Franz Xaver Freiherr von Auffenberg (1744 – 23 December 1815) was an Austrian general during the French Revolutionary 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 ...

Biography

Von Auffenberg was born in 1744 in Oettingen, in the

Electorate of Bavaria The Electorate of Bavaria () was a quasi-independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria. The Wittelsbach dynasty which ruled the Duchy of Bavaria was the younger ...

. In 1766 he joined the Imperial Army as a Cadet in the Infantry-Regiment No. 45. He served in this unit until 1788 when he became a Captain in a Serbian

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies, rega ...

. Two years later he became a Major on the general staff and in 1791 returned to his old regiment. In 1793 he was made a Lieutenant Colonel in the Infantry-Regiment No. 47, becoming its commander and Colonel in 1794.Finke, p.664 For him 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 ...

began in 1793 with the Austrian Netherlands campaign. He was promoted major general in February 1797 for his service at the

battle of Würzburg The Battle of Würzburg was fought on 3 September 1796 between an army of the Habsburg monarchy led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen and an army of the First French Republic led by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. The French attacked the archduke ...

and battle of Wetzlar. During the

War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition () (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war targeting French Revolution, revolutionary French First Republic, France by many European monarchies, led by Kingdom of Great Britain, Britai ...

he commanded a corps in the Swiss Graubünden. On 7 March 1799 he was beaten on the Luziensteig by

André Masséna André Masséna, prince d'Essling, duc de Rivoli (; born Andrea Massena; 6 May 1758 – 4 April 1817), was a French military commander of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original eighteen Marshal of the ...

and his force and he was captured the following day when he withdrew to

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

. He then fought alongside the Russians at Saint-Gotthard and Klöntal. He was freed after the

Treaty of Lunéville The Treaty of Lunéville (or Peace of Lunéville) was signed in the Treaty House of Lunéville on 9 February 1801. The signatory parties were the French Republic and Emperor Francis II, who signed on his own behalf as ruler of the hereditary do ...

and rejoined the Austrian army, commanding a force of 5,500 men as a

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 ...

during 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 ...

. From 1803 to 1807 he was owner and honorary colonel of the Infantry Regiment No. 37. At

Wertingen Wertingen () is a town in the district of Dillingen in Bavaria, Germany. It is located along the river Zusam in 13 km east of Dillingen, and 28 km northwest of Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part o ...

on 8 October 1805 he was beaten by French troops under

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also ; ; ; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French Army officer and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the military titles of Marshal of the ...

. His defeat there opened the way to Austria's defeat at

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

and Austerlitz and so he was court martialled in 1805, placed on the inactive list and dismissed from the army in 1807.

References

Bibliography

*
Moderne Biographien oder kurze Nachrichten von dem Leben und den Thaten der berühmtesten Menschen, welche sich seit dem Anfange der französischen Revolution bis zu dem Wiener Frieden als Regenten, Feldherrn (etc.) ausgezeichnet haben (etc.)
von Karl Reichard, Leipzig, Hammer 1811

Leopold Kudrna {{DEFAULTSORT:Auffenberg, Franz Xaver von 1744 births 1815 deaths Austrian military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Austrian Empire commanders of the Napoleonic Wars

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography