Josef Philipp Vukassovich

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Josef Philipp Vukassovich
Native name
Josip Filip Vukasović
Born1755 (1755)
Bruvno near Gračac,
Croatian Military Frontier within Habsburg monarchy
(today's Croatia)
Died9 August 1809 (1809-08-10) (aged 54)
Vienna, Austrian Empire
(today's Austria)
Allegiance
Service/branchInfantry
Years of service1775–1809
RankFeldmarschall-Leutnant
Battles/wars
Awards
Inhaber
of Infantry Regiment # 48

Baron Josef Philipp Vukassovich (

Napoleon Bonaparte. He led a division during the Napoleonic Wars
and received a fatal wound in action.

While serving in the

Siege of Mantua
. In 1799, he led troops in Italy against the French with success. The following year saw him leading troops against Bonaparte again.

Appointed to lead a division in Italy in 1805, Vukassovich was soon sacked for failing to halt a French attack. The year 1809 found him leading a division in the invasion of Bavaria. He fought capably in several actions near Regensburg in April. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Wagram in July while leading his troops. Among Austrian generals, he demonstrated above-average initiative and skill, particularly in 1796 and 1809. He was Proprietor (Inhaber) of an Austrian infantry regiment.

Early career

See also: Grenz infantry and Croatian Military Frontier

Vukassovich was born in 1755. Sources place his birthplace either in

née Bašić, was also of a Grenz infantry officer family.[3][5] His birthplace which is in today's Croatia, was initially a nominal part of Kingdom of Croatia within Habsburg monarchy, but later fully transferred under direct imperial rule as part of the larger Military Frontier. Croatian Military Frontier was placed under the unified control of the Croatian General Command in 1783.[6]

Map of the Military Frontier (Militärgrenze) in the middle of the 19th century (marked with a red outline).

Graduating in 1771 from the

Grenz regiment in 1775.[5] When promoted to Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) in 1780, Vukassovich served in Montenegro.[5]

The Austrians planned to start an uprising from within Montenegro, to liberate the Balkans, and Vukassovich and Ludvig Pernet were part of the delegation that were to win over the Montenegrin chiefs.[7]

By 1787, he had risen in rank to

hussars.[8] During the Austro-Turkish War, Vukassovich served as freikorps' acting commander with the rank of Major, and was then promoted to Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel).[8]
In 1790 he took part in the battle of Cetingrad and some other battles in retaking border areas of Croatian territory from the Ottoman Empire, including Furjan, Lapac, Boričevac and Srb.

Vukassovich married Johanna Pulcheria Malfatti von Kriegsfeld. She was 24 years younger and outlived him by many years, dying in 1854.[9] He had four children, sons Josip and Filip and daughters Marija and Ana.[10]

French Revolutionary Wars

See also: French Revolutionary Wars

First Coalition

See also: War of the First Coalition

Vukassovich fought in Italy during the

Montenotte Campaign in April 1796, he commanded a brigade in Johann Beaulieu's Austrian army. He led the Austrian vanguard across the Turchino Pass on 10 April to attack Jean-Baptiste Cervoni's brigade near Genoa.[11]

Vukassovich led the rear guard at the Battle of Lodi.
Vukassovich led the rear guard at the Battle of Lodi.

On 12 April, Bonaparte defeated Eugène-Guillaume Argenteau's Austrian force at the Battle of Montenotte. The next day, Beaulieu directed Vukassovich to take his brigade to Sassello to establish contact with Argenteau's right wing, but due to a poorly written order, he started a day late and missed the 14 November fighting in the Second Battle of Dego. The next day, he marched his 3,500-man brigade from Sassello to Dego. By good fortune, Vukassovich caught a brigade of André Masséna's troops plundering the town and routed them.[12] By the time Bonaparte and Masséna appeared with heavy reinforcements, "Wukassovitch intelligently seized the opportunity offered by this success and promptly put the village into a state of defense." He only withdrew from the town after giving the French a tough fight.[13]

Appointed

Siege of Mantua, he joined Paul Davidovich's Tyrol Corps. He was badly injured in a fall the night before the Battle of Rovereto, which occurred on 4 September. Nevertheless, he led his brigade during the day's fighting. His troops bravely tried to stop Masséna's advance, but they were finally routed by superior numbers.[19]

During the third attempt to relieve Mantua, Vukassovich participated in the Tyrol Corps' victories at

Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss-Plauen on the west bank of the river, but he exerted little other influence on the disastrous result of the Battle of Rivoli because his troops were on the wrong side of the river.[23]

