of Schwarzenberg, whose lineage could be traced back to at least the 16th Century. Their roots began with the Lords (Princes) ofSeinsheim in theMiddle Ages and they held land and fiefdoms inFranconia andBohemia. When the founder of the Schwarzenberg line,Erkinger of Seisheim acquired the lands and the castle ofSchwarzenberg in theHoly Roman Empire, Erkinger was later madeFreiherr (Baron) of the region in 1429. They were at first were madeimperial counts by theHoly Roman Emperor and later became counted among the German and Austrian nobility during the 18th Century. Later EmperorFrancis I of Austria granted a Prince of Schwarzenberg title specifically for Karl Phillip, for his active military service and contributions during Napoleonic Wars. His branch of the Schwarzenberg princedom still continues to this very day. During the early years of his life, Schwarzenberg underwent extensive military training from an early age. Due to his high birth, rank and his family's relationship with theHouse of Habsburg, he was enlisted in the Austrian army as a lieutenant in 1788 and that same year, he went on to experience war for the first time in his life.
Karl Philipp entered the imperialcavalry in 1788, fought in 1789 under Austrian generalsFranz Moritz Graf von Lacy andErnst Gideon Freiherr von Laudon against theOttoman Empire, during theAustro-Turkish War. That war was a result of Russian EmpressCatherine the Great and the Russian Empire's aggression against the Ottoman Empire, and as Austria was an ally of Russia, it triggered Austria's open involvement in the conflict. In the war, he distinguished himself by his bravery, and became a major in 1792 and campaigned extensively in the Balkans.[2]
During the outbreak of theFrench Revolution, Europe experienced one of the most remarkable political incidents in history, during which theHouse of Bourbon, the French royal family and its members were executed or fled, which also led to dissolution of theFrench hierarchical system and also decentralization of power invested inthe Church and theNobility. This resulted in the establishment of a France that came under arepublican government led by the revolutionaries. The major powers of Europe opposed the French Republic, fearing that such revolutions might happen in their respective countries, declaring war on France and subsequently invaded the country, thus beginning a conflict that lasted from 1792 to 1801.
In theFrench campaign of 1793, Schwarzenberg served in the advanced guard of the army commanded byPrince Josias of Coburg. At the battle ofLe Cateau-Cambrésis in 1794, his impetuous charge at the head of his regiment, vigorously supported by twelveBritish squadrons, broke a whole corps of the French (of around 25,000 men), killed and wounded 3,000 men, and captured 32 of the enemy's guns. He was immediately decorated with the Knight's Cross of theMilitary Order of Maria Theresa for his conduct.[4]
During the mid-stages of the war, after taking part in the Austrian victories at the battles ofAmberg andWürzburg in 1796, he was raised to the rank ofgeneral-major, and, in 1799, he was subsequently promoted toGeneralleutnant. At theBattle of Hohenlinden (3 December 1800), the Austrian forces underArchduke John of Austria engaged in a decisive battle with the French army under GeneralJean Moreau, whom the Austrians believed were "beaten". However, the French were not beaten but had laid an ambush for the Austrians and attacked as the Austrians were emerging from the Ebersberg forest. The Austrian left flank was attacked by GeneralAntoine Richepanse's division, leading to a disastrous defeat. During the battle, Schwarzenberg led a division in the right wing.[5] During the retreat, his promptitude and courage saved the right wing of the Austrian army from destruction, and theArchduke Charles of Austria afterwards entrusted him with the command of the rearguard.[4]
After the battle, the Austrians suffered a major setback as well as another defeat at theBattle of Marengo (14 June 1800), which led to the conclusion of theWar of the Second Coalition and also led to theTreaty of Lunéville in 1801. As a result of the treaty, the Austrians accepted French dominance up to theRhine and recognized the Frenchpuppet republics inItaly. Two years prior, the French republican government,the Directory, was overthrown in theCoup of 18 Brumaire in 1799, under a certain brilliant and famous French general,Napoleon Bonaparte, who declared himselfFirst Consul and laterEmperor of the newly formed French Empire in 1803.
