A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

Germany from the Earliest Period Vol. 4

W >> Wolfgang Menzel, Trans. Mrs. George Horrocks >> Germany from the Earliest Period Vol. 4




Austria, when preparing for war in 1809, could therefore confidently
reckon upon a general rising in the Tyrol. Andrew Hofer, the host of
the Sand at Passeyr (the Sandwirth), went to Vienna, where the revolt
was concerted.[2] A conspiracy was entered into by the whole of the
Tyrolese peasantry. Sixty thousand men, on a moderate calculation,
were intrusted with the secret, which was sacredly kept, not a single
townsman being allowed to participate in it. Kinkel, the Bavarian
general, who was stationed at Innsbruck and narrowly watched the
Tyrol, remained perfectly unconscious of the mine beneath his feet.
Colonel Wrede, his inferior in command, had been directed to blow up
the important bridges in the Pusterthal at St. Lorenzo, in order to
check the advance of the Austrians, in case of an invasion. Several
thousand French were expected to pass through the Tyrol on their route
from Italy to join the army under Napoleon. No suspicion of the
approach of a popular outbreak existed. On the 9th of April, the
signal was suddenly given; planks bearing little red flags floated
down the Inn; on the 10th, the storm burst. Several of the Bavarian
sappers sent at daybreak to blow up the bridges of St. Lorenzo being
killed by the bullets of an invisible foe, the rest took to flight.
Wrede, enraged at the incident, hastened to the spot at the head of
two battalions, supported by a body of cavalry and some field-pieces.
The whole of the Pusterthal had, however, already risen at the summons
of Peter Kemnater, the host of Schabs,[3] in defence of the bridges.
Wrede's artillery was captured by the enraged peasantry and cast,
together with the artillerymen, into the river. Wrede, after suffering
a terrible loss, owing to the skill of the Tyrolean riflemen, who
never missed their aim, was completely put to rout, and, although he
fell in with a body of three thousand French under Brisson on their
route from Italy, resolved, instead of returning to the Pusterthal, to
withdraw with the French to Innsbruck. The passage through the valley
of the Eisack had, however, been already closed against them by the
host of Lechner, and the fine old Roman bridge at Laditsch been blown
up. In the pass of the Brixen, where the valley closes, the French and
Bavarians suffered immense loss; rocks and trees were rolled on the
heads of the appalled soldiery, numbers of whom were also picked off
by the unerring rifles of the unseen peasantry. Favored by the open
ground at the bridge of Laditsch, they constructed a temporary bridge,
across which they succeeded in forcing their way on the 11th of April.
Hofer had, meanwhile, placed himself, early on the 10th, at the head
of the brave peasantry of Passeyr, Algund, and Meran, and had thrown
himself on the same road, somewhat to the north, near Sterzing, where
a Bavarian battalion was stationed under the command of Colonel
Bärnklau, who, on being attacked by him, on the 11th, retreated to the
Sterzinger Moos, a piece of tableland, where, drawn up in square, he
successfully repulsed every attempt made to dislodge him until Hofer
ordered a wagon, loaded with hay and guided by a girl,[4] to be pushed
forward as a screen, behind which the Tyrolese advancing, the square
was speedily broken and the whole of Bärnklau's troop was either
killed or taken prisoner.