Second Coalition

See also: War of the Second Coalition
Vukassovich captured Jean Serurier's division at Verderio.
Jean Serurier

Vukassovich served in Italy during the War of the Second Coalition. As the French were driven back by Austrians and Alexander Suvorov,[24] Pyotr Bagration captured Brescia in a decisive move on 21 April 1799.[25][26] Loss of Brescia compelled general Schérer to further retreat. The general, commanding the French forces, was replaced by Moreau, and new defensive positions were taken along the Adda River.[27] Vukassovich surprised the French crossing the river at Brivio, while general Ott managed a crossing at Trezzo (see Battle of Cassano).[28] On 28 April 1799, Vukassovich trapped Jean Sérurier and 3,000 French troops at Verderio. After a "sharp fight" Sérurier and his 2,700 surviving soldiers laid down their arms.[29] Vukassovich then led the army's advance guard in the capture of numerous towns in northwest Italy. In July 1799, he became the proprietor of the newly formed (in 1798) Vukassovich Infantry Regiment # 48. The similarly numbered Schmidfeld Regiment had been disbanded in 1795. He would remain the regiment's proprietor until his death.[30]

Promoted to

Great Saint Bernard Pass, he commanded a division farther east in the area of Lake Maggiore and Lake Como.[31] On 25 May, a cavalry patrol of Vukassovich's scouts briefly captured Bonaparte before themselves becoming prisoners when the French general's escort appeared.[32] The sudden French offensive drove Vukassovich's outnumbered troops out of Milan. Pursued by Guillaume Duhesme's French corps, he retreated to Brescia and Cremona with his remaining 4,000 men, missing the Battle of Marengo.[33]

Napoleonic Wars

See also: Napoleonic Wars

1805

Battle of Verona on 18 October 1805. Vukassovich's position is at the upper left.
Battle of Verona on 18 October 1805. Vukassovich's position is at the upper left.

During the War of the Third Coalition, Vukassovich led a division in Archduke Charles' Army of Italy. His division consisted of 14 line and Grenz battalions and four squadrons organized into two brigades led by Hannibal Sommariva and Karl Hillinger.[34] Tasked with guarding the east bank of the Adige opposite Verona and maintaining a link with Johann von Hiller's corps in the Tyrol, he garrisoned the suburb of San Giorgio with two battalions while holding six battalions farther back in the hills. The rest of his troops watched the river farther north.[35]

In the

Prince Franz Seraph of Rosenberg-Orsini as his replacement.[36] Another account asserts that Vukassovich was sacked because he placed a number of cannons in an exposed position in violation of Charles' orders.[37] At Verona, the Austrians suffered 1,622 casualties and loss of four cannons, while the French only lost about 450 killed and wounded.[38]

1809

At the beginning of the

hussars and 22 artillery pieces.[39]

Battle of Wagram by Emil Adam. Vukassovich was fatally wounded in the Wagram bloodbath.
Battle of Wagram by Emil Adam. Vukassovich was fatally wounded in the Wagram bloodbath.

On the eve of the Battle of Teugen-Hausen, Vukassovich was instrumental in providing information about movement of Bavarian and French troops to Archduke Charles, including correspondence between marshals Lefebvre and

Louis Davout attacked, he conducted a stout defense with his troops and the reinforcements that arrived.[41] He was wounded in the action, but continued to lead his troops in a battle notable for an unusual degree of front-line leadership by Austrian generals.[42] On 21 April, his troops fought a rear guard action against Bavarian troops.[43] His command formed the extreme left flank of the main body as Charles prepared to crush Davout on the morning of 22 April.[44] His dispatch brought the first word to Charles that Napoleon was about to descend on the Austrian left flank.[45] In the Battle of Eckmühl that day, Vukassovich "conducted his defense ably", holding off the French and Württembergers long enough for Prince Rosenberg's IV Armeekorps to deploy.[46]

Vukassovich missed the

Jacques MacDonald's attack.[49] He lingered for a month and finally died of his wounds in Vienna on 9 August 1809.[9] He was one of four Austrian generals who were killed or fatally wounded at Wagram; the others were Konstantin Ghilian Karl d'Aspré, Peter von Vécsey, and Armand von Nordmann.[50]

Construction design works

Via Josephina starting obelisk in Karlovac (left)
A milestone on Lujzijana near the village of Nadvučnik (right)