In 1804 Prince Karl Philipp was createdFürst zu Schwarzenberg in a title identical to, but separate from, that of his brother,Joseph II, Prince of Schwarzenberg.[3]
In theWar of the Third Coalition he held command of a division underMack and when Napoleon surroundedUlm in October, Schwarzenberg was one of the band of cavalry under theArchduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este which cut its way through the hostile lines. Although Schwarzenberg and Archduke Ferdinand were able to extricate their units, the unfortunate army of General Mack had to surrender to Napoleon's army, which struck a blow to Austria's military morale and led to its eventual defeat. In the same year, Schwarzenberg received the Commander's Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa and in 1809 he was awarded theOrder of the Golden Fleece.[4]
In 1809, war once again broke out between Napoleon and Austria, due to Austria's frustration with their territorial concessions to Napoleon and to avenge the humiliations suffered by Austria during previous wars of the coalitions. During the early stages of the war, Austria was successful in defeating Napoleon at theBattle of Aspern-Essling ,under the command ofArchduke Charles of Austria, and was confident in its victory. Schwarzenberg took part in theBattle of Wagram (July 1809), which the Austrians lost and in which he led a cavalry division in the Reserve Corps[6] and was soon afterwards promoted to general of cavalry.
In 1812, Schwarzenberg signed theTreaty of Paris, making Austria an ally of France. The Austrians were forced by Napoleon to send Schwarzenberg (whom Napoleon held in high esteem), commanding an Austrian corps of around 30,000 men, to theGrande Armée for theFrench invasion of Russia. He had to show enough commitment to please Napoleon without angering Russia. In the end he failed to protect the Grande Armée from a flank attackat the Berezina. His troops fought bravely and with courage, and he led his armies to victory atGorodetschna andWolkowisk. In late November his soldiers withdrew into winter quarters at Bialystok under a verbal agreement with the Russians. Of the 30,000 soldiers who entered Russia under Schwarzenberg's command, 7,000 were killed in battle and another 4,000 died of disease and exposure.[7] Napoleon said in his memoirs, that Schwarzenberg, instead of advancing to Minsk, retreated to Warsaw and abandoned the French army thus allowing Chichagov to seize Minsk.[8] Afterwards, under instructions from Napoleon, he remained for some months inactive atPultusk.[9]
In 1813, after Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia failed, the allied nations, which included Russia,Prussia,Sweden, andBritain, formedthe Sixth Coalition against Napoleon. At first, Austria did not join the Coalition, instead trying to negotiate a peace treaty with Napoleon, withKlemens von Metternich the AustrianForeign Minister being sent to personally meet the Emperor of the French. The conditions set by Austria were that the French puppet states, such as theConfederation of the Rhine and client kingdoms inItaly, be dissolved,Poland be re-partitioned, and theIllyrian Provinces and other French-occupied Austrian territories (since 1797) be given back to Austria. Napoleon refused the deal, considering it a "humiliation" rather than a peace treaty. When Austria, after many hesitations, then joined the coalition against Napoleon, Schwarzenberg, recently appointed to the supreme command theAustrian army, was appointed commander-in-chief of the alliedArmy of Bohemia, numbering around 230,000 men. This was the first time Schwarzenberg held senior command of a large army in his career and he could now lead this army in ways that he deemed necessary, taking more decisions and deciding strategy for the allies.
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As such, he was the senior of the allied generals who conducted thecampaign of 1813–1814.[10] The allies faced many odds, including Napoleon's bold tactics, so the allies were in a dilemma; either to face Napoleon in battle or retreat. The allied commanders then came up with an idea to defeat him in battle and Schwarzenberg was a major pioneer of this strategy, which is now known as theTrachenberg Plan. The idea was that rather than facing Napoleon directly, they would split their respective armies and attack where Napoleon wasn't or when they could combine their armies against him. The plan proved a success and led to several allied victories. Under his command, Schwarzenberg disobeyed the plan not to engage Napoleon directly in battle and the allied Army of Bohemia was mauled by Napoleon at theBattle of Dresden on 26–27 August and driven back into Bohemia. However, his army defeated pursuing French forces at theSecond Battle of Kulm (17 September 1813). Returning to the fray, he led his army north again and played a major role in Napoleon's decisive defeat at theBattle of Leipzig, also known as the "Battle of the Nations" on 16–18 October. At the battle, together with the monarchsEmperor Alexander I of Russia,Emperor Francis of Austria, andFredrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, Schwarzenberg directed the battle and because of the cooperation of the allies against Napoleon at Leipzig, this turned the tide of the war in the allies' favour.
