Josef Graf von Radetzky

Johann Josef Wenzel Graf Radetzky von Radetz (English: Count John Joseph Wenceslaus Radetzky von Radetz, Czech: Jan Josef Václav hrabě Radecký z Radče) (November 2, 1766 – January 5, 1858) was a Bohemian nobleman and Austrian general, immortalised by Johann Strauss I's Radetzky March. General Radetzky was in the military for over 70 years, until his death at age 91, and is known for the victory at the Battle of Novara (1849) won on March 23, 1849. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... 1766 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Flag of Bohemia Bohemia (Czech: ; German: ) is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western and middle thirds of the Czech Republic. ... Johann Strauss I Johann Strauss I (German: Johann Strauß) born in Vienna, March 14, 1804 – September 25, 1849) was an Austrian composer known particularly for his waltzes and for popularizing it alongside Josef Lanner thereby (without intention) setting the foundations for his sons to carry on his musical dynasty. ... Radetzky March, Op. ... Combatants Kingdom of Sardinia Austrian Empire Commanders Wojciech Chrzanowski Joseph Radetzky von Radetz Strength 85,636 156 guns 72,380 156 guns The Battle of Novara or Battle of Bicocca (Bicocca is a borough of Novara) was one of the battles fought between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (83rd in leap years). ... 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Early years

He was born to a noble family at Třebnice (Trebnitz) in Bohemia. Orphaned at an early age, he was educated by his grandfather, and after the old count's death, at the Theresa academy at Vienna. The academy was dissolved during his first year's residence, and he joined the army as a cadet in the Austrian army in 1785. Next year he became an officer, and in 1787 a first lieutenant in a cuirassier regiment. He served as a galloper on Count von Lacy's staff in the Turkish War, and in the Austrian Netherlands from 1792 to 1795. Flag of Bohemia Bohemia (Czech: ; German: ) is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western and middle thirds of the Czech Republic. ... Vienna (German: , see also other names) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... 1785 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Cuirassiers were mounted cavalry soldiers equipped with armor and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. ... Franz Moritz Graf von Lacy (also written Lascy) (en: Count Franz Moritz von Lacy), (October 21, 1725 – November 24, 1801), Austrian field marshal, was born at St Petersburg. ... Originally the term Netherlands referred to a much larger entity than the current Kingdom of the Netherlands. ... 1792 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Napoleonic wars

In 1795 he fought on the Rhine. Next year he served with Beaulieu against Napoleon in Italy, but disliked the indecisive "cordon" system of warfare which Count von Lacy had instituted and other Austrian generals had imitated. His personal courage was conspicuous. At Fleurus he led a party of cavalry through the French lines to discover the fate of Charleroi, and at Valeggio sul Mincio, with a few hussars, he rescued Beaulieu from the enemy. Promoted to major, he took part in Wurmser's Mantua campaign, which ended in the fall of Mantua. As lieutenant-colonel and colonel he displayed bravery and skill in the battles of Trebbia and Novi (1799). At the Battle of Marengo, as colonel on the staff of Melas, he was hit by five bullets, after endeavouring on the previous evening to bring about modifications in the plan suggested by the "scientific" Zach. In 1801 Radetzky was created a Knight of the Order of Maria Theresa. 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The Rhine (Dutch: ; French: ; German: ; Italian: ; Romansh: ) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe at 1,320 kilometres (820 miles), with an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... Franz Moritz Graf von Lacy or Lascy (English: Count Francis Morris von Lacy, Russian: Boris Petrovich Lassi), (October 21, 1725 – November 24, 1801), Austrian field marshal, was born at St Petersburg. ... Fleurus is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. ... Charleroi (Walloon: Tchålerwè) is the first city and municipality of Wallonia in population. ... Country Italy Region Veneto Province Province of Verona (VR) Mayor Elevation 88 m Area 63. ... Mantua (in Italian Mantova, in the local dialect of Emiliano-Romagnolo language Mantua) is an important city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province with the same name. ... Battle of the Trebia Conflict Second Punic War Date 18 December 218 BC Place Trebbia river, Italy Result Carthaginian victory The Battle of the Trebia (or Trebbia) was a battle of the Second Punic War fought between the Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and the Romans in 218 BC. Hannibals... The battle of Novi was a battle in the French Revolutionary Wars that was fought on August 15, 1799. ... The Battle of Marengo was fought in Italy on June 14, 1800 as the decisive battle of the war of the Second Coalition. ... Michael von Melas was a field marshal for the Austrian Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. ... Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach Baron Franz Xaver von Zach (Franz Xaver Freiherr von Zach) (June 4, 1754 - September 2, 1832) was a German/Hungarian astronomer born at Pest. ... Military Order of Maria Theresa The Military Order of Maria Theresa (Militär-Maria-Theresien-Orden in German) was founded on June 18, 1757, the day of the Battle of Kolin, by the Empress Maria Theresa to reward especially meritorious and valorous acts by commissioned officer. ...

