Austrian general
Anton Freiherr von Zach
(
German pronunciation:
[za:x]
) (14 June 1747 ? 22 November 1826) was an Austrian General with Hungarian ancestors, who enlisted in the army of
Habsburg Austria
and fought against the
First French Republic
. In the
French Revolutionary Wars
, he gained prominence as a
staff officer
. Still on active service during the
Napoleonic Wars
, he fought in the 1805 and 1809 wars. He was not given combat assignments after 1809.
Zach held the office of army
chief of staff
during the 1796, 1799, and 1800 campaigns. In the latter year, he played an important role at the
Battle of Marengo
, where he was captured. During the
Napoleonic Wars
he was again chief of staff of the Army of Italy in 1805. In 1809 he commanded a division in the Italian theatre. After 1809, the Austrian military employed him as a fortress commandant. He was
Proprietor (Inhaber)
of an Austrian infantry regiment from 1807 until his death.
Early career
[
edit
]
Born at
Pest, Hungary
, Anton Zach became a petty nobleman when his father
Josef Zach
(
Olomuc
, 4 November 1714 ? Pest 16 July 1792), a medical doctor who was in charge of the house of invalids in Pest ? an institution founded by
Maria Theresia
to accommodate the many disabled soldiers who survived the
War of the Austrian Succession
? was elevated to Hungarian Nobility on 8 October 1765. He married Anna Freiin von Moltke (1759?1832) in
Wiener Neustadt
on 29 June 1779.
[1]
Their daughter Theresa married Auguste Milliet de Faverges et de Challes (1780?1854).
[2]
Entering the Austrian military service, Zach became a
Major
in 1788, an
Oberstleutnant
in 1793, and an
Oberst
in 1795. He served as Chief of the Quartermaster General Staff (
chief of staff
) to
Johann Peter Beaulieu
from 8 April to June 1796 during the
Montenotte Campaign
, the
Battle of Lodi
, and the
Battle of Borghetto
.
[1]
In June he was succeeded by
Franz von Lauer
when
Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser
replaced Beaulieu.
[3]
Subsequently, he served on
Paul Davidovich
's staff during the
Battle of Rovereto
on 4 September.
[4]
In 1797, Zach served on a commission to analyze the reasons for Austria's defeat. He noted that lower-ranking generals displayed little initiative because there were too many regulations. He found that regimental officers showed more interest in pay and privilege and drill than in learning how to make fighting units more efficient. He saw that officers were indifferent toward the rank and file, and that the lower ranks had little trust or enthusiasm for their leaders.
[5]
From January 1798 to March 1799, Zach was chief of staff of the
Armee von Italien
. He assumed the chief of staff role again from July 1799 to June 1800. On 9 June 1799 he received promotion to
General-major
.
[1]
In a private letter to the Russian ambassador that was opened by the Austrian government, the army commander
Alexander Suvorov
described Zach as "sound, discreet and professional, but a great deviser of
Unterkunft
(logistics) just when I want to burst into flaming action."
[6]
Though Suvorov used
Unterkunft
as a pejorative,
[7]
Zach was tickled rather than insulted when shown the letter.
[6]
Zach performed capably at the
Battle of Novi
on 15 August.
[8]
For his actions, a grateful emperor awarded him the Knight's Cross of the
Military Order of Maria Theresa
on 13 October 1799.
[1]
A skilled mathematician, Zach was more at home in the field of military engineering than he was at combat leadership or in an operational role.
[8]
Marengo
[
edit
]
At the
Battle of Marengo
on 14 June 1800, Zach was chief of staff to
Michael von Melas
, the Austrian army commander. Late in the afternoon when victory seemed assured, Melas retired to the rear. Two horses had been killed under him, leaving the elderly general's left arm with a severe contusion. He instructed
Konrad Valentin von Kaim
to direct the pursuit of
Napoleon Bonaparte
's apparently defeated army. Instead of advising Kaim, Zach rode off to join the advance elements.
[9]
Historian
David G. Chandler
asserts that Melas handed tactical control of the pursuit to Zach and does not mention Kaim's role.
[10]
Crisis of the Battle of Marengo, showing the attacks of Desaix and Kellermann. The cavalry is wrongly shown attacking the Austrian right flank
The advancing Austrians instead encountered
Louis Desaix
with
Jean Boudet
's fresh French division. Desaix attacked and defeated the
Michael Wallis
Infantry Regiment Nr. 11, which retired behind a brigade of
grenadiers
. As the elite Austrian infantry pressed forward, Desaix attacked again with artillery support from
Auguste Marmont
's battery. At that moment, an Austrian artillery caisson detonated in a huge explosion and
Francois Etienne de Kellermann
's heavy cavalry crashed into the Austrian left flank. These shocks completely unnerved three grenadier battalions and triggered a mass surrender. In the midst of the rout, Trooper Riche of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment grabbed Zach by the throat and secured his surrender.
