His tomb in Venice. Johann Gabriel Josef Albert, Marquess of Chasteler and Courcelles (22 January 1763 – 7 May 1825) was a Walloon, born near Mons,

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

. He entered the military service of Habsburg Austria at an early age and trained as an engineer at the Ingenieurakademie in Vienna. Serving as chief of staff to Spleny in the Turkish War from 1788, he won the Ritterkreuz (Knight’s Cross) of the

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 Maria ...

for outstanding bravery at the Battle of Focsani in action 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 ...

Family

He was born the eldest son of François-Gabriel-Joseph du Chasteler de Courcelles and Albertine, daughter of Johan, Graf von Thürnheim (1742–1765).

French Revolutionary Wars

In 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 ...

against 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 served as an engineer on the Rhine, distinguishing himself at Mainz in 1795. Promoted to general officer in 1796 he served under the

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

in Germany. In 1799 Chasteler was appointed Generalquartiermeister (chief of staff) to

Suvorov Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, Prince of Italy () was a Russian general and military theorist in the service of the Russian Empire. Born in Moscow, he studied military history as a young boy and joined the Imperial Russian ...

and commander of a wing of the Austrian army in Italy. Serving at the Battle of Cassano 27 April, he invested Tortona in May, but was wounded at Alessandria, 16 July. Elevated to Commander of the Order of Maria Theresa and made chief of staff in Southern Germany in 1800, he serving at

Engen Engen (延元) was a Japanese era of the Southern Court during the Era of Northern and Southern Courts after Kenmu and before Kōkoku, lasting from February 1336 to April 1340.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Engen''" i ''Japan encyclop ...

and Mösskirch, before leading a Brigade in the

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

, distinguishing himself at the action of Scharnitz.

Napoleonic Wars

At the opening 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 ...

, in 1805 he was appointed to lead an advance guard division in the Tyrol, where he successfully covered the retreat of the

Archduke John Archduke John of Austria (, ; (or simply ''Nadvojvoda Janez''); 20 January 1782 – 11 May 1859), a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, was an Austrian field marshal and imperial regent (''Reichsverweser'') of the short-lived German Empi ...

, notably at the Strub Pass.

1809

The

Hofkriegsrat The ''Hofkriegsrat'' (or Aulic War Council, sometimes Imperial War Council) established in 1556 was the central military administrative authority of the Habsburg monarchy until 1848 and the predecessor of the Austro-Hungarian Ministry of War. Th ...

appointed Chasteler to lead the VIII Armeekorps in Archduke John's Army of Inner Austria at the beginning of 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 ...

. Immediately, he was detached with 10,000 troops and sent to assist the revolt in the

and Albert Gyulay took his place as corps commander. On 13 May he was badly beaten at the

Battle of Wörgl The Battle of Wörgl or Wörgel was fought on 13 May 1809, when a Bavarian force under French Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre attacked an Austrian Empire detachment commanded by Johann Gabriel Chasteler de Courcelles. The Bavarians severely ...

by Lefebvre's Bavarian VII Corps. Repeatedly prevented from rejoining John's forces his command ended the campaign at Lake Balaton in July. After the peace he was appointed Military Commander of the

Austrian Silesia Austrian Silesia, officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, was an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Habsburg monarchy (from 1804 the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 the Cisleithanian portion of Austria-Hungary). It is la ...

1813

In 1813 he commanded the defences of Prague, then commanded a Corps of the Army of Bohemia under Schwarzenberg, serving at Kulm and Tortona 16 May. Nominated Governor of the Theresienstadt Fortifications, after Leipzig he was given the command of Klenau’s Army Corps. In 1814 after the establishment of the new Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, Chasteler was in charge of the Venetian defences. He was the

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 infantry regiment on three occasions.

Character

Chasteler was regarded as a competent professional, representing "the last generation of the talented and lively southern Netherlanders in the Austrian Army. He was brave as well as expert, but also bespectacled and short-sighted - an unfortunate combination of characteristics with brought him into the path of many a missile in the course of his career" As the commander of an Army Corps in 1809 however his performance was "vacillating". Smith-Kudrna, ''Chasteler de Courcelles''

Notes

References

Printed materials

* Bowden, Scotty & Tarbox, Charlie. ''Armies on the Danube 1809''. Arlington, Texas: Empire Games Press, 1980. * Schneid, Frederick C. ''Napoleon's Italian Campaigns: 1805-1815''. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2002. * Smith, Digby. ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' London: Greenhill, 1998.

External links

napoleon-series.org ''Chasteler de Courcelles'' by Digby Smith, compiled by Leopold Kudrna
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chasteler De Courcelles, Johann Gabriel Belgian soldiers Austrian generals Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Commanders Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa Austrian military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Austrian Empire commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Walloon people 1763 births 1825 deaths