After the Battle at Leipzig, during the invasion of France in 1814, he attacked through Switzerland and defeated a French force at theBattle of Bar-sur-Aube on 27 February. It marked the first in nearly 20 years that a foreign army had invaded the French homeland. He repelled an attack by Napoleon in theBattle of Arcis-sur-Aube on 20–21 March and overcame the last barrier beforeParis by winning theBattle of Fère-Champenoise on 30 March. Schwarzenberg's Austrian army, together with MarshalGebhard Leberecht von Blücher's Prussian army and GeneralBarclay de Tolly's Russian army besieged the city of Paris on 26 March. After a day of fighting, the French MarshalsAuguste de Marmont andBon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey, realized that all hope was lost and sensing that Paris could not survive a siege by a superior army, surrendered the city to the allied army. The capture of the French capital on 31 March after theBattle of Paris resulted in the overthrow of Napoleon and subsequently his abdication at theTreaty of Fontainebleau signed on 11 April.[11] This eventually led to Napoleon's brief exile in the island ofElba in 1814. The capture of Paris successfully ended Napoleon's rule and domination ofEurope, and after, theGreat Powers began the rebuilding of Europe's political and geographic structure at theCongress of Vienna.
The next year, during theHundred Days, when Napoleon escaped fromElba and regained the French throne, Schwarzenberg commanded the Army of the Upper Rhine (an Austrian-allied army of about a quarter of a million men) in thehostilities that followed. However, as the allies amassed their forces, the Austrians did not have to fight a single battle, because the Anglo-Allied Army, under theDuke of Wellington and the Prussians under Field Marshal Blücher, jointly defeated Napoleon at theBattle of Waterloo in June 1815. Thus the twenty year period of instability and conflict in Europe came to an end and the Congress of Vienna was able to complete its work. The agreements and conditions of the congress led to the redrawing of the map of Europe and creating a new balance power between theGreat Powers of the continent, aiming to prevent further major conflicts in Europe. This turned out to be successful and led to a period of relative calm and peace between the European nations for half a century.[12]
During 1806–1809 Schwarzenberg served as the Austrian ambassador toRussia. He had previously served as the ambassador toFrance from 1809 to 1814.[2]
In the aftermath of theWar of the Fifth Coalition (1809), in which Austria suffered a crushing defeat and was forced give up lands inIllyria,Salzburg, andGalicia as recompense, Schwarzenberg participated in the signing ofTreaty of Schönbrunn (14 October 1809). In 1810, he was sent to Paris as ambassador to negotiate the 1810 marriage between Napoleon and the ArchduchessMarie Louise of Austria.[4] The prince gave a ball in honour of the bride on 1 July 1810, which ended in a fire that killed many of the guests, including his own sister-in-law, wife of his older brother, Joseph.[13]
After the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars ended, Schwarzenberg's health steadily declined. Shortly afterwards, in 1816, having lost his sister Caroline, to whom he was deeply attached, he fell ill. Astroke disabled him in 1817 and in 1820, when revisitingLeipzig (the scene of the"Battle of the Nations" that he had directed seven years before) he suffered a second stroke. He died there on 15 October.[10] At the news of his death, the Austrian Empire held three days of mourning for the great general andVictor of Leipzig. Even Emperor Alexander I of Russia said that:
"Europe has lost a hero and I a friend, one that I would miss as long as I live."
The Prince married the Countess Maria Anna von Hohenfeld (20 May 1767–1848), who was the widow of Prince AntonEsterhazy von Galantha. They had three sons:[3]
Of Schwarzenberg's nephews,Felix Schwarzenberg, the statesman, was also notable, andFriedrich Johann Josef Coelestin (1809–1885) was a cardinal and a prominent figure in papal and Austrian history. The modern Schwarzenberg family, stems from his branch, where to this day the family still holds the lands and the castle ofSchwarzenberg in Bohemia, present dayCzech Republic, where they continued to play a role in the country's politics and military.[10]
Habsburg monarchy:
French Empire: Grand Eagle of theLegion of Honour,1811[18]
Kingdom of France:Knight of the Holy Spirit,1816[19]
Russian Empire:
Sweden:Grand Cross of the Sword, 1st Class,20 February 1814[21]
Kingdom of Bavaria:
Kingdom of Sardinia:Knight of the Annunciation,4 January 1815[24]
Denmark:Knight of the Elephant,30 April 1815[25]
United Kingdom:Honorary Grand Cross of the Bath (military),18 August 1815[26]
Netherlands: Grand Cross of theMilitary William Order,27 August 1815[27]
Kingdom of Hanover: Grand Cross of theRoyal Guelphic Order,1816[28].svg)
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Schwarzenberg, Karl Philipp, Prince zu".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 390–391. Endnotes:
