Karl Philipp, Fürst zu Schwarzenberg (or Charles Philip, Prince of Schwarzenberg; 18/19 April 1771 – 15 October 1820) was an Austrian Generalissimo and former Field Marshal. He first entered military service in 1788 and fought against the Turks. During the French Revolutionary War, he fought on the allied side against France and in that period rose through the ranks of the Imperial Army. During the Napoleonic Wars, he fought in the Battle of Wagram (1809), which the Austrians lost decisively against Napoleon. He had to fight for Napoleon in the battles of Gorodechno and Wolkowisk (1812) against the Russians and won. During the War of the Sixth Coalition, he was in command of the allied army that decisively defeated Napoleon in the Battle of Leipzig (1813). He participated in the Battle of Paris (1814), which forced Napoleon to abdicate.
Schwarzenberg is well-remembered for his participation in the wars against Napoleon from 1803 to 1815. During the War of the Sixth Coalition to defeat Napoleon, Schwarzenberg was a pioneer of the Trachenberg Plan which led to the success at the Battle of Leipzig and later the campaigns against Napoleon on French soil. During the latter stage of the war he won many victories that garnered him fame and reputation as a military commander, particularly during his campaigns in Germany, Switzerland, and France during the war in 1814. The Trachenberg Plan called for avoiding direct battle with Napoleon himself; however, by a twist of fate, Schwarzenberg still ended up facing him. One encounterthe Battle of Dresden (1813)resulted in a catastrophic tactical defeat for Schwarzenberg, but he also managed to beat Napoleon at Peterswalde (1813) and Arcis-sur-Aube (1814). In the years following the war, Schwarzenberg served as a diplomat for the Austrian Empire and later went on to serve as Austrian ambassador to Russia and also represented Austria at the Congress of Vienna.
Background Family Karl Philipp was born 18/19 April 1771 in Vienna, the son of Johann Nepomuk Anton of Schwarzenberg, who was a member of the cadet branch of the Schwarzenberg princedom and Marie Eleonore Countess of Öttingen-Wallerstein, whose family ruled the region known as the County of Öttingen since the 11th century. Their ancestor Ludovicus de Otingen who was a member of a family that is a relative of the imperial House of Hohenstaufen, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire during the Medieval Age. He was one of thirteen siblings, seven of whom did not reach adulthood.Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich, Band: 33 (1877), ab Seite: 82. His family descends from the line of the Princes of the Schwarzenberg of the illustrious and noble House of Schwarzenberg, whose lineage could be traced back to at least the 16th century. Their roots began with the Lords (Princes) of Seinsheim in the Middle Ages and they held land and fiefdoms in Franconia and Bohemia. When the founder of the Schwarzenberg line, Erkinger of Seisheim acquired the lands and the castle of Schwarzenberg in the Holy Roman Empire, Erkinger was later made Freiherr (Baron) of the region in 1429. They were at first were made imperial counts by the Holy Roman Emperor and later became counted among the German and Austrian nobility during the 18th century. Later Emperor Francis I of Austria granted a Prince of Schwarzenberg title specifically for Karl Phillip, for his active military service and contributions during Napoleonic Wars. His branch of the Schwarzenberg princedom still continues to this very day. During the early years of his life, Schwarzenberg underwent extensive military training from an early age. Due to his high birth, rank and his family's relationship with the House of Habsburg, he was enlisted in the Austrian army as a lieutenant in 1788 and that same year, he went on to experience war for the first time in his life.
Early military career 1788–1792
Karl Philipp entered the imperial cavalry in 1788, fought in 1789 under Austrian generals Franz Moritz Graf von Lacy and Ernst Gideon Freiherr von Laudon against the Ottoman Empire, during the Austro-Turkish War. That war was a result of Russian Empress Catherine the Great and the Russian Empire's aggression against the Ottoman Empire, and as Austria was an ally of Russia, it triggered Austria's open involvement in the conflict. In the war, he distinguished himself by his bravery, and became a major in 1792 and campaigned extensively in the Balkans.
French Revolutionary War
1792–1801
During the outbreak of the French Revolution, Europe experienced one of the most remarkable political incidents in history, during which the House of Bourbon, the French royal family and its members were executed or fled, which also led to dissolution of the French hierarchical system and also decentralization of power invested in the Church and the Nobility. This resulted in the establishment of a France that came under a republican government led by the revolutionaries. The major powers of Europe opposed the French Republic, fearing that such revolutions might happen in their respective countries, declaring war on France and subsequently invaded the country, thus beginning a conflict that lasted from 1792 to 1801.
