Karl Gorzkowski von Gorzkow

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Karl Gorzkowski von Gorzkow. Lithograph by Adolf Dauthage , ca.1850
Karl Gorzkowski von Gorzkow. Lithograph by August Prinzhofer , 1849

Karl Ritter Gorzkowski von Gorzkow (* 1778 in Babyce near Przemyśl , † March 22, 1858 in Venice ) was an Imperial and Royal Chamberlain , Privy Councilor , General of the Cavalry and Knight of the Military Maria Theresa Order with Polish and Austrian nobility diplomas.

biography

origin

In 1359 an Andrzej "de Gorczkow" is mentioned for the first time, who owned a village of the same name, in which in 1404 an independent Roman Catholic parish church was built. Two years later, Mikołaj Gorzkowski received permission from King Władysław II Jagiełło to run the city under Magdeburg law. The heirs of Mikołaj Gorzkowski von Sandomierz ruled alone over the city, which steadily increased in importance. An ancestor of King John III. Sobieskis acquired part of this. In 1689 the king had a town hall built. The family was ennobled around 1500 and originally belonged to the Tarnawa coat of arms .

His father Adalbert was legitimized at the Galician country table on January 7, 1790 as a knight with the Godziemba coat of arms . The knighthood applied to him and his biological descendants.

Military career

Battle of Gorodechno 1812
Coat of arms of the knight Gorzkowski von Gorzkow, 1790

On November 1, 1792 cadet in the Chevauxleger regiment "Duke of Modena", he took part in the wars against France 1792–1795, then as a guard and sub-lieutenant in the (formerly Polish) Arcièren regiment (1796) but soon as a lieutenant in the Merveldt-Uhlans assigned where he was wounded in 1799. In the battles in 1805 he was captain of the "Archduke Karl Ulanen" in Italy, major in 1807 and from 1809 he took part as a lieutenant colonel in the Radetzki Brigade in the 5th Army Corps in all battles of this renowned troop.

In 1812 he first took part in the Russian campaign with the regiment in the auxiliary corps, and on October 15, he was a colonel. As regiment commander, he then led his Karl Uhlans with distinction in the battles in Italy until 1815. Here he did particularly well in the battle of the Mincio . Appointed kk real chamberlain in peacetime (1817), he was promoted to major general (rank of June 1 of the year) and brigadier in Kosice on May 19, 1820 , then with appointment of March 8, 1831 and rank of March 16 of the Year to field marshal lieutenant and division general in Brno , then in Prague in 1833 . On the occasion of Emperor Ferdinand I's coronation as King of Lombardy-Venetia in Italy, he was decorated with the Commander's Cross of the Order of the Iron Crown.

In 1839 the officer became 2nd owner of the cuirassier regiment No. 3 Johann König von Sachsen and military commander of Ljubljana , then von Troppau .

Knight's Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order

On October 19, 1846 he was promoted to general of the cavalry and fortress commander of Mantua . In 1847 he was honored with the dignity of a real secret council. When the revolution broke out in Italy in 1848, the fortress of Mantua was in a sad and untenable condition. The garrison was weak and consisted mostly of Italian troops, which had long before been worked by their compatriots in a revolutionary sense. The population, numbering over 30,000, was hostile to Austria. Thanks to Gorzkowski's dignified demeanor, cleverness and severity, which were supported by the officer corps, it was possible to keep the already wavering troops at the flag and to avoid any fight with the residents until troop reinforcements finally arrived. He himself now declared a state of siege, had the residents disarmed on March 26th and kept calm through energetic measures. Despite inadequate means, he put the fortress in perfect defensive condition so that it could withstand any serious siege. On April 19th the Piedmontese made a demonstration against Fort Bellfiore, which however remained fruitless, and on the 21st of the month the enemy Lieutenant General d'Arco Ferrari closed the fortress. However, repeated failures prevented close separation and the connection with Verona and Legnago was largely kept open. It was not until July 13 that Karl Albert of Sardinia-Piedmont succeeded in encircling Mantua and blocking all main and secondary roads leading to the fortress. The general, however, inflicted the greatest possible damage on the enemy with the fortress gun and assaults, until the encirclement was lifted on July 27, due to the defeat of the Piedmontese at Custozza and Sommacampagna . For the maintenance of this important location, the officer received the Knight's Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order on November 27, 1848 .