The whole of the lower valley of the Inn had, on the self-same day,
been raised by Joseph Speckbacher, a wealthy peasant of Rinn, the
greatest hero called into existence by this fearful peasant war. The
alarm-bell pealed from every church tower throughout the country. A
Bavarian troop, at that time engaged in levying contributions at Axoms
as a punishment for disobedience, hastily fled. The city of Hall was,
on the ensuing night, taken by Speckbacher, who, after lighting about
a hundred watch-fires in a certain quarter, as if about to make an
attack on that side, crept, under cover of the darkness, to the gate
on the opposite side, where, as a common passenger, he demanded
permission to enter, took possession of the opened gate, and seized
the four hundred Bavarians stationed in the city. On the 12th, he
appeared before Innsbruck. Kinkel was astounded at the audacity of the
peasants, whom Dittfurt glowed with impatience to punish. But the
people, shouting "Vivat Franzl! Down with the Bavarians!" again rushed
upon the guns and turned them upon the Bavarians, who were, moreover,
exposed to a murderous fire poured upon them from the windows and
towers by the citizens, who had risen in favor of the peasantry. The
people of the upper valley of the Inn, headed by Major Teimer, also
poured to the scene of carnage. Dittfurt performed prodigies of valor,
but every effort was vain. Scornfully refusing to yield to the
_canaille_, he continued, although struck by two bullets, to fight
with undaunted courage, when a third stretched him on the ground;
again he started up and furiously defended himself until a fourth
struck him in the head. He died four days afterward in a state of wild
delirium, cursing and swearing. Kinkel and the whole of the Bavarian
infantry yielded themselves prisoners. The cavalry attempted to
escape, but were dismounted with pitchforks by the peasantry, and the
remainder were taken prisoners before Hall.

Wrede and Brisson, meanwhile, crossed the Brenner. At Sterzing, every
trace of the recent conflict had been carefully obliterated, and Wrede
vainly inquired the fate of Bärnklau. He entered the narrow pass, and
Hofer's riflemen spread death and confusion among his ranks. The
strength of the allied column, nevertheless, enabled it to force its
way through, and it reached Innsbruck, where, completely surrounded by
the Tyrolese, it, in a few minutes, lost several hundred men, and, in
order to escape utter destruction, laid down its arms. The Tyrolese
entered Innsbruck in triumph, preceded by the military band belonging
to the enemy, which was compelled to play, followed by Teimer and
Brisson in an open carriage, and with the rest of their prisoners
guarded between their ranks. Their captives consisted of two generals,
ten staff-officers, above a hundred other officers, eight thousand
infantry, and a thousand cavalry. Throughout the Tyrol, the arms of
Bavaria were cast to the ground and all the Bavarian authorities were
removed from office. The prisoners were, nevertheless, treated with
the greatest humanity, the only instance to the contrary being that of
a tax-gatherer, who, having once boasted that he would grind the
Tyrolese down until they gladly ate hay, was, in revenge, compelled to
swallow a bushel of hay for his dinner.

It was not until after these brilliant achievements on the part of the
Tyrolese that Lieutenant Field-Marshal von Chasteler, a Dutchman, and
the Baron von Hormayr, the imperial civil intendant, entered Innsbruck
with several thousand Austrians, and that Hormayr assumed the reins of
government. Two thousand French, under General Lemoine, attempted to
make an inroad from Trent, but were repulsed by Hofer and his ally,
Colonel Count Leiningen, who had been sent to his aid by Chasteler.
The advance of a still stronger force of the enemy under Baraguay
d'Hilliers a second time against Botzen called Chasteler in person
into the field, and the French, after a smart engagement near Volano,
where the Herculean Passeyrers carried the artillery on their
shoulders, were forced to retreat. It was on this occasion that
Leiningen, who had hastily pushed too far forward, was rescued from
captivity by Hofer.[5] The Vorarlberg had, meanwhile, also been raised
by Teimer. A Dr. Schneider placed himself at the head of the
insurgents, whose forces already extended in this direction as far as
Lindau, Kempten, and Memmingen.