The Rhine and Low Countries In the French campaign of 1793, Schwarzenberg served in the advanced guard of the army commanded by Prince Josias of Coburg. At the battle of Le Cateau-Cambrésis in 1794, his impetuous charge at the head of his regiment, vigorously supported by twelve British squadrons, broke a whole corps of the French (of around 25,000 men), killed and wounded 3,000 men, and captured 32 of the enemy's guns. He was immediately decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa for his conduct.
During the mid-stages of the war, after taking part in the Austrian victories at the battles of Amberg and Würzburg in 1796, he was raised to the rank of general-major, and, in 1799, he was subsequently promoted to Generalleutnant. At the Battle of Hohenlinden (3 December 1800), the Austrian forces under Archduke John of Austria engaged in a decisive battle with the French army under General Jean Moreau, whom the Austrians believed were "beaten". However, the French were not beaten but had laid an ambush for the Austrians and attacked as the Austrians were emerging from the Ebersberg forest. The Austrian left flank was attacked by General Antoine Richepanse's division, leading to a disastrous defeat. During the battle, Schwarzenberg led a division in the right wing. During the retreat, his promptitude and courage saved the right wing of the Austrian army from destruction, and the Archduke Charles of Austria afterwards entrusted him with the command of the rearguard.
After the battle, the Austrians suffered a major setback as well as another defeat at the Battle of Marengo (14 June 1800), which led to the conclusion of the War of the Second Coalition and also led to the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801. As a result of the treaty, the Austrians accepted French dominance up to the Rhine and recognized the French puppet republics in Italy. Two years prior, the French republican government, the Directory, was overthrown in the Coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799, under a certain brilliant and famous French general, Napoleon Bonaparte, who declared himself First Consul and later Emperor of the newly formed French Empire in 1803. In 1804 Prince Karl Philipp was created Fürst zu Schwarzenberg in a title identical to, but separate from, that of his brother, Joseph II, Prince of Schwarzenberg.
Napoleonic Wars 1805–1812 In the War of the Third Coalition he held command of a division under Mack and when Napoleon surrounded Ulm in October, Schwarzenberg was one of the band of cavalry under the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este which cut its way through the hostile lines. Although Schwarzenberg and Archduke Ferdinand were able to extricate their units, the unfortunate army of General Mack had to surrender to Napoleon's army, which struck a blow to Austria's military morale and led to its eventual defeat. In the same year, Schwarzenberg received the Commander's Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa and in 1809 he was awarded the Order of the Golden Fleece.
In 1809, war once again broke out between Napoleon and Austria, due to Austria's frustration with their territorial concessions to Napoleon and to avenge the humiliations suffered by Austria during previous wars of the coalitions. During the early stages of the war, Austria was successful in defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Aspern-Essling, under the command of Archduke Charles of Austria, and was confident in its victory. Schwarzenberg took part in the Battle of Wagram (July 1809), which the Austrians lost and in which he led a cavalry division in the Reserve Corps and was soon afterwards promoted to general of cavalry.
In 1812, Schwarzenberg signed the Treaty of Paris, making Austria an ally of France. The Austrians were forced by Napoleon to send Schwarzenberg (whom Napoleon held in high esteem), commanding an Austrian corps of around 30,000 men, to the Grande Armée for the French invasion of Russia. He had to show enough commitment to please Napoleon without angering Russia. In the end he failed to protect the Grande Armée from a flank attack at the Berezina. His troops fought bravely and with courage, and he led his armies to victory at Gorodetschna and Wolkowisk. In late November his soldiers withdrew into winter quarters at Bialystok under a verbal agreement with the Russians. Of the 30,000 soldiers who entered Russia under Schwarzenberg's command, 7,000 were killed in battle and another 4,000 died of disease and exposure. Napoleon said in his memoirs, that Schwarzenberg, instead of advancing to Minsk, retreated to Warsaw and abandoned the French army thus allowing Chichagov to seize Minsk. Afterwards, under instructions from Napoleon, he remained for some months inactive at Pultusk.
1813–1815 In 1813, after Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia failed, the allied nations, which included Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Britain, formed the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon. At first, Austria did not join the Coalition, instead trying to negotiate a peace treaty with Napoleon, with Klemens von Metternich the Austrian Foreign Minister being sent to personally meet the Emperor of the French. The conditions set by Austria were that the French puppet states, such as the Confederation of the Rhine and client kingdoms in Italy, be dissolved, Poland be re-partitioned, and the Illyrian Provinces and other French-occupied Austrian territories (since 1797) be given back to Austria. Napoleon refused the deal, considering it a "humiliation" rather than a peace treaty. When Austria, after many hesitations, then joined the coalition against Napoleon, Schwarzenberg, recently appointed to the supreme command the Austrian army, was appointed commander-in-chief of the allied Army of Bohemia, numbering around 230,000 men. This was the first time Schwarzenberg held senior command of a large army in his career and he could now lead this army in ways that he deemed necessary, taking more decisions and deciding strategy for the allies.