Adam Bajalics von Bajahaza
Encyclopedia
Adam Bajalics von Bajaháza, also Adam Bajalić von Bajaházy or Adam Bayalitsch, (1734 - 5 June 1800) entered Austrian military service and fought against Prussia
, Ottoman Turkey, and France. During the 1796-1797 Italian campaign against Napoleon Bonaparte, he commanded a brigade or a division in several actions.
, Hungary
in 1734, Bajalics enlisted in the Archduke Ferdinand Infantry Regiment # 2 from 1750 to 1754. He rejoined the Austrian army in 1758, this time in the Warasdiner Grenz
Infantry Regiment. (The Grenz were light infantry recruited from the military border with Ottoman Turkey.) He fought in the Seven Years' War
and earned promotion to lieutenant
(Leutnant). During the War of the Bavarian Succession, he was a captain (Hauptmann) and was soon elevated to the rank of major
. In 1783, he was appointed lieutenant colonel
(Oberst-Leutnant) of the Szluiner Grenz Infantry Regiment. He served with distinction during the Austro-Turkish War (1787-1791)
, becoming colonel
(Oberst) on 28 February 1789.
(General-Major). During the French Revolutionary Wars
he served as a brigade commander in Count Dagobert von Wurmser
's army on the upper Rhine. He earned the Military Order of Maria Theresa
for his exploits during the Handschuheim on 24 September 1795, in which a French division was cut to pieces.
After General Bonaparte's French army overran the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont in the spring of 1796, Bajalics was posted to northern Italy. He commanded a brigade in Wurmser's first relief of the Siege of Mantua
in early August. Wurmser assigned Bajalics to mask the fortress of Peschiera
. After the Austrian defeat at the Battle of Castiglione
, Bajalics sent four battalions of his troops to cover the main army's withdrawal.
During the fourth relief of Mantua
in January 1797, Bajalics commanded a 6,200-man division that threatened French-held Verona
. In this effort, in which Jozsef Alvinczi's main army advanced from the north and Giovanni di Provera
's division moved against Legnago
, the Austrian plan miscarried. On 12 January, Bajalics mounted an attack on Verona to draw attention from Alvinczi and Provera. After eight hours of combat with André Masséna
's division, the Austrians fell back. On 14 January, Bonaparte crushed Jozsef Alvinczi's army at the Battle of Rivoli
, then he hurried back to Mantua to wipe out Provera's column. Only Bajalics' troops escaped intact from the catastrophe. He was promoted to lieutenant general
(Feldmarschal-Leutnant) on 1 March 1797.
When Bonaparte hustled the army of Archduke Charles
out of Italy in the spring of 1797, Bajalics led part of the right wing in its retreat from Udine
in present-day Italy
toward Villach
in modern Austria
. In a confused series of actions from 21 to 23 March, the French succeeded in closing off the Austrian escape route at Tarvisio
. On the latter day, hemmed in by the divisions of Masséna and Jean Sérurier
, Bajalics surrendered with 3,500 men, 25 artillery pieces and 400 wagons. His forces also suffered 1,000 killed and wounded while inflicting 1,200 casualties on the French.
Bajalics retired from military service in 1797 and died in 1800 at Karlovci
in modern-day Serbia
.
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
, Ottoman Turkey, and France. During the 1796-1797 Italian campaign against Napoleon Bonaparte, he commanded a brigade or a division in several actions.
Military career
Born in SzegedSzeged
' is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county town of Csongrád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary....
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
in 1734, Bajalics enlisted in the Archduke Ferdinand Infantry Regiment # 2 from 1750 to 1754. He rejoined the Austrian army in 1758, this time in the Warasdiner Grenz
Grenz infantry
Grenz infantry or Grenzers were light infantry troops who came from the Croatian and Transylvanian Military Frontier in Habsburg Monarchy . This borderland formed a buffer zone between Christian Europe and the Ottoman Empire, and the troops were originally raised to defend Austria against the...
Infantry Regiment. (The Grenz were light infantry recruited from the military border with Ottoman Turkey.) He fought in the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
and earned promotion to lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
(Leutnant). During the War of the Bavarian Succession, he was a captain (Hauptmann) and was soon elevated to the rank of major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
. In 1783, he was appointed lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
(Oberst-Leutnant) of the Szluiner Grenz Infantry Regiment. He served with distinction during the Austro-Turkish War (1787-1791)
Austro-Turkish War (1787-1791)
The Austro-Turkish War of 1787 was an inconclusive struggle between the Austrian and Ottoman Empires. It took place concomitantly with the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792.-History:...
, becoming colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
(Oberst) on 28 February 1789.
French Revolutionary Wars
On 1 January 1794, Bajalics became a major generalMajor General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
(General-Major). During the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
he served as a brigade commander in Count Dagobert von Wurmser
Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser
Dagobert Sigismund, Count Wurmser was an Austrian field marshal during the French Revolutionary Wars. Although he fought in the Seven Years War, the War of the Bavarian Succession, and mounted several successful campaigns in the Rhineland in the initial years of the French Revolutionary Wars, he...
