Franz Jelačić from Bužim

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Franjo Jelačić Bužimski

Franz Jelačić von Bužim (Croat. Franjo Jelačić Bužimski ), Freiherr (* 1746 in Petrinja (Petrinia), Croatia ; † February 4, 1810 Zalaapáti (also Szala Apáthy ), Hungary ) was a Croatian nobleman , Austrian Lieutenant Field Marshal and Knight of Maria Theresa Order from the Jelačić family .

He began his military training in 1763, became a captain in 1772, a major in 1783, served as a lieutenant colonel in the Russo-Austrian Turkish war in 1789 , was colonel and commander of the Croatian sniper corps from 1794 and distinguished himself in the Rhine Army and in 1796 under Archduke Karl near Würzburg and Aschaffenburg out. Promoted to major general, he asserted himself on March 22nd and 23rd, 1799 in the battle of Feldkirch against Oudinot and Masséna . In October he was promoted to field marshal lieutenant and division general in Petrovaradin (Peterwardein), then in Karlovac (Karlstadt). At the outbreak of the War of 1805, he received a command in Tyrol with the transfer, Vorarlberg defending, but was in the consequences of the Battle of Elchingen involved and had to settle for the rest of his corps on 14 November to General Mathieu under Marshal Augereau result . Therefore retired, he was put back into activity as a division general in Zagreb (Agram) in 1808 and participated in the 1809 campaign in Styria until the end of May , but soon retired from the service and died on February 4, 1810 in Zalaapáti in the county Zala .

Life

Entry into the army

The scion of the Croatian noble family Jelačić entered the first Banat regiment young on January 1, 1763, in which he became a captain in 1772 , a major in 1783 and a lieutenant colonel in 1789 . In the Russo-Austrian Turkish War, Jelačić took part with the regiment on the expedition to Turkish Croatia and excelled in 1790 at the battle of Cetingrad and the blockhouse at Ljubina (Lyubina), which the Turks attacked with overwhelming strength. In September 1791 Jellačić was transferred to the Ogulin border regiment.

Fight against the French

Promoted to colonel on May 1, 1794 , he was given command of the sniper corps established in the year mentioned , which was ordered to join the army on the Rhine . Here his name was soon mentioned among the bravest of the brave. On May 15, 1794 he distinguished himself near Wüllen , where he fought back the position already taken by the enemy. On May 23 of this year, it was his heroism that saved the retreat of the Austro-Hungarian army from complete dissolution. His example, when he stood alone in spite of the advancing enemy troops and called to the fleeing snipers not to leave their colonel, had an effect on the people; they gathered around him and now made it possible for him to oppose the enemy and to stop him.

Jelačić still distinguished himself at Meißenheim (December 8th), at St. Wendel an der Blies (May 31st, 1796), where he captured 8 officers and 200 men, in the battle of Würzburg and in the meeting near Aschaffenburg , in in which the latter he led the first division of the avant-garde with particular skill . In February 1797 Jelačić was promoted to major general in recognition of his services . As such, Jelačić received a brigade in Italy . Here he was less fortunate in weapons , and defeated by Massena , he could not bring about his union with Suvarow .

Knight's Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order

But soon he wore out this gap, and additionally with his heroic defense of Feldkirch in Vorarlberg , where he threw back the entire power of General Charles Nicolas Oudinot , who had already crossed the Ill , and blew up the first detachments of the enemy into the river Thus the second attack, in which Massena led new troops (March 22nd / 23rd, 1799), firmly rejected and forced the enemy to retreat across the Rhine to the Graubünden border. For this act of arms, Jelačić received the knight's cross of the Maria Theresa Order in his 54th doctorate on April 6, 1799 .

A few weeks later, the Prince of Lorraine, Prince Reuss, Jelačić, Hotze, and Count Bey moved with their troops under the direction of Archduke Karl of southern Germany, coming against the city of Zurich, which the troops of Massena were occupying. The first successful attacks began on June 1. Archduke Karl planned a surprise attack on the night of June 5th to 6th. Massena got ahead of it and negotiated an unmolested withdrawal from the city of Zurich, which took place that same night and lasted until the early afternoon. With this victory for the Austrians, the first battle of Zurich ended successfully on March 6th .

Again use against the French

After the peace treaty, in October 1800, appointed field marshal lieutenant, Jelačić was divisional first in Petrovaradin (Peterwardein) and then in Karlovac (Karlstadt). When the war broke out in 1805, Jelačić commanded 21 battalions and 6 squadrons near Innsbruck and Imst at the beginning of September  and had to cover Mack's left flank. While he was making the necessary arrangements for this purpose, he suddenly received orders to leave for Ulm with his entire corps , where he arrived on October 8th and occupied the city and the surrounding heights. Since the enemy was advancing with considerable power and their incursion into Vorarlberg was to be feared, Jelačić received orders to set out from Ulm, march to the Vorarlberg borders, destroy all bridges over the Ill during the march and pull the garrison of Memmingen to himself . But the enemy had already crossed the Ill and blocked the way to Memmingen, whose occupation had surrendered on October 14th.

Jelačić then withdrew to Isny , Wangen im Allgäu and Ravensburg in order to await the events near Ulm in this position and to protect the supplies accumulated in Bregenz and Feldkirch against the enemy. But the enemy's weapons successes were so rapid, the orders sent to Jelačić so unclear, and with Memmingen's fall his corps was so weak that when he was ordered to retreat through the Vinschgau , he found himself unable to carry out this order. Soon it became impossible for him to follow Archduke Johann , who was withdrawing from Tyrol . His intention now to stay in Vorarlberg and from there in the worst case to open a path through Swabia to Bohemia was thwarted by the rapid successive movements of the enemy, who attacked Bregenz on November 13th.

Jelačić now withdrew to Hohenembs ; but any union in any direction was impossible. He immediately called a council of war, which unanimously decided in favor of an honorable surrender, which General Mathieu also responded to on November 14th, whereupon the field marshal-lieutenant Jelačić and the rest of his troops, 4,000 men, were allowed to withdraw freely to Bohemia, where they were were handed over to the imperial outpost commander from December 4th to 7th . Jelačić's decision to retire soon afterwards can be attributed to these failures; but he returned to activity in 1809 and commanded a division in the campaign of the same year, held Salzburg , delivered an unfortunate meeting to Viceroy Beauharnais near St. Michael on May 25, 1809, and managed to unite his remaining units with the Archduke's army Johann in Graz . Finally, on June 14, he led the right wing together with Frimont in the Battle of Raab .

When he then retired and moved to Szala Apathy, he died after just a few months at the age of 64. From 1802 he was the owner of Infantry Regiment No. 62, established in 1788, and later Infantry Regiment No. 62 “Ludwig III. King of Bavaria ”. His sons were Georg Jelačić von Bužim , Anton Jelačić von Bužim and Joseph Jelačić von Bužim . The latter achieved a special reputation.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jubilee Cross for the KuK Infantry Regiment No. 62 at www.ehrenzeichen-orden.de, accessed on March 21, 2018

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bužim, Franz Jelačić from
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bužimski, Franjo Jelačić; Jellacic from Buzim, Franz; Buzim, Franz Jellacic von; Buzim, Franz Jelacic from
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Field Marshal Lieutenant and Knight of the Maria Theresa Order
DATE OF BIRTH 1746
PLACE OF BIRTH Petrinja , Croatia
DATE OF DEATH February 4, 1810
Place of death Zalaapáti , Hungary