Vukassovich was instrumental in development of transport infrastructure in the present-day Croatian Littoral at the shores of the Adriatic Sea. His most significant contributions in the field were construction of roads after his designs. The first one was Gospić–Karlobag road, also known as Theresiana road, completed between 1784 and 1786—which replaced an earlier route which comprised very steep grades limiting its capacity. The new road permitted setting up of a free port in Karlobag and significantly improved connection to the seaward slopes of Velebit. Currently, the route largely corresponds to the western section of the D25 road. The other major route Vukassovich designed was the Louisiana road between Karlovac and Rijeka with a branch serving Bakar. The road was built between 1803 and 1811, and the route is now used by the D3 road.[51] Vukassovich also designed a coastal road between Senj and Sveti Juraj, port structures in Senj,[52] and directed reconstruction of the Josephina road leading from Senj to Karlovac.[53]

Annotations

  1. ^
    His name is mostly attested as anglicized Philipp Vukassovich, or Philipp Freiherr Vukassovich, or Philipp von Vukassovich, and in English sources he is commonly referred to as General Vukassovich or Wukassowich. Croatian sources write his name Filip Vukasović. Some sources indicate his given name also included Joseph/Josef/Josip.

References

  1. ^ Ljubović 2006, p. 63.
  2. ^ Ljubović 2006, p. 78.
  3. ^ a b Ljubović 2006, p. 71.
  4. ^ Horvat, p. 22, 29
  5. ^ a b c Hollins (2004), p. 29.
  6. ^ Fine, pp. 370–471.
  7. OCLC 799489791
    .
  8. ^ a b c Hollins (2004), p. 30.
  9. ^ a b c d Kudrna, Leopold; Smith, Digby. "V24: Vukassovich, Joseph Philipp von". A Biographical Dictionary of All Austrian Generals during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars •1792–1815 (with Biographical Essays by Digby Smith). The Napoleon Series. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  10. ^ Ljubović 2006, p. 73.
  11. ^ Boycott-Brown, p. 197.
  12. ^ Fiebeger, p. 6.
  13. ^ Chandler, p. 73.
  14. ^ Boycott-Brown, pp. 311–314.
  15. ^ Boycott-Brown, p. 315.
  16. ^ Boycott-Brown, p. 333.
  17. ^ Boycott-Brown, p. 364.
  18. ^ Boycott-Brown, p. 391.
  19. ^ Boycott-Brown, pp. 423–425.
  20. ^ Boycott-Brown, p. 471.
  21. ^ Chandler, p. 112.
  22. ^ Boycott-Brown, p. 492.
  23. ^ Boycott-Brown, p. 511.
  24. ^ Rothenberg, p.58
  25. ^ Rose, p. 504
  26. ^ Tucker, p. 1241
  27. ^ Wilkes, p. 836
  28. ^ Sir Alison, p. 118
  29. ^ Smith, p. 153.
  30. ^ Millar, Stephen. "Austrian Infantry Regiments and Their Commanders 1792-1815: Line Infantry Regiments Nrs. 41 - 50". napoleon-series.org. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
  31. ^ Arnold Marengo, pp. 102–103. map
  32. ^ Arnold Marengo, p. 96.
  33. ^ Arnold Marengo, p. 109., pp. 112–113. map
  34. ^ Schneid, p. 164.
  35. ^ Schneid, pp. 23–24.
  36. ^ a b Schneid, pp. 27–28.
  37. ^ a b Kagan, p. 522.
  38. ^ Smith, p. 206.
  39. ^ Bowden, p. 68.
  40. ^ Petre, p. 108
  41. ^ Arnold Crisis, pp. 85–86.
  42. ^ Arnold Crisis, p. 93.
  43. ^ Arnold Crisis, pp. 127–130.
  44. ^ Arnold Crisis, pp. 151–152.
  45. ^ Arnold Crisis, p. 155.
  46. ^ Arnold Crisis, p. 164.
  47. ^ Smith, pp. 305–306.
  48. ^ Bowden, p. 164.
  49. ^ Arnold Conquers, p. 157.
  50. ^ Smith, p. 322.
  51. ^ "Odluka o razvrstavanju javnih cesta u državne ceste, županijske ceste i lokalne ceste" [Decision on categorization of public roads as state roads, county roads and local roads]. Narodne Novine (in Croatian). February 17, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  52. ISSN 1845-5867
    . Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  53. ^ "Jozefina – povjesna cesta" [Josephina - historical road]. Tounj municipality (in Croatian). Velebit Nature Park. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2012.

Sources

Books

Articles


Military offices
Preceded by
Johann Nepomuk Schmidfeld (Disbanded 1795. Reformed 1798)
Proprietor (Inhaber)
of Infantry Regiment # 48
1799–1809 		Succeeded by
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