's army on the upper Rhine. He earned the Military Order of Maria Theresa
Military Order of Maria Theresa
The Military Order of Maria Theresa was an Order of the Austro-Hungarian Empire founded on June 18, 1757, the day of the Battle of Kolin, by the Empress...
for his exploits during the Handschuheim on 24 September 1795, in which a French division was cut to pieces.
After General Bonaparte's French army overran the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont in the spring of 1796, Bajalics was posted to northern Italy. He commanded a brigade in Wurmser's first relief of the Siege of Mantua
Siege of Mantua (1796-1797)
In the Siege of Mantua, which lasted from 4 July 1796 to 2 February 1797 with a short break, French forces under the overall command of Napoleon Bonaparte besieged and blockaded a large Austrian garrison for many months until it surrendered...
in early August. Wurmser assigned Bajalics to mask the fortress of Peschiera
Peschiera del Garda
Peschiera del Garda , is a town and comune in the province of Verona, in Veneto, Italy. When Lombardy-Venetia was under Austrian rule, Peschiera was the northwest anchor of the four fortified towns constituting the so-called Quadrilatero...
. After the Austrian defeat at the Battle of Castiglione
Battle of Castiglione
The Battle of Castiglione saw the French Army of Italy under General Napoleon Bonaparte attack an army of Habsburg Austria led by Feldmarschall Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser on 5 August 1796. The outnumbered Austrians were defeated and driven back along a line of hills to the river crossing at...
, Bajalics sent four battalions of his troops to cover the main army's withdrawal.
During the fourth relief of Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
in January 1797, Bajalics commanded a 6,200-man division that threatened French-held Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
. In this effort, in which Jozsef Alvinczi's main army advanced from the north and Giovanni di Provera
Giovanni Marchese di Provera
Giovanni Marchese di Provera, or Johann Provera, born c. 1736 – died 5 July 1804, served in the Austrian army in Italy during the French Revolutionary Wars. Provera played a significant role in three campaigns against General Napoleon Bonaparte during the Italian Campaign of 1796.-Military...
's division moved against Legnago
Legnago
Legnago is a town and comune in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy. It is located on the Adige river, c. 43 km from Verona.Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and tobacco.-History:...
, the Austrian plan miscarried. On 12 January, Bajalics mounted an attack on Verona to draw attention from Alvinczi and Provera. After eight hours of combat with André Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
's division, the Austrians fell back. On 14 January, Bonaparte crushed Jozsef Alvinczi's army at the Battle of Rivoli
Battle of Rivoli
The Battle of Rivoli was a key victory in the French campaign in Italy against Austria. Napoleon Bonaparte's 23,000 Frenchmen defeated an attack of 28,000 Austrians under Feldzeugmeister Jozsef Alvinczi, ending Austria's fourth and final attempt to relieve the Siege of Mantua...
, then he hurried back to Mantua to wipe out Provera's column. Only Bajalics' troops escaped intact from the catastrophe. He was promoted to lieutenant general
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
(Feldmarschal-Leutnant) on 1 March 1797.
When Bonaparte hustled the army of Archduke Charles
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...
out of Italy in the spring of 1797, Bajalics led part of the right wing in its retreat from Udine
Udine
Udine is a city and comune in northeastern Italy, in the middle of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic sea and the Alps , less than 40 km from the Slovenian border. Its population was 99,439 in 2009, and that of its urban area was 175,000.- History :Udine is the historical...
in present-day Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
toward Villach
Villach
Villach is the second largest city in the Carinthia state in the southern Austria, at the Drava River and represents an important traffic junction for Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 58,480.-History:...
in modern Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. In a confused series of actions from 21 to 23 March, the French succeeded in closing off the Austrian escape route at Tarvisio
Tarvisio
Tarvisio is a town in the Province of Udine, in the northeastern part of the autonomous Friuli–Venezia Giulia region in Italy...
. On the latter day, hemmed in by the divisions of Masséna and Jean Sérurier
Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier
Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier, 1st Comte Sérurier , was a French soldier and political figure who rose to the rank of Marshal of France.-Early life:...
, Bajalics surrendered with 3,500 men, 25 artillery pieces and 400 wagons. His forces also suffered 1,000 killed and wounded while inflicting 1,200 casualties on the French.
Bajalics retired from military service in 1797 and died in 1800 at Karlovci
Karlovci
Karlovci can refer to:* Sremski Karlovci, a town and municipality in Srem, Vojvodina, Serbia* Novi Karlovci, a village in Srem, Vojvodina, Serbia...
in modern-day Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
.
External References
See also
- Siege of Mantua (1796-1797)Siege of Mantua (1796-1797)In the Siege of Mantua, which lasted from 4 July 1796 to 2 February 1797 with a short break, French forces under the overall command of Napoleon Bonaparte besieged and blockaded a large Austrian garrison for many months until it surrendered...