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The Battle of Feistritz (6 September 1813) saw an Imperial French corps led by Paul Grenier attack an Austrian brigade under August von Vécsey. After putting up a stout resistance, the outnumbered Austrians were defeated and forced to retreat. The clash occurred during the War of the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Feistritz im Rosental is located on the Drau River near the southern border of Austria, about southwest of Klagenfurt. When hostilities commenced between the Austrian Empire and Imperial France, Johann von Hiller led an Austrian army to attack the Illyrian Provinces. The Austrians made rapid gains in the south, but in Carinthia, Hiller's first bridgehead across the Drava River at Villach was eliminated by the Franco-Italian army of Eugène de Beauharnais, the viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy. When the Austrian general established a second bridgehead at Feistritz, Eugène sent Grenier to wipe it out. The minor victory only delayed the inevitable, and within a few weeks Eugène was compelled to abandon Illyria and fall back to the borders of the Kingdom of Italy. ==Background== In 1812, the best French and Italian units from the French Army of Italy were assigned to the IV Corps for the French invasion of Russia. The troops fought well under the command of Eugène de Beauharnais but only about 3,000 soldiers survived the campaign.〔Schneid (2002), 103-104〕 To rebuild his army in Germany for the 1813 campaign, Emperor Napoleon transferred four more divisions from the garrison of Italy to join the newly established IV and XII Corps. The emperor then gave his stepson Eugène permission to organize a new army out of French and Italian draftees to defend the Kingdom of Italy.〔Schneid (2002), 105〕 By May 1813, the new army began forming around the French 46th, 47th, and 48th Divisions, the Italian 49th Division, and one cavalry division. In fact, only 13,000 French conscripts joined the army and the so-called French divisions were largely recruited from areas of Italy that had been annexed by France. Since military equipment was scarce, some soldiers were sent to the front dressed in police uniforms. Nevertheless, the army continued to expand and Eugène eventually renumbered his divisions 1 through 6, with the Italian Royal Guard kept as a discrete unit.〔Schneid (2002), 106-107〕 Meanwhile, the Austrian Empire prepared for war with Napoleon by expanding their army. While their main army was based in Bohemia, Austria also stationed one army corps on the Danube and another in the Duchy of Carinthia. The troops in Carinthia were placed under the command of Feldzeugmeister Johann von Hiller and designated the Army of Inner Austria. Since it was considered a minor theater, Hiller's army only counted 35,000 soldiers and 120 artillery pieces in August. This total was smaller than the number of troops in his opponent's army. The Austrian general had veteran division and brigade commanders, but he was handicapped by a clumsy command system and large numbers of indifferently-equipped conscripts in the ranks.〔Schneid (2002), 109-111〕 Though the Danube corps remained in place, reinforcements were continually switched from there to the Army of Inner Austria throughout the autumn.〔Schneid (2002), 118〕 In August 1813, Hiller's army consisted of an Advanced Guard under General-major Aron Stanisavlevics and divisions commanded by Feldmarschall-Leutnants Peter Marchal de Perclat, Johann Maria Philipp Frimont, Franz Marziani, Hannibal Sommariva, and Paul von Radivojevich. The Advanced Guard had two Grenz infantry battalions and two hussar squadrons. Marchal's division was made up of a light brigade of one jäger and one Grenz battalion and four hussar squadrons under General-major Christoph Ludwig von Eckhardt and a brigade of four line battalions under General-major Timotheus Winczian. Frimont's division had three brigades led by General-majors Franjo Vlašić, Ferdinand Daniel Pulszky, and August von Vécsey. Vlašić's light brigade comprised one jäger and one Grenz battalion and six hussar squadrons, Pulszky's brigade consisted of four line battalions, and Vécsey's cavalry brigade had 12 squadrons of uhlans.〔Schneid (2002), 195〕 Marziani's division was made up of a single brigade led by General-major Johann Mayer von Heldensfeld with seven line battalions. Sommariva's division counted three brigades commanded by Generals-major Joseph Xaver von Stutterheim, Joseph von Fölseis, and Georg Johann von Wrede. Stutterheim led four battalions of grenadiers, Fölseis had one Grenz, one line, and one landwehr battalions, and two squadrons of hussars, and Wrede directed 10 squadrons of dragoons. Radivojevich's division had three brigades under General-majors Ignaz Csivich von Rohr, Matthias Rebrovich, and Laval Nugent von Westmeath. Csivich commanded two Grenz and two line battalions, Rebrovich led one Grenz and two line battalions, and Nugent supervised four squadrons of hussars.〔Schneid (2002), 196〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Feistritz」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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