Napoleon's success, at this conjuncture, at Ratisbon, enabled him to
despatch a division of his army into the Tyrol to quell the
insurrection that had broken out to his rear. Wrede, who had been
quickly exchanged and set at liberty, speedily found himself at the
head of a small Bavarian force, and succeeded in driving the Austrians
under Jellachich, after an obstinate and bloody resistance, out of
Salzburg, on the 29th of April. Jellachich withdrew to the pass of
Lueg for the purpose of placing himself in communication with the
Archduke John, who was on his way from Italy. An attack made upon this
position by the Bavarians being repulsed, Napoleon despatched Marshal
Lefebvre, duke of Dantzig, from Salzburg with a considerable force to
their assistance. Lefebvre spoke German, was a rough soldier, treated
the peasants as robbers instead of legitimate foes, shot every leader
who fell into his hands, and gave his soldiery license to commit every
description of outrage on the villagers. The greater part of the
Tyrolese occupying the pass of Strub having quitted their post on
Ascension Day in order to attend divine service, the rest were, after
a gallant resistance, overpowered and mercilessly butchered.
Chasteler, anxious to repair his late negligence, advanced against the
Bavarians in the open valley of the Inn and was overwhelmed by
superior numbers at Wörgl. Speckbacher, followed by his peasantry,
again made head against the enemy, whom, notwithstanding the
destruction caused in his ranks by their rapid and well-directed fire,
he twice drove out of Schwatz. The Bavarians, nevertheless, succeeded
in forcing an entrance into the town, which they set on fire after
butchering all the inhabitants, hundreds of whom were hanged to the
trees or had their hands nailed to their heads. These cruelties were
not, even in a single instance, imitated by the Tyrolese. The proposal
to send their numerous Bavarian prisoners home maimed of one ear, as a
mode of recognition in case they should again serve against the Tyrol,
was rejected by Hofer. The unrelenting rage of the Bavarians was
solely roused by the unsparing ridicule of the Tyrolese, by whom they
were nicknamed, on account of the general burliness of their figures
and their fondness for beer, Bavarian hogs, and who, the moment they
came within hearing, would call out to them, as to a herd of pigs,
"Tschu, Tschu, Tschu--Natsch, Natsch." The Bavarians, intoxicated with
success, advanced further up the country, surrounded the village of
Vomp, set it on fire amid the sound of kettledrums and hautboys, and
shot the inhabitants as they attempted to escape from the burning
houses. Chasteler and Hormayr were, during this robber-campaign, as it
was termed by the French, proscribed as _chefs de brigands_ by
Napoleon. Count Tannenberg, the descendant of the oldest of the
baronial families in the Tyrol, a blind and venerable man, who was
also taken prisoner _en route_, replied with dignity to the censure
heaped upon him by Wrede, and at Munich defended his country's cause
before the king.[6] The officers, whom he had treated with extreme
politeness, rose from his hospitable board to set fire to his castle
over his head. The Scharnitz was yielded, and the Bavarians under Arco
penetrated also on that side into the country.--Jellachich, upon this,
retired upon Carinthia, and was followed through the Pusterthal by
Chasteler, who dreaded being cut off. The peasants, incredulous of
their abandonment by Austria, implored, entreated him to remain, to
which, for the sake of freeing himself from their importunities, he at
length consented, but they had no sooner dispersed in order to summon
the people again to the conflict than he retired. Hofer, on returning
to the spot, merely finding a small body of troops under the command
of General Buol, who had received orders to bring up the rear, threw
himself in despair on a bed. Eisenstecken, his companion and adjutant,
however, instantly declared that the departure of the soldiers must,
at all hazards, be prevented. The officers signed a paper by which
they bound themselves, even though contrary to the express orders of
the general, to remain. Buol, upon this, yielded and remained, but,
during the fearful battle that ensued, remained in the post-house on
the Brenner, inactively watching the conflict, which terminated in the
triumph of the peasantry. Hormayr completely absconded and attempted
to escape into Switzerland.

