Walloon military officer (1725?1819)
Johann Peter de Beaulieu
, also
Jean Pierre de Beaulieu
(26 October 1725, in Lathuy, Brabant, Belgium ? 22 December 1819), was a
Walloon
military officer. He joined the
Habsburg
army and fought against the
Prussians
during the
Seven Years' War
. A cultured man, he later battled
Belgian
rebels and earned promotion to
general officer
. During the
French Revolutionary Wars
he fought against the
First French Republic
and attained high command. In 1796, a young
Napoleon Bonaparte
won some of his first victories against an army led by Beaulieu. He retired and was the
Proprietor (Inhaber)
of an Austrian infantry regiment until his death.
Early career
[
edit
]
Born in Lathuy Castle,
Jodoigne
in the
Austrian Netherlands
(now
Walloon Brabant
,
Belgium
) in 1725, Beaulieu joined the Habsburg army in 1743 and fought in the
War of the Austrian Succession
. During the
Seven Years' War
he served first as an infantry officer and later on the staff of
Feldmarschall
Leopold Joseph von Daun
. Beaulieu was wounded in the
Battle of Kolin
and also fought at the battles of
Leuthen
,
Hochkirch
,
Maxen
, and other actions. He received the Knight's Cross of the
Military Order of Maria Theresa
in 1760. "As a young man, his bold and fiery character combined with his great energy and constant activity had made him well-suited to the military life."
[1]
Beaulieu married Marie-Louise Robert in 1763; in 1776 she died. He was artistically inclined. He designed improvements for several palaces, designed and laid out a formal garden, and collected art work. He became a
General-Major
in 1789 and helped crush the
Brabant Revolt
against Austrian rule, though his only son was killed during the uprising.
[2]
For his services, in 1790, the Habsburg army promoted him to
Feldmarschall-Leutnant
[3]
and awarded him the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa.
[4]
French Revolutionary Wars
[
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]
1792?1795
[
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]
In the years from 1792 to 1795, Beaulieu fought against France in the
Flanders Campaign
and later on the
Rhine
.
[4]
On 28?29 April 1792, he won one of the first engagements of the
War of the First Coalition
at
Mons
. With 5,000 Austrian troops and 18 artillery pieces, he defeated
Armand Louis de Gontaut
, Duke of Biron's 7,500 soldiers and 36 guns, inflicting 400 casualties for a loss of only 30.
[5]
He bested the French in another clash at
Harelbeke
on 23 June. On this occasion he led a corps of 11,050 men and 10 guns against 7,000 Frenchmen and 6 guns from
Nicolas Luckner
's army.
[6]
At the unsuccessful siege of
Lille
from 25 September to 8 October, he commanded a division in the army of Duke
Albert of Saxe-Teschen
. His command included three and a half infantry battalions under Karl von Biela, nine cavalry squadrons led by Ludwig Franz Civalart d'Happoncourt, eight squadrons commanded by
Charles Eugene, Prince of Lambesc
, and
Karl Friedrich von Lindenau
's
sappers
and pontonniers.
[7]
On 6 November 1792, Beaulieu led Saxe-Teschen's left wing at the
Battle of Jemappes
. His command included one battalion of the
Hohenlohe
Infantry Regiment Nr. 17, two battalions of the
Stuart
Infantry Regiment Nr. 18, five companies of the
Serbian
Freikorps
, and one squadron of the
Blankenstein
Hussar
Regiment Nr. 16.
[8]
He led a force during the successful defense of
Trier
in December 1792.
[9]
With 5,000 troops, including five battalions and four squadrons, he repulsed an 8,000-man French attack on
Wervik
on 28 August 1793.
[10]
He participated in the
Siege of Le Quesnoy
from 28 August to 13 September. In this successful action in which 5,000 French soldiers were killed or captured, he was subordinate to
Francois Sebastien de Croix de Clerfayt
.
[11]
On 26 June 1794, he commanded the fifth column in the
Battle of Fleurus
. This powerful column consisted of 16 battalions, 22 squadrons, and 18 guns.
[12]
After the defeat at Fleurus,
Prince Josias of Coburg
, who disliked Beaulieu, dismissed him. From 1792 to 1794, he was
Proprietor (Inhaber)
of Infantry Regiment Nr. 31, a
Hungarian
unit.
[13]
He succeeded Joseph Orocz as Inhaber and was succeeded in turn by Johann Andreas Benjowsky.
On 7 July 1794, Beaulieu received the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa.
[4]
1796
[
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]
On 4 March 1796, Beaulieu was promoted to
Feldzeugmeister
and transferred to command the 32,000-strong Habsburg army in northern
Italy
. He faced a French army with a newly created commander,
Napoleon Bonaparte
. Together with a 17,000-man army from the
Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia
, Beaulieu's task was to defend the crest of the
Ligurian Alps
and the northern
Apennines
in order to keep the French armies from entering the
Po River
basin of northern Italy.
