Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze
Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze | |
---|---|
Swiss Confederation | |
Died | 25 September 1799 Schänis on the Linth, Canton of St. Gallen | (aged 60)
Allegiance | Duke of Württemberg (1758–1761) King of Prussia (1761–1765) |
Awards | 1793, Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa 1798, Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa |
Friedrich Freiherr (Baron) von Hotze (20 April 1739 – 25 September 1799), was a Swiss-born general in the
Hotze was born on 20 April 1739 in
His persistent attentiveness to
Childhood and early career
Friedrich Hotze was the second son of Johannes Hotze, a doctor and surgeon in Hessian military service and his Zürich-born wife, Juditha Gessner. Hotze came from an old Swiss family, and was a cousin of
In May 1768, Hotze entered the service of
Habsburg service
The war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire ended with the
Hotze's experience with military preparedness and organization gave him an advantage in establishing the lancers as a new combat arm. Recognizing the importance of lancers as part of the Austrian armed force, he embarked on an organizational and training program. The Emperor named him as commander of these corps, with the rank of a full colonel. In 1787, he returned temporarily to Russia, this time to establish a similar force in
French Revolutionary Wars
Initially, the rulers of Europe viewed the revolution in France as an event between the French king and his subjects, and not something in which they should interfere. In 1790, Leopold succeeded his brother Joseph as emperor and by 1791, he considered the situation surrounding his sister, Marie Antoinette, and her children, with greater alarm. In August 1791, in consultation with French émigré nobles and Frederick William II of Prussia, he issued the Declaration of Pillnitz, in which they declared the interest of the monarchs of Europe as one with the interests of Louis and his family. They threatened ambiguous, but quite serious, consequences if anything should happen to the royal family.[7]
The French Republican position became increasingly difficult. Compounding problems in international relations, French émigrés continued to agitate for support of a counter-revolution abroad. Chief among them were the
War of First Coalition
In April 1792, Hotze and his regiment joined the autonomous Austrian Corps under
In each of these assignments, Hotze proved himself as a confident and courageous general against the stronger French
In the Battle of Neresheim (11 August 1796), Hotze commanded 13 battalions and 28 cavalry squadrons, a total of 13,300 men, and formed the center of Archduke Charles' line.[12] Although Hotze's force managed to push the French out of several villages, his force was not strong enough to follow up on his advantage.[13] Following the action at Neresheim, his force participated in the joint battles of Neumarkt and Lauf, followed by the Battle of Würzburg on 3 September 1796. During these consecutive actions, Hotze's organization and initiative led to the overwhelming of the French lines. For his actions in this campaign, he was awarded a promotion on 29 April 1797, and received the Commander's Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa.[4]
Peace and the Congress of Rastatt
The Coalition forces—Austria, Russia, Prussia, Great Britain, Sardinia, among others—achieved several victories at
The treaty called for meetings between the involved parties, to work out the exact territorial and remunerative details. These were to be convened at a small town in the mid-Rhineland,
Other factors contributed to the rising tensions. On his way to
Outbreak of war in 1799
With the signing of the
As winter broke in 1799, on 1 March, General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan and his army of 25,000, the Army of the Danube, crossed the Rhine at Kehl.[19] Instructed to block the Austrians from access to the Swiss alpine passes, Jourdan planned to isolate the armies of the Coalition in Germany from allies in northern Italy, and prevent them from assisting one another. His was a preemptive strike. By crossing the Rhine in early March, Jourdan acted before the Charles' army could be reinforced by Austria's Russian allies, who had agreed to send 60,000 seasoned soldiers and their more-seasoned commander, Generalissimo Alexander Suvorov. Furthermore, if the French held the interior passes in Switzerland, they could not only prevent the Austrians from transferring troops between northern Italy and southwestern Germany, but could use the routes to move their own forces between the two theaters.[20]
The Army of the Danube, meeting little resistance, advanced through the Black Forest in three columns, through the Höllental (Hölle valley), via Oberkirch, and Freudenstadt; a fourth column advanced along the north shore of the Rhine, and eventually took a flanking position on the north shore of Lake Constance. Jourdan pushed across the Danube plain and took up position between Rottweil and Tuttlingen and eventually pushing toward the imperial city of Pfullendorf in Upper Swabia.[21] At the same time, the Army of Switzerland, under command of André Masséna, pushed toward the Grisons, intending to cut the Austrian lines of communication and relief at the mountain passes by Luziensteig and Feldkirch. A third Army of Italy, commanded by Louis Joseph Schérer, had already advanced into northern Italy, to deal with Ferdinand and the recalcitrant Neapolitans.[22]