In 1805, on the march to Ulm, he received news of his promotion to major-general and his assignment to a command in Italy under the Archduke Charles of Austria, and thus took part in the successful campaign of Caldiero. Peace again afforded him a short leisure, which he used in studying and teaching the art of war. In 1809, now a lieutenant field marshal, he fought at the Battle of Wagram, and in 1810 he was created a Commander of the Order of Maria Theresa and was awarded the colonelcy of the 5th Radetzky Hussars. From 1809 to 1812, as chief of the general staff, he was active in the reorganization of the army and its tactical system, but, unable to carry out the reforms he desired owing to the opposition of the Treasury, he resigned the post. In 1813 he was Schwarzenberg's chief of staff, and as such had considerable influence on the councils of the Allied sovereigns and generals. Langenau, the quartermaster-general of the Grand Army, found him an indispensable assistant, and he had a considerable share in planning the Leipzig campaign and as a tactician won great praises in the battles of Brienne and Arcis sur Aube. He entered Paris with the allied sovereigns in March 1814, and returned with them to the Congress of Vienna, where he appears to have acted as an intermediary between Metternich and Tsar Alexander I of Russia, when the two were not on speaking terms. 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Ulm is a city in the German Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube, about 90 km south-east of Stuttgart and 140 km north-west of Munich. ... Victorious Archduke Charles of Austria during the Battle of Aspern_Essling (May 21_22, 1809) The epileptic younger brother of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, Archduke Charles of Austria (Erzherzog Karl) (September 5, 1771 - April 30, 1847) achieved respect both as a commander and as a reformer of Austrias army. ... Combatants First French Empire Austrian Empire Commanders André Masséna Archduke Charles of Austria Strength 37,000 50,000 Casualties about 4,000 killed or wounded about 3,000 killed or wounded, 8,000 captured The Battle of Caldiero took place on October 30, 1805. ... The Battle of Wagram, around the isle of Lobau on the Danube and on the plain of the Marchfeld around the town of Deutsch-Wagram, 15 km north-east of Vienna, Austria, took place on July 5 and 6, 1809 and resulted in the decisive victory of French forces under... Schwarzenberg Monument at Schwarzenbergplatz, Vienna Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg (or Prince Charles Philip of Schwarzenberg (April 18, 1771 – October 15, 1820), Austrian Feldmarshall, was born at Vienna. ...   [] (Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk) is the largest city in the federal state of Saxony in Germany with a population of over 504,000. ... The Battle of Brienne was fought on January 29, 1814, and resulted in a French victory under Napoleon Bonaparte against the Russians and Prussians under General Blücher. ... The Napoleonic Wars lasted from 1804 until 1815. ... Battle of Paris refers to a 1862 Battle of the US Civil War[1] 1929 Movie[2] 1961 Massacre of Parisian protestors[3] This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Congress of Vienna by Jean-Baptiste Isabey, 1819. ... Klemens Wenzel von Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg-Beilstein (May 15, 1773 – June 11, 1859) was an Austrian politician, statesman and one of the most important diplomats of his era. ... Aleksandr I Pavlovich (Russian: Александр I Павлович) (December 23, 1777–December 1, 1825?), was Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801-1 December 1825 and Ruler of Poland from 1815–1825, as well as the first Grand Duke of Finland. ...