[11]
The survivors of the French charge dashed through the ranks of the already-shaken
Michael Wallis
Regiment. This unit promptly bolted through the formations farther back in the column, causing a panic. Meanwhile, the Austrian cavalry regiment that should have protected the infantry from Kellermann's attack also stampeded and carried away other cavalry units. Kaim and other officers were unable to halt the terror-stricken soldiers.
[12]
Though the army's center was routed, a second grenadier brigade and some unbroken cavalry covered its retreat. The commanders of the right and left flank columns,
Andreas O'Reilly von Ballinlough
and
Peter Karl Ott von Batorkez
managed to bring their troops away with minimal additional loss.
[13]
That evening, Bonaparte proposed a temporary truce to his prisoner, and Zach was allowed to send a note through the lines with the suggestion. The badly rattled Melas agreed to the truce. Bonaparte fully exploited his opponent's demoralized state in the negotiations that followed, in which Zach played a minor role. The result was the
Convention of Alessandria
, in which the Austrian army was allowed to retreat behind the
Mincio
River in return for evacuating all of their hard-won gains
Piedmont
and
Lombardy
.
[14]
An Austrian officer noted that the empire would have been better served if Zach had been teaching at the military academy rather than directing the advance guard at Marengo.
[8]
Evidently, Melas bore a grudge against Zach. When he introduced Zach to his successor,
Count Heinrich von Bellegarde
, Melas said, "You see this little man, he has a soul as black as his countenance."
[15]
Yet Bellegarde employed Zach as chief of staff from September 1800 to March 1801, including the
Battle of the Mincio River
. Zach attained the noble rank of Freiherr on 4 February 1801.
[1]
Zach's daughter Maria Angelika Wilhelmine (1784?1855) married Oberstleutnant Franz Xaver Richter von Binnenthal (1759?1840) in 1802. Zach brought his family to
Padua
while he and Richter mapped the province of
Venetia
. Richter met Maria in Padua and married her there. Like his father-in-law, Richter served on the staff and became a
general officer
. Zach's son-in-law rose in rank to become a
Feldzeugmeister
in 1836 and wrote an autobiography of his career in the military.
[16]
At the same time - 1801 or 1802 - his other daughter Josepha (
Wiener Neustadt
, 11 June 1781 -
Graz
, 18 October 1857) married Hauptmann Ignaz Freiherr von Reinisch (
?atec
, 9 June 1768 ? Wiener Neustadt, 23 September 1843). Reinisch was later awarded with the
Military Order of Maria Theresia
, was ennobled to
Freiherr
, later
Feldmarschall-Leutnant
and Director of the
Theresian Military Academy
in Wiener Neustadt.
[17]
Napoleonic Wars
[
edit
]
Zach was promoted to
Feldmarschallleutnant
on 1 September 1805. That year he served as chief of staff in
Archduke Charles'
Armee von Italien
. The army fought the
Battle of Caldiero
from 29 to 31 October. This action was Austria's best showing during the
War of the Third Coalition
. After the war, Charles dismissed Zach as too old to serve as chief of staff.
[18]
On 23 September 1807, Zach became
Proprietor (Inhaber)
of Infantry Regiment Nr. 15 and held the post during his lifetime.
[1]
Palmanova in 1600
At the beginning of the
War of the Fifth Coalition
, an army under
Archduke John of Austria
invaded Italy. Surprised by the early timing of the invasion, the French commander
Eugene de Beauharnais
left garrisons at
Osoppo
and
Palmanova
and fell back to
Sacile
.
[19]
Eugene unwisely attacked John's army and was defeated in the
Battle of Sacile
on 16 April 1809. Subsequently, the French general retreated to
Verona
.
[20]
Meanwhile, John left a brigade under Zach to blockade the fortress of Palmanova. After John's retreat from Italy and the
Battle of Piave River
on 8 May, Johann Kalnassy's brigade became separated from the main army. Zach joined Kalnassy and both fell back across the
Isonzo
River into
Carniola
(modern-day
Slovenia
) on 13 May 1809.
[21]
Eugene directed
Jacques MacDonald
to capture
Ljubljana
(Laibach), which he did on 23 May after seizing a fort at Prawald on the 20th. Zach and Kalnassy were too weak to oppose MacDonald's corps and 7,000 muskets, 71 artillery pieces, and large stockpiles of food and ammunition fell into French hands.
