Johann Gabriel von Chasteler

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General von Chasteler

Johann Gabriel Joseph Herbert Marquis de Chasteler de Moulbais et de Courcelles (born January 22, 1763 in Mons ( Hainaut ), † May 10, 1825 in Venice ) was an Austrian military master , owner of the 1st Tyrolean Jägerregiment and Commander of Maria Theresa Order as well as one of the most outstanding engineer officers in the Austrian army of his time.

Life

Chasteler began his military career in 1776 as a 13-year-old cadet in the Imperial and Royal Infantry Regiment Carl Herzog von Lothringen No. 3 and from 1778 attended the engineering academy in Vienna . In 1780 he became a second lieutenant and in 1785 a captain in the engineering corps.

In the Turkish war of 1788/91 he proved himself as an engineer and general staff officer of great boldness. In 1788 he was wounded at Chotyn . In the Battle of Focşani (August 1, 1789) he acquired the Maria Theresa Order as a major (23rd doctorate from December 19, 1790). From 1792 he took part as a lieutenant colonel in the war against France in the Netherlands , was captured by the French at Namur , was exchanged again in 1793 and distinguished himself at Le Quesnoy , Valenciennes and finally at Wattignies , where he was wounded by six bayonet stabs. In 1794 he was involved in the siege of Landrecies and the relief of Charleroi . During the 13-month siege of Mainz by French troops (1794-95) he made such a contribution to the defense of the fortress city that in 1795 he was promoted to colonel of the general staff.

The surrender of Mantua

1795–96 he was used as a border inspector in Poland . With his appointment as major general on April 24, 1797 (rank of June 1 of the year), he was entrusted with the marking of the new frontier in Italy after the peace of Campo Formio . In the Italian campaign of 1799 he was quartermaster general of the Russian-Austrian army under Suvorov in northern Italy. He contributed to Kray's victory near Verona , fought at Cassano d'Adda (April 27) and at the Trebbia (June 17 to June 19) and received the Commander's Cross of Maria on April 26 for promoting the Adda near Trezzo -Theresia Order . Then he brought about the surrender of Mantua . He has been wounded no fewer than fourteen times over these years.

From 1800 he was instrumental in the establishment of a land militia and thus a more efficient national defense in Tyrol and advanced to field marshal lieutenant on January 10, 1801 . In November 1801 he received the title of owner of the 1st Tyrolean Jägerregiment, which he had formed from the Tyrolean sniper corps and the Walloon Le Loup hunters. At that time he was at the height of general recognition and was considered one of the best engineering officers of his time.

Battle of Wörgl
Battle of Kulm
Chasteler's grave in Venice

Tyrol was affected by the unfortunate course of the war of 1805. During this war, Chasteler was in command of a division in North Tyrol under the command of Archduke Johann . Although it was advantageous to fight against the Bavarian division of General Graf von Deroy advancing from the north on the line that was most defensible , the remaining French and Bavarian divisions advancing from the south and west and from Salzburg could not be resisted in the long run. The general gathered his troops at St. Johann and retreated over the Radstädter Tauern to Klagenfurt in order to meet there on November 24th with the Archduke, who had vacated his position on the Brenner . Before the Peace of Pressburg was concluded , there were still battles in this area with Marshal Auguste Frédéric de Marmont's corps advancing from the south . During 1806–1807 Ch. Was division commander in Graz , in the following year he led the fortification work of Komorn , which he expanded in 1808 into a main arsenal.

After Austria declared war on France, Chasteler advanced as commander-in-chief of the 8th Army Corps on April 9, 1809 with 10,000 soldiers as far as Lienz . With the support of the Tyrolean rifle companies , he succeeded in liberating the country from Bavarian rule, so that Chasteler was able to march triumphantly into Innsbruck on April 15 and Trento on April 20 . Chasteler took over the military organization, Baron Joseph von Hormayr took over the administration of the country. On May 13, Chasteler suffered a serious defeat in the battle of Wörgl as a result of tactically unwise actions against superior Bavarian and French forces under the leadership of Marshal François-Joseph Lefebvre . Napoleon had him sentenced to death as instigator of the Tyrolean unrest in contumaciam (in absentia). To the consternation of the Tyroleans, Chasteler fled, besieged by the enemy, via Croatia to Hungary.

Nevertheless, after serving as territorial commander of Silesia from 1811 to 1812 and leading the defense work of Prague in 1813, the Marquis then successfully appeared as commanding general of a reserve division in various military conflicts, for example at the head of a grenadier division at the Battle of Dresden on August 26 and 27, 1813 and the Battle of Kulm on August 29 and 30 of the month. He was therefore promoted to Feldzeugmeister on September 2, 1813 and was briefly in Opava as military commander, then as governor of Theresienstadt. When the convention that Count von Klenau had concluded with the French Marshal Marquis de Gouvion St. Cyr regarding the surrender of Dresden on November 11, 1813, he took over the command of the city after the French had left. He was called in as a consultant at the Congress of Vienna . In 1815 he was appointed city and fortress commander of Venice , which he remained until the end of his life.

The Theresa Knights acquired the hereditary Austrian baron class in Vienna on March 23, 1813, with the improvement of the coat of arms in Vienna on June 17, 1814. He must have received the prevalence of his French marqui title earlier.

Despite his extreme nearsightedness, he was practiced in all the pioneers' actions and activities. He was passionate about operating the gun himself. He could make himself understood in twelve languages. Regarding the pronunciation of the name Chasteler, it should be mentioned that Andreas Hofer always used the phonetic spelling “Schatlé” in his letters.

His marble grave monument with Latin inscription, created by Luigi Zandomeneghi in the church of San Zanipolo in Venice, can still be seen there today.

coat of arms

Coat of arms of the Marquis de Chasteler, 18th century

1814: Shield in silver with a red sloping bar, accompanied at the top by a crowned black climbing lion. On the red-and-silver puffed helmet, two jugs, the handles turning inward, leaned at an angle, silver-red. The ceilings are red and gold. The shield bearers are an angel on the right, an eagle resisting on the left, a ribbon on the neck.

The coat of arms of the marquis shows the shield wrapped in an ermine cloak with an electoral hat on it , probably an indication of the descent from the dukes of Châtelet.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Antonio Schmidt-Brentano: Imperial and Imperial Generals (1618–1815) , Austrian State Archives 2006, p. 20.
  2. ↑ http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz8145.html
  3. ↑ Chasteler, Jean Gabriel Marquis de (tessmann.it) .
  4. ^ Conversations Lexicon. 4th edition, Volume 2: Br.–Cz. Verlag FA Brockhaus, Altenburg and Leipzig 1817, p. 454.
  5. ^ Egon Berchem: J. Siebmacher's large book of arms: Contributions to the history of heraldry. Verlag Bauer & Raspe, Nuremberg 1899, p. 35.
personal data
SURNAME Chasteler, Johann Gabriel von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chasteler de Courcelles, Johann Gabriel Marquis du (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian Feldzeugmeister and engineer officer
DATE OF BIRTH January 22, 1763
PLACE OF BIRTH Mons , Hainaut
DATE OF DEATH May 10, 1825
Place of death Venice