Michael, Freiherr von Fröhlich (9 January 1740 – 1814) was a German general officer serving in army of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, notably during the Wars of the French Revolution.

Service

Fröhlich was born in

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

in Hesse, Germany, and by 1778 was a

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 ...

commanding infantry in the Warasdin district of Croatia. During the

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 ...

he headed a surprise attack on the fort at Dittersbach and captured 110 prisoners. In 1783 he became Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) and in 1788 Oberst (colonel). On 27 May 1789 during the war against Turkey he defended Dobroselo with Oberst Weiler for over 10 hours with only 1,500 men against 10,000 enemies. Promoted General-major in 1793, he served in Franz von Werneck's division under

Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Prince Frederick Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (; 26 December 1737 – 26 February 1815) was a military commander in the army of the Holy Roman Empire. He began his career at the age of 18 in a cavalry regiment with which he took part in the Se ...

in the Austrian Netherlands in 1794. In 1795 he fought on the Rhine at

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

. In 1796 Fröhlich was promoted to

Feldmarschall-Leutnant 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 ...

and commanded a mixed column of Austrian,

Émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenot ...

and Kreis-Armee soldiers on the left wing of the Army of the Upper Rhine under

Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser Dagobert Sigmund, Count von Wurmser (7 May 1724 – 22 August 1797) was an Austrian field marshal during the French Revolutionary Wars. Although he fought in the Seven Years' War, the War of the Bavarian Succession, and mounted several successf ...

. From 18 June 1796 he served under Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour. Following Moreau’s crossing of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

he was cut off 24 June, but was able to reunite with the forces of the Archduke Charles at

Nördlingen Nördlingen (; Swabian: ''Nearle'' or ''Nearleng'') is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, with a population of approximately 20,674. It is located approximately east of Stuttgart, and northwest of Munich. It was ...

on 10 August. He was then made commander of the 11,000 man corps connected to Latour on the Lech in the

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

. He served at the combat of Kammlach 13th, then the following month faced Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino on the upper

Iller The Iller (; ancient name Ilargus) is a river of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube, long. It is formed at the confluence of the rivers Breitach, Stillach and Trettach near Oberstdorf in the Al ...

and

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 ...

, pursuing him during Moreau's retreat to the Rhine. Fröhlich joined with Charles and Latour to defeat Moreau at the Battle of Emmendingen on 19 October 1796 and

Battle of Schliengen At the Battle of Schliengen (24 October 1796), the French Army of the Rhine and Moselle under the command of Jean Victor Marie Moreau, Jean-Victor Moreau and the Austrian army under the command of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, Archduke Ch ...

five days later. In 1799 he was made Colonel

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 Infantry Regiment Nr. 28 and commanded a 14,000 man division in Italy. His command saw action at the Battle of Verona on 26 March 1799 and acted as the Reserve at the

Battle of the Trebia The Battle of the Trebia (or Trebbia) was the first major battle of the Second Punic War, fought between the Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and a Roman army under Sempronius Longus on 22 or 23 December 218 BC. Each army had a strength o ...

on 19 June. He occupied Plaisance, and was at the

Battle of Novi The Battle of Novi took place on 15 August 1799, was a battle between combined army of the Habsburg monarchy and Imperial Russians under Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov and a Republican French army under General Barthélemy Catherine Jouber ...

on 15 August 1799. He then took command of troops in Tuscany and the Papal States, besieging and eventually capturing

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

. From 1803 to 1810 he was Commandant of the Fortress of Olmütz, then went into retirement and died at the age of 74 in Troppau, Silesia.

References

* Clausewitz, Carl von (2020). ''Napoleon Absent, Coalition Ascendant: The 1799 Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 1.'' Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. * Clausewitz, Carl von (2021). ''The Coalition Crumbles, Napoleon Returns: The 1799 Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 2.'' Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. {{DEFAULTSORT:Frohlich 1814 deaths 1740 births Austrian military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Austrian generals