Innsbruck was surrendered by Teimer to the French, on the 19th of May.
Napoleon's defeat, about this time, at Aspern having however compelled
Lefebvre to return hastily to the Danube, leaving merely a part of the
Bavarians with General Deroy in Innsbruck, the Tyrolese instantly
seized the opportunity, and Hofer, Eisenstecken, and the gallant
Speckbacher boldly assembled the whole of the peasantry on the
mountain of Isel. Peter Thalguter led the brave and gigantic men of
Algund. Haspinger, the Capuchin, nicknamed Redbeard, appeared on this
occasion for the first time in the guise of a commander and displayed
considerable military talent. An incessant struggle was carried on
from the 25th to the 29th of May.[7] Deroy, repulsed from the mountain
of Isel with a loss of almost three thousand men, simulated an
intention to capitulate, and withdrew unheard during the night by
muffling the horses' hoofs and the wheels of the artillery carriages
and enjoining silence under pain of death. Speckbacher attempted to
impede his retreat at Hall, but arrived too late.[8] Teimer was
accused of having been remiss in his duty through jealousy of the
common peasant leaders. Arco escaped by an artifice similar to that of
Deroy and abandoned the Scharnitz. The Vorarlbergers again spread as
far as Kempten. Hormayr also returned, retook the reins of government,
imposed taxes, flooded the country with useless law-scribbling, and,
at the same time, refused to grant the popular demand for the
convocation of the Tyrolean diet. After the victory of Aspern, the
emperor declared, "My faithful county of Tyrol shall henceforward ever
remain incorporated with the Austrian empire, and I will agree to no
treaty of peace save one indissolubly uniting the Tyrol with my
monarchy." During this happy interval, Speckbacher besieged the
fortress of Cuffstein, where he performed many signal acts of
valor.[9]

The disaster of Wagram followed, and, in the ensuing armistice, the
Emperor Francis was compelled to agree to the withdrawal of the whole
of his troops from the Tyrol. The Archduke John is said to have given
a hint to General Buol to remain in the Tyrol as if retained there by
force by the peasantry, instead of which both Buol and Hormayr hurried
their retreat, after issuing a miserable proclamation, in which they
"recommended the Tyrolese to the care of the duke of Dantzig."
Lefebvre actually again advanced at the head of thirty to forty
thousand French, Bavarians and Saxons. The courage of the unfortunate
peasantry naturally sank. Hofer alone remained unshaken, and said, on
bidding Hormayr farewell, "Well, then, I will undertake the
government, and, as long as God wills, name myself Andrew Hofer, host
of the Sand at Passeyr, Count of the Tyrol." Hormayr laughed.--A
general dispersion took place. Hofer alone remained. When, resolute in
his determination not to abandon his native soil, he was on his way
back to his dwelling, he encountered Speckbacher hurrying away in a
carriage in the company of some Austrian officers. "Wilt thou also
desert thy country?" was Hofer's sad demand. Buol, in order to cover
his retreat, sent back eleven guns and nine hundred Bavarian prisoners
to General Rusca, who continued to threaten the Pusterthal.

In the mountains all was tranquil, and the advance of the French
columns was totally unopposed. Hofer, concealed in a cavern amid the
steep rocks overhanging his native vale, besought Heaven for aid, and,
by his enthusiastic entreaties, succeeded in persuading the brave
Capuchin, Joachim Haspinger, once more to quit the monastery of
Seeben, whither he had retired. A conference was held at Brixen
between Haspinger, Martin Schenk, the host of the _Krug_, a jovial man
of powerful frame, Kemnater, and a third person of similar calling,
Peter Mayer, host of the Mare, who bound themselves again to take up
arms in the Eastern Tyrol, while Hofer, in person, raised the Western
Tyrol. Speckbacher, to the delight of the three confederates,
unexpectedly made his appearance at this conjuncture. Deeply wounded
by the reproach contained in the few words addressed to him by Hofer,
he had, notwithstanding the urgent entreaties of his companions,
quitted them on arriving at the nearest station and hastened to retake
his post in defence of his country.

Lefebvre had already entered Innsbruck, and, according to his brutal
custom, had plundered the villages and reduced them to ashes; he had
also published a proscription-list[10] instead of the amnesty. A
desperate resistance now commenced. The whole of the Tyrol again flew
to arms; the young men placed in their green hats the bunch of
rosemary gathered by the girl of their heart, the more aged a
peacock's plume, the symbol of the house of Habsburg, all carried the
rifle, so murderous in their hands; they made cannons of larch-wood,
bound with iron rings, which did good service; they raised abatis,
blew up rooks, piled immense masses of stone on the extreme edges of
the precipitous rocks commanding the narrow vales, in order to hurl
them upon the advancing foe, and directed the timber-slides in the
forest-grown mountains, or those formed of logs by means of which the
timber for building was usually run into the valleys, in such a manner
upon the most important passes and bridges, as to enable them to shoot
enormous trees down upon them with tremendous velocity.