When the Austrian troops under Field Marshal Lieutenant Count von Wimpffen marched into Roman territory in 1849, he followed them with a corps as reinforcement, arrived at Bologna on May 14th and stayed there as military and civil governor after taking the city. Then he was in charge of the victory over the March 1848 Repubblica di San Marco in Venice on August 23, 1849: Field Marshal Count Radetzki had sent fresh troops and placed them under the command of the general. The city surrendered very soon in a hopeless situation in August 1849. After the capture of Venice he was appointed military and civil governor there, in October that year he was appointed fortress governor in Olomouc , but in January 1850 he was transferred to Venice in his previous position. The general kept the latter post until his death.

His marriage to the Countess von Szapary was childless. He left 4.5 million florins behind  . The main part of his inheritance went to his relatives in Galicia and to those of his late wife in Hungary. The universal heir was Count Lewicki, a son of Gorzkowski's aunt. His nephew, Count Szapary, inherited his rich and valuable collection of weapons.

Awards

In addition to the awards already mentioned, Gorzkowski was the holder of the following orders and decorations:

Works

  • Prussian Hall of Honor. Brief history of the Kaiser Franz Grenadier Regiment. Publisher AW Hayn, Berlin 1852.

literature

  • Gorzkowski from Gorzków Karl. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 2, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1959, p. 35.
  • J. Hirtenfeld: Military Maria Theresa Order and its members. 14th part, publishing house of the kk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1857.
  • Military Schematism of the Austrian Empire. K. k. Court and State Printing House, Vienna 1848.
  • Kasper Nesiecki: Herbarz Polski. 4th volume, Verlag W. Lipski, 1839.
  • Gunther Erich Rothenberg: The Army of Francis Joseph. Purdue University Press, USA 1998.
  • Joseph Strack: The generals of the Austrian army. According to kk field files and other printed sources. Printing and publishing house Joseph Kewck and Son, Vienna 1850.
  • Constantin von Wurzbach: Biographical Lexicon of the Empire of Austria. 5th part, printing and publishing of the typogr.-literar.-artist. Institution, Vienna 1859.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ archive.org
  2. ↑ Kasper Nesiecki: Herbarz Polski. 4th volume, Verlag W. Lipski, 1839, pp. 219f.
  3. ↑ coresno.com
  4. ↑ oesta.gv.at ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oesta.gv.at
  5. ^ J. Hirtenfeld: Military Maria Theresa Order and its members. 14th part, Verlag der kk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1857, pp. 1489–1895.
  6. ↑ Friedrich Steger: Supplementary Conversation Lexicon of the latest time to the year 1857/58. Volume 13. Supplementary sheets publishing house, Leipzig / Meißen 1846, p. 71.
  7. ↑ a b Constantin von Wurzbach: Biographical Lexicon of the Kaiserthums Oesterreich. 5th part, printing and publishing of the typogr.-literar.-artist. Establishment, Vienna 1859, p. 275ff.
  8. ^ Gunther Erich Rothenberg: The Army of Francis Joseph. Purdue University Press, USA 1998, pp. 26, 34.
  9. ^ A b Joseph Strack: The Generals of the Austrian Army. According to kk field files and other printed sources. Printing and publishing house Joseph Keuck and Son, Vienna 1850, p. 113ff.
  10. ^ Gorzkowski von Gorzków Karl. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 2, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1959, p. 35.
personal data
SURNAME Gorzkowski von Gorzkow, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gorzkowski von Gorzkow, Karl Ritter (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian general of the cavalry
DATE OF BIRTH 1778
PLACE OF BIRTH Babyce at Przemyśl
DATE OF DEATH March 22, 1858
Place of death Venice