[22]
An order of battle dated 15 May, names Zach as a division commander in
Ignaz Gyulai
's IX Armeekorps, located at
Kranj
. He supervised brigades led by Kalnassy,
Alois von Gavasini
, Ignaz Splenyi, and Joseph Munkacsy.
[23]
Gyulai's force later fought in the
Battle of Graz
from 24 to 26 June.
[24]
Zach received the
Order of Leopold
in 1809. After this year, he was no longer employed in the field. He was deputy commandant of the
Olomouc
(Olmutz) fortress from 1810 to 1812. In November 1812, he became commandant of the fortress and in 1815 he became governor of Olomouc. Still governor, Zach officially retired from military service in early 1825 and was appointed to the rank of
Feldzeugmeister
. He died in
Graz
on 22 November 1826.
[1]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Smith & Kudrna,
Anton von Zach
- ^
Annuaire de la Noblesse de France et des Maisons souveraines de l'Europe
, publie sous la direction de M. Borel d'Hauterive, 1855, p. 382
- ^
Boycott-Brown, p. 416
- ^
Boycott-Brown, p. 426
- ^
Arnold
Marengo
, p. 61
- ^
a
b
Duffy (1999), p. 26
- ^
Duffy (1999), p. 23
- ^
a
b
c
Arnold
Marengo
, p. 60
- ^
Arnold
Marengo
, p. 171
- ^
Chandler, p. 293. Chandler's account is less convincing because Kaim outranked Zach.
- ^
Arnold
Marengo
, p. 180
- ^
Arnold
Marengo
, pp. 180-181
- ^
Arnold
Marengo
, pp. 181-183
- ^
Arnold
Marengo
, pp 187-189
- ^
Arnold
Marengo
, p. 257
- ^
Zimburg & Kudrna,
Franz Richter von Binnenthal
and Zimburg, Albrecht
Der Krieg in den Bergen - Der osterreichische Generalstabsoffizier Franz Xaver Richter von Binnenthal (1759?1840) in den Kriegen gegen die Franzosische Revolution und Napoleon", Lenzburg 2008
- ^
Hof- und Staats-Schematismus des Osterreichischen Kaiserthumes Vienna 1834, p. 130. (German) Hirtenfeld, Jaromir. Der Militar-Maria-Theresien-Orden und seine Mitglieder III 912-916; (German) Wurzbach, Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich, XXV 232 ff
- ^
Arnold
Marengo
, p. 287. Arnold calls Caldiero an Austrian "win". This is disputed.
- ^
Schneid, pp. 70-71
- ^
Epstein, pp. 80-81
- ^
Epstein, p. 94
- ^
Epstein, pp 126-127
- ^
Bowden & Tarbox, p. 116
- ^
Arnold
Napoleon Conquers Austria
, pp. 114-115. Zach is not specifically mentioned, however.
References
[
edit
]
- Annuaire de la Noblesse de France et des Maisons souveraines de l'Europe
(in French). M. Borel d'Hauterive. 1855.
- Arnold, James R. (2005).
Marengo & Hohenlinden
. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword.
ISBN
1-84415-279-0
.
- Arnold, James R. (1995).
Napoleon Conquers Austria
. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers.
ISBN
0-275-94694-0
.
- Bowden, Scotty; Tarbox, Charlie (1980).
Armies on the Danube 1809
. Arlington, Tex.: Empire Games Press.
- Boycott-Brown, Martin (2001).
The Road to Rivoli
. London, U.K.: Cassell & Co.
ISBN
0-304-35305-1
.
- Chandler, David
(1966).
The Campaigns of Napoleon
. New York, N.Y.: Macmillan.
- Duffy, Christopher
(1999).
Eagles Over The Alps: Suvarov in Italy and Switzerland 1799
. Chicago, Ill.: Emperor's Press.
ISBN
1-883476-18-6
.
- Epstein, Robert M. (1994).
Napoleon's Last Victory and the Emergence of Modern War
. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas.
ISBN
070060751X
.
- Schneid, Frederick C. (2002).
Napoleon's Italian Campaigns: 1805?1815
. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers.
ISBN
0-275-96875-8
.
- Smith, Digby
; Kudrna, Leopold.
"Austrian Generals 1792?1815: Anton von Zach"
. napoleon-series.org.
- Zimburg, Albrecht; Kudrna, Leopold.
"Austrian Generals 1792?1815: Franz Richter von Binnenthal"
. napoleon-series.org.
External links
[
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]
Military offices
|
Preceded by
Karl, Freiherr von Riese
|
Proprietor
of Infantry Regiment Nr. 15
1807?1826
|
Succeeded by
Unknown
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National
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People
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Other
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