Lefebvre resolved to advance with the main body of his forces across
the Brenner to Botzen, whither another corps under Burscheidt also
directed its way through the upper valley of the Inn, the Finstermunz,
and Meran, while a third under Rusca came from Carinthia through the
Pusterthal, and a fourth under Peyry was on the march from Verona
through the vale of the Adige. These various _corps d'armée_, by which
the Tyrol was thus attacked simultaneously on every point, were to
concentrate in the heart of the country. Lefebvre found the Brenner
open. The Tyrolese, headed by Haspinger, had burned the bridges on the
Oberau and awaited the approach of the enemy on the heights commanding
the narrow valley of Eisach. The Saxons under Rouyer were sent in
advance by Lefebvre to shed their blood for a foreign despot. Rocks
and trees hurled by the Tyrolese into the valley crushed numbers of
them to death. Rouyer, after being slightly hurt by a rolling mass of
rock, retreated after leaving orders to the Saxon regiment, composed
of contingents from Weimar, Gotha, Coburg, Hildburghausen, Altenburg,
and Meiningen, commanded by Colonel Egloffstein, to retain its
position in the Oberau. This action took place on the 4th of August.
The Saxons, worn out by the fatigue and danger to which they were
exposed, were compelled, on the ensuing day, to make head in the
narrow vale against overwhelming numbers of the Tyrolese, whose
incessant attacks rendered a moment's repose impossible. Although
faint with hunger and with the intensity of the heat, a part of the
troops under Colonel Egloffstein succeeded in forcing their way
through, though at an immense sacrifice of life,[11] and fell back
upon Rouyer, who had taken up a position at Sterzing without fighting
a stroke in their aid, and who expressed his astonishment at their
escape. The rest of the Saxon troops were taken prisoners, after a
desperate resistance, in the dwelling-houses of Oberau.[12] They had
lost nearly a thousand men. The other _corps d'armée_ met with no
better fate. Burscheidt merely advanced up the valley of the Inn as
far as the bridges of Pruz, whence, being repulsed by the Tyrolese and
dreading destruction, he retreated during the dark night of the 8th of
August. His infantry crept, silent and unheard, across the bridge of
Pontlaz, of such fatal celebrity in 1703, which was strictly watched
by the Tyrolese. The cavalry cautiously followed, but were betrayed by
the sound of one of the horses' feet. Rocks and trees were in an
instant hurled upon the bridge, crushing men and horses and blocking
up the way. The darkness that veiled the scene but added to its
horrors. The whole of the troops shut up beyond the bridge were either
killed or taken prisoner. Burscheidt reached Innsbruck with merely a
handful of men, completely worn out by the incessant pursuit. Rusca
was also repulsed, between the 6th and the 11th of August
(particularly at the bridge of Lienz), in the Pusterthal, by brave
Antony Steger. Rusca had set two hundred farms on fire. Twelve hundred
of his men were killed, and his retreat was accelerated by Steger's
threat to roast him, in case he fell into his hands, like a scorpion,
within a fiery circle. Peyry did not venture into the country.

Lefebvre, who had followed to the rear of the Saxon troops from
Innsbruck, bitterly reproached them with their defeat, but, although
he placed himself in advance, did not succeed in penetrating as far as
they had up the country. At Mauls, his cavalry were torn from their
saddles and killed with clubs, and he escaped, with great difficulty,
after losing his cocked hat. His corps, notwithstanding its numerical
strength, was unable to advance a step further. The Capuchin harassed
his advanced guard from Mauls and was seconded by Speckbacher from
Stilfs, while Count Arco was attacked to his rear at Schonberg by
multitudes of Tyrolese. The contest was carried on without
intermission from the 5th to the 10th of August. Lefebvre was finally
compelled to retreat with his thinned and weary troops.[13] On the
11th, Deroy posted himself with the rearguard on the mountain of Isel.
The Capuchin, after reading mass under the open sky to his followers,
again attacked him on the 13th. A horrible slaughter ensued. Four
hundred Bavarians, who had fallen beneath the clubs of their
infuriated antagonists, lay in a confused heap. The enemy evacuated
Innsbruck and the whole of the Tyrol.[14] Count Arco was one of the
last victims of this bloody campaign.