War of the Second Coalition
When Hotze took up arms against the French in Switzerland, the revolutionary Swiss government in Bern revoked his Swiss citizenship. For the Coalition allies, though, his Swiss roots made him an ideal emissary between Vienna and Confederation sympathizers in Switzerland. He worked with
First Battle of Zurich
By mid-May 1799, the Austrians had wrested control of Switzerland from the French as the forces of Hotze and Count Heinrich von Bellegarde pushed them out of the Grisons; after pushing Jean-Baptiste Jourdan's force, the Army of the Danube, back to the Rhine, Archduke Charles' own sizable force—about 110,000 strong—crossed the Rhine, and prepared to join with the armies of Hotze and Bellegarde on the plains by Zürich. The French Army of Helvetia and the Army of the Danube, now both under the command of Masséna, tried to prevent this merger of the Austrian forces; in a preliminary action at Winterthur, the Austrians succeeded in pushing the French forces out of Winterthur, although they took high casualties.[4]
Once the union took place in the first two days of June, Archduke Charles, supported by Hotze's command, attacked French positions at Zürich.[26] In first Battle of Zürich, on 4–7 June 1799, Hotze commanded the entire left wing of Archduke Charles' army, which included 20 battalions of infantry, plus support artillery, and 27 squadrons of cavalry, in total, 19,000 men. Despite being wounded, he remained on the field. His troops not only pushed the French back, but harassed their retreat, forcing them across the Limmat river, where they took up defensive positions.[27]
Death at Battle of Linth River
In August 1799, Archduke Charles received orders from his brother, the Emperor, to withdraw the Austrian army across the Rhine.[28] While Charles could see this to be unreasonable—Alexander Suvorov had not yet reached central Switzerland, and it was folly to think that Alexander Korsakov's force of 30,000 and Hotze's 20,000 could hold all of the region until the arrival of the rest of the Russian force—the order was emphatic.[29] Charles delayed as long as he could, but in late August he withdrew his force across the Rhine and headed toward Philippsburg. When Suvorov heard of this breach of military common-sense, he wondered "the owl [referring to the Emperor] has either gone out of his mind, or he never had one."[30] The order was eventually reversed too late for the Archduke to stop his withdrawal.[31]
Unlike Korsakov, Hotze knew his military business, and he had organized a competent defense of the St. Gallen border, on Korsakov's left flank, reasoning, correctly, that Suvorov was on his way and needed St. Gallen as a safe haven after he passed through the
Consequences of Hotze's death
Hotze was sorely missed. Despite mis-communication between and among the British, the Austrians and the Russians, the British miscalculation of the size of troops (consistently 10–25 percent higher than they actually were), the lack of Swiss volunteers, and failed promises of transport mules, Suvorov organized his impressive
Sources
Citations and notes
- Zwingli's 16th century school reform, the gymnasium provided classical instruction. It also was one of the components of the University of Zurich, founded in the mid-19th century. (in German) University of Zurich. Klassiches-Philologisches Seminar Archived 2009-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. Ab 13 November 2009. Accessed 14 December 2009.
- University of Leipzig. Johannes Hotze was one of the first professional doctors to practice medicine in the Zürich countryside. He also treated the emotionally disturbed, and offered in-house medical care for women in labor. He married Anna Elisabetha Pfenninger. (in German) Christoph Mörgeli. Hotz (Hotze), Johannes. Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. 29 October 2007 edition. Accessed 18 October 2009.
- ^ (in German) Jens-Florian Ebert. Friedrich, Freiherr von Hotze. Die Österreichischen Generäle 1792–1815. Napoleon-online (German Version). Accessed 15 October 2009; (in German) Katja Hürlimann. Johann Konrad (Friedrich von Hotze) Archived 2017-12-01 at the Wayback Machine. Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, 15 January 2008 edition, accessed 18 October 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f (in German) Ebert. Freiherr von Hotze.
- ^ Joseph Lins. "Saint Petersburg." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. Accessed 17 October 2009.
- ^ (in German) Ebert.Freiherr von Hotze.
- ISBN 0-340-56911-5, pp. 41–59.
- ^ Blanning, pp. 44–59.
- ^ Kudrna, Leopold; Smith, Digby. "A Biographical Dictionary of all Austrian Generals during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars". Retrieved 2014-02-06.; Kudrna, Leopold; Smith, Digby. "Esterházy de Galántha, (Paul) Anton II. Anselm Fürst". Retrieved 2014-02-06.