[15]
Secret orders from the Austrian government warned him that his Piedmontese ally might soon change sides, and was not to be trusted. These instructions prevented Beaulieu from effectively cooperating with the Sardinian commander of the Piedmontese forces,
Michelangelo Colli-Marchi
, a personal friend.
[16]
In the event, Bonaparte outmaneuvered Beaulieu during the
Montenotte Campaign
. After the French mauled his right wing in battles at
Montenotte
and
Dego
, Beaulieu watched in stunned inactivity as the French knocked Sardinia out of the war at the battles of
Millesimo
,
Ceva
, and
Mondovi
. Beaulieu withdrew his army behind the Po, hoping the river would stop the French advance. But Bonaparte marched west to cross the river near
Piacenza
, behind the Austrian left flank. The French defeated
Anton Lipthay de Kisfalud
at the
Battle of Fombio
on 7 to 9 May 1796. Hastily, Beaulieu withdrew his army to the east, dropping off a force under
Karl Philipp Sebottendorf
to hold the bridge over the
Adda River
at
Lodi
. Bonaparte seized the bridge in the
Battle of Lodi
on 10 May and drove Sebottendorf back with losses of 2,000 casualties and 14 guns. The Austrians abandoned
Duchy of Milan
and pulled back to the
Mincio
River. A minor defeat at the
Battle of Borghetto
on 30 May forced Beaulieu to abandon the Mincio line and retreat north to the
Tyrol
. Before leaving the Po valley, he left a strong garrison in the fortress of
Mantua
. The
Siege of Mantua
would become the focus of many battles during the remainder of 1796.
[17]
During the retreat, Beaulieu relieved Lipthay from command of the rearguard for retreating too quickly.
Thomas Graham
, a British observer with the Habsburg army, noted that Beaulieu seemed to expect too much from his soldiers, was irritated and tended to blame the failure of his plans on others for not properly executing his orders. Graham also deplored the "petty intrigue" among the Austrian officers.
[18]
Retirement
[
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]
After Borghetto,
Emperor Francis II
replaced Beaulieu with
Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser
. Beaulieu went into retirement after the 1796 campaign. In 1794, he had become proprietor of a
Walloon
regiment.
[4]
Beaulieu succeeded Karl von Vierset as Inhaber of Infantry Regiment Nr. 58 and, at his death, was succeeded by Joseph L'Espine.
The regiment served in the
Danube
theater during the
War of the Third Coalition
[20]
and the
War of the Fifth Coalition
.
[21]
Beaulieu died in
Linz
,
Austria
in 1819.
[4]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Boycott-Brown, p 132
- ^
Boycott-Brown, pp 132?133
- ^
Fiebeger, p 8
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Smith & Kudrna,
Beaulieu
- ^
Smith, p 21
- ^
Smith, p 23
- ^
Smith, p 28
- ^
Smith, p 31
- ^
Smith, p 35
- ^
Smith, p 53
- ^
Smith, p 55
- ^
Smith, p 87
- ^
Boycott-Brown, p 133
- ^
Fiebeger, p 5
- ^
Boycott-Brown, pp 136-137
- ^
Chandler, p 265
- ^
Boycott-Brown, pp 360-361
- ^
Smith, p 216
- ^
Bowden & Tarbox, p 69
References
[
edit
]
- Austro-Hungarian Army (1851a).
"Militar-Schematismus des osterreichischen Kaiserthums: Infanterie Regiment Nr. 31"
(in German). Vienna: Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Army. p. 231
. Retrieved
7 April
2018
.
- Austro-Hungarian Army (1851b).
"Militar-Schematismus des osterreichischen Kaiserthums: Infanterie Regiment Nr. 58"
(in German). Vienna: Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Army. p. 293
. Retrieved
7 April
2018
.
- Bowden, Scotty; Tarbox, Scotty (1980).
Armies on the Danube 1809
. Arlington, Tex.: Empire Games Press.
- Boycott-Brown, Martin (2001).
The Road to Rivoli: Napoleon's First Campaign
. London, UK: Cassell & Co.
ISBN
0-304-35305-1
.
- Chandler, David G.
(1979).
Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars
. New York, N.Y.: Macmillan.
ISBN
0-02-523670-9
.
- Fiebeger, G. J. (1911).
The Campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte of 1796?1797
. West Point, New York: US Military Academy Printing Office.
- Smith, Digby
(1998).
The Napoleonic Wars Data Book
. London: Greenhill.
ISBN
1-85367-276-9
.
- Smith, Digby; Kudrna, Leopold (2008).
"Austrian Generals of 1792-1815: Beaulieu de Marconnay, Johann Peter"
. napoleon-series.org
. Retrieved
13 February
2013
.
Military offices
|
Preceded by
Joseph Orosz de Csicser-Balazsfalva
|
Proprietor (Inhaber)
of Infantry Regiment Nr. 31
1792?1794
|
Succeeded by
Johann Andreas Benjowsky von Benjow und Urbanow
|
Preceded by
Karl-Albrecht von Vierset
|
Proprietor (Inhaber)
of Infantry Regiment Nr. 58
1794?1819
|
Succeeded by
Joseph L'Espine
|
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