Italian campaigns

During the succeeding years of peace he disappeared from public view. He resumed his functions as chief of staff, but his ardent ideas for reforming the army came to nothing in the face of the general war-weariness and desire to "let well alone." His zeal added to the number of his enemies, and in 1829, after he had been for twenty years a lieutenant field marshal, it was proposed to place him on the retired list. The emperor, unwilling to go so far as this, promoted him general of cavalry and shelved him by making him governor of a fortress. But very soon afterwards the Restoration settlement of Europe was shaken by fresh upheavals, and Radetzky was brought into the field of war again. He took part under Frimont in the campaign against the Papal States insurgents, and succeeded that general in the chief command of the Austrian army in Italy in 1834. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Memorial plaque at Edelmann palace in Olomouc (The Czech Republic).

In 1836 he became a field marshal. He was now seventy, but still displayed the activity of youth in training and disciplining the army he commanded. But here too he was in advance of his time, and the government not only disregarded his suggestions and warnings but also refused the money that would have enabled the finest army it possessed to take the field at a moment's notice. Thus the events of 1848 in Italy, which gave the old field marshal his place in history among the great commanders, found him, in the beginning, not indeed unprepared but seriously handicapped in the struggle with Charles Albert's army and the insurgents. By falling back to the Quadrilateral and there, checking one opponent after another, he was able to spin out time until reinforcements arrived, and thenceforward up to the final triumph in Battle of Novara on March 23, 1849, he and his army carried all before them. His well-disciplined sense of duty to the superior officer which had become more intense in the long years of peace, and after keeping his army loyal in the midst of the confusion of 1848, he made no attempt to play the part of Wallenstein or even to assume Wellington's role of family adviser to the nation. While as a patriot he dreamed a little of a united Germany, he remained to the end simply the commander of one of the emperor's armies. He died in harness, though in poor health. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1404x1872, 396 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Joseph Radetzky von Radetz ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1404x1872, 396 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Joseph Radetzky von Radetz ... town hall with astronomical clock Olomouc (German Olmütz, Polish OÅ‚omuniec, Latin Eburum or Olomucium) is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. ... The Czech Republic (Czech: Česká republika) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. ... Year 1836 (MDCCCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Charles Albert (Italian: Carlo Alberto) (October 2, 1798 – July 28, 1849) was the King of Sardinia from 1831 to 1849. ... The word quadrilateral can mean: In geometry, a quadrilateral is a polygon with 4 sides. ... Combatants Kingdom of Sardinia Austrian Empire Commanders Wojciech Chrzanowski Joseph Radetzky von Radetz Strength 85,636 156 guns 72,380 156 guns The Battle of Novara or Battle of Bicocca (Bicocca is a borough of Novara) was one of the battles fought between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (83rd in leap years). ... 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Categories: 1583 births | 1634 deaths | Assassinated people ... Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (c. ...

In military history Radetzky's fame rests on one great achievement, but in the history of the Austrian army he is the frank and kindly "Vater Radetzky" whom the soldiers idolized. In the year following his death, another and greater Italian war broke out, and his beloved army disintegrated and was defeated in every encounter.

Notes

• Note regarding personal names: Graf is a title, translated as Count, not a first or middle name. The female form is Gräfin.

Graf is a German noble title equal in rank to a count (derived from the Latin Comes, with a history of its own) or a British earl (an Anglo-Saxon title derived from the Viking title Jarl). ... A count is a nobleman in most European countries, equivalent in rank to a British earl, whose wife is also still a countess (for lack of an Anglo-Saxon term). ... Graf is a German noble title equal in rank to a count (derived from the Latin Comes, with a history of its own) or a British earl (an Anglo-Saxon title derived from the Viking title Jarl). ...