- ^ (in German) Ebert. Freiherr von Hotze; (in German) Hürlimann, Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz.
- ^ (in German) Ebert, Freiherr von Hotze; (in German) Hürlimann, Hotze, in Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz.
- ^ Smith. "Neresheim." Data Book..
- ^ Rickard, John. Battle of Neresheim, 11 August 1796. History of War, Peter Antill, Tristan Dugdale-Pointon, and John Rickard, editors. Accessed 14 February 2009.
- ^ Blanning, pp. 41–59.
- ^ Blanning, pp. 230–232.
- ISBN 978-0-8061-3875-6, p. 70.
- ^ (in German) Hürlimann, Hotze, in Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz.
- ISBN 978-1-86227-383-2.; Ramsey Weston Phipps. The Armies of the First French Republic, volume 5: The armies of the Rhine in Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Egypt and the coup d'etat of Brumaire, 1797-1799, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1939, pp. 49–50.
- ^ John Young, D.D. A History of the Commencement, Progress, and Termination of the Late War between Great Britain and France which continued from the first day of February 1793 to the first of October 1801, in two volumes. Edinburg: Turnbull, 1802, vol. 2, p. 220.
- ^ Rothenberg, pp. 70–74.
- ^ Rothenberg, pp. 49–50.
- ^ Blanning, p. 232.
- ^ David Hollins. Austrian Commanders of the Napoleonic Wars, 1792–1815. London: Osprey, 2004, pp. 18–19.
- ^ Ramsey Weston Phipps. The Armies of the First French Republic, volume 5: "The armies of the Rhine in Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Egypt and the coup d'etat of Brumaire, 1797–1799." Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1939, pp. 49–50.
- ISBN 1-85367-276-9pp. 147–148.
- ^ Lawrence Shadwell. Mountain warfare illustrated by the campaign of 1799 in Switzerland : being a translation of the Swiss narrative, compiled from the works of the Archduke Charles, Jomini, and other...London: Henry S. King, 1875, p. 110; Blanning, p. 233.
- ^ (in German) Ebert, Freiherr von Hotze; (in German) Hürlimann, Hotze, in Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz; and Blanning, pp. 233–34.
- ^ Blanning, p. 252.
- ^ Blanning, pp. 253–53.
- ISBN 978-0-09-451170-5. p. 270.
- ^ Blanning, p. 253.
- ^ Blanning, p. 254; Longworth, pp. 269–271.
- ^ Shadwell Mountain Warfare p.207
- ^ (in German) Ebert. Freiherr von Hotze; (in German) Hürlimann, Hotze, in Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz.
- ^ Blanning, p. 254.
- ^ Blanning, p. 254; Young, D.D. vol. 2, pp. 220–228.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-340-56911-5.
- 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. ISBN 978-0-7006-3025-7
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- Hollins, David, Austrian Commanders of the Napoleonic Wars, 1792–1815, London: Osprey, 2004.
- Hürlimann, Katja, (Johann Konrad) "Friedrich von Hotze", (in German) Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, 15 January 2008 edition, accessed 18 October 2009.
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- Longworth, Philip, The art of victory: the life and achievements of Generalissimo Suvarov, London: Constable, 1965 ISBN 978-0-09-451170-5.
- Lins, Joseph. "Saint Petersburg.". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 17 Oct. 2009.
- Mörgeli, Christoph, "Johannes Hotze" (in German) Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, 29 October 2007 edition, Accessed 18 October 2009.
- Meyer-Ott, Wilhelm (1853). Johann Konrad Hotz, später Friedrich Freiherr, k.k. Feldmarschallieutenant von Hotze (Google eBook) (in German). Zurich: Friedrich Schulthess. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
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- Rickard, John. Battle of Neresheim, 11 August 1796. History of War online. Peter Antill, Tristan Dugdale-Pointon, and John Rickard, editors. Accessed 14 February 2009.
- Shadwell, Lawrence. Mountain warfare illustrated by the campaign of 1799 in Switzerland : being a translation of the Swiss narrative, compiled from the works of the Archduke Charles, Jomini, and other...London: Henry S. King, 1875.
- ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
- Young, John, D.D. A History of the Commencement, Progress, and Termination of the Late War between Great Britain and France which continued from the first day of February 1793 to the first of October 1801, in two volumes. Edinburgh: Turnbull, 1802, vol. 2.
- University of Zurich. "Klassiches-Philologisches Seminar" Archived 2009-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. (in German) Ab. 13 November 2009. Accessed 14 December 2009.