The _Sandwirth_, placed himself at the head of the government at
Innsbruck. Although a simple peasant and ever faithful to the habits
of his station,[15] he laid down some admirable rules, convoked a
national assembly, and raised the confidence of the people of
Carinthia, to whom he addressed a proclamation remarkable for dignity.
He hoped, at that time, by summoning the whole of the mountain tribes
to arms and leading them to Vienna, to compel the enemy to accede to
more favorable terms of peace. Speckbacher penetrated into the
district of Salzburg, defeated the Bavarians at Lofers and Unken, took
one thousand seven hundred prisoners, and advanced as far as
Reichenhall and Melek. The Capuchin proposed, in his zeal, to storm
Salzburg and invade Carinthia, but was withheld by Speckbacher, who
saw the hazard attached to the project, as well as the peril that
would attend the departure of the Tyrolese from their country. His
plan merely consisted in covering the eastern frontier. His son,
Anderle, who had escaped from his secluded Alp, unexpectedly joined
him and fought at his side. Speckbacher was stationed at Melek, where
he drove Major Rummele with his Bavarian battalion into the Salzach,
but was shortly afterward surprised by treachery. He had already been
deprived of his arms, thrown to the ground, and seriously injured with
blows dealt with a club, when, furiously springing to his feet, he
struck his opponents to the earth and escaped with a hundred of his
men across a wall of rock unscalable save by the foot of the expert
and hardy mountaineer. His young son was torn from his side and taken
captive. The king, Maximilian Joseph, touched by his courage and
beauty, sent for him and had him well educated.--The Capuchin, who had
reached Muhrau in Styria, was also compelled to retire.

The peace of Vienna, in which the Tyrolese were not even mentioned,
was meanwhile concluded. The restoration of the Tyrol to Bavaria was
tacitly understood, and, in order to reduce the country to obedience,
three fresh armies again approached the frontiers, the Italian, Peyry,
from the south through the valley of the Adige, and Baraguay
d'Hilliers from the west through the Pusterthal; the former suffered a
disastrous defeat above Trent, but was rescued from utter destruction
by General Vial, who had followed to his rear, and who, as well as
Baraguay, advanced as far as Brixen.[16] Drouet d'Erlon, with the main
body of the Bavarians, came from the north across the Strub and the
Loferpass, and gained forcible possession of the Engpass. Hofer had
been persuaded by the priest, Donay, to relinquish the anterior passes
into the country and Innsbruck, and to take up a strong position on
the fortified mountain of Isel. Speckbacher arrived too late to defend
Innsbruck, and, enraged at the ill-laid plan of defence, threw a body
of his men into the Zillerthal in order to prevent the Bavarians from
falling upon Hofer's rear. He was again twice wounded at the storming
of the Kemmberg, which had already been fortified by the Bavarians. On
the 25th of October, the Bavarians entered Innsbruck and summoned
Hofer to capitulate. During the night of the 30th, Baron Lichtenthurm
appeared in the Tyrolese camp, announced the conclusion of peace, and
delivered a letter from the Archduke John, in which the Tyrolese were
commanded peaceably to disperse and no longer to offer their lives a
useless sacrifice. There was no warrant for the future, not a memory
of an earlier pledge. The commands of their beloved master were obeyed
by the Tyrolese with feelings of bitter regret, and a complete
dispersion took place. Speckbacher alone maintained his ground, and
repulsed the enemy on the 2d and 3d of November, but, being told, in a
letter, by Hofer, "I announce to you that Austria has made peace with
France and has forgotten the Tyrol," he gave up all further
opposition, and Mayer and Kemnater, who had gallantly made head
against General Rusca at the Muhlbacher Klause, followed his example.

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