Further reading

Radetzky in history

• Alan Sked: The survival of the Habsburg Empire : Radetzky, the Imperial Army, and the Class War, 1848. London ; New York : Longman, 1979 ISBN 0-582-50711-1
• Oskar Regele: Feldmarschall Radetzky: Leben, Leistung, Erbe. Wien: Herald, [1957]

Works by Radetzky

• Joseph Radetzky von Radetz: Denkschriften militärisch-politischen Inhalts aus dem handschriftlichen Nachlass des k.k. österreichischen Feldmarschalls Grafen Radetzky. Stuttgart : J.G. Cotta, 1858

Correspondence

• Joseph Radetzky von Radetz: Briefe des Feldmarschalls Radetzky an seine Tochter Friederike 1847-1857; aus dem Archiv der freiherrlichen Familie Walterskirchen hrsg. von Bernhard Duhr : Festschrift der Leo-Gesellschaft zur feierlichen Enthüllung des Radetzsky-Denkmals in Wien. Wien : J. Roller, 1892.

These are Radetzky's letters to his daughter Friederike Radetzky von Radetz, Gräfin Wenckheim, published to celebrate the unveiling of the Radetzky monument in Vienna.

Biographies

(There has been no full-length biography of Radetzky in English).

• Franz Herre: Radetzky: eine Biographie. Köln: Kiepenheuer & Witsch, c1981. ISBN 3-462-01486-2
• Franz Ferdinand Hoettinger: Radetzky : ein Stück Österreich. Leipzig ; Wien : Höger, 1934.
• Joseph Radetzky von Radetz: Radetzky: sein Leben und sein Wirken; nach Briefen, Berichten und autobiographischen Skizzen zusammengestellt von Ernst Molden. Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, [1915] (Österreichische Bibliothek; Nr. 10)
• Alessandro Luzio: Radetzky. Bergamo: Istituto italiano d'arti grafiche, 1901

Military career

• Petr Havel and Andrej Romanák: Maršál Radecký: vojevůdce pěti císařů. Praha: Paseka, 2000. ISBN 80-7185-297-X
• Viktor Bibl: Radetzky: Soldat und Feldherr. Wien: J. Günther, [c1955]
• Hugo Kerchnawe: Radetzky: eine militär-biographische Studie. Prag: Volk und Reich Verlag, [1944]
• Oskar Freiherr Wolf-Schneider von Arno: Der Feldherr Radetzky. [Wien: Verlag der Militärwissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen, 1934] (Reprinted from the second ed. of 'Militärwissenschaftliche Mitteilungen', No. 3)
• Hermann Kunz: Die Feldzüge des Feldmarschalls Radetzky in Oberitalien 1848 und 1849. Berlin : R. Wilhelmi, 1890
• A. B. Gavenda and Franz de Vuko et Branko(eds.): Feldmarschall Graf Radetzky, sein Leben und seine Taten. Prag: Rohlicek, 1858
• Franz Schneidawind: Feldmarschall Graf Radetzky: sein kriegerisches Leben und seine Feldzüge vom Jahre 1784-1850. Augsburg: Schmid, 1851
• Johann Sporschil: Der Feldzug der Oesterreicher in der Lombardei unter dem General-Feldmarschall Grafen Radetzky in den Jahren 1848 und 1849. 2. Ausg. Stuttgart: Köhler, 1850
• P. S. Lebedev: Graf Radetskii i ego pokhody v Italii. [n.p.], 1850.

Anecdotal Histories

• Anni Stern-Braunberg: In deinem Lager ist Österreich!: Geschichte und Anekdoten um Feldmarschall Radetzky. Graz : Stocker, 2000 ISBN 3-7020-0898-5
• Otto Stradal: Der andere Radetzky: Tatsachen und Gedanken um ein Phänomen. Wien : Österreichischer Bundesverlag, c1981 ISBN 3-215-04438-2
• Franz Grobauer (ed.): In seinem Lager war Österreich: Feldmarschall Radetzky in Geschichte und Anekdote. [Wien], 1957

Radetzky in drama and music

• Alexander Lernet-Holenia: Radetzky: Schauspiel in drei Akten. [Frankfurt am Main]: S. Fischer, 1956.
• Johann Strauss: Radetzky March (Opus 228); arranged by Carlo Martelli [for string quartet]. London : Broadbent & Dunn, c1994

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Count Johann Joseph Wenzel Radetzky von Radetz

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.