Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen

Lore & Background

Charles began his career fighting the revolutionary armies of France. In the First Coalition, he won at Neerwinden in 1793 but was defeated at Wattignies and Fleurus. In 1796, as chief of all Austrian forces on the Rhine, he defeated Jean-Baptiste Jourdan at Amberg, Würzburg, and Limburg, and forced Jean Victor Marie Moreau to withdraw across the Rhine after victories at Wetzlar, Emmendingen, and Schliengen. He also won at Ostrach, Stockach, Zürich, and Mannheim in 1799.

In 1809, during the War of the Fifth Coalition, Charles inflicted Napoleon's first major setback at Aspern-Essling, before suffering defeat at the Battle of Wagram. After Wagram, he saw no more significant action in the Napoleonic Wars. He reformed Austria's armies to adopt the nation-at-arms principle and French organization and tactics. Charles wrote several military works and was praised by Arthur Wellesley as the greatest general of his time.

Reader's Guide

Archduke Charles is significant as the only Habsburg general to defeat Napoleon in a major battle, at Aspern-Essling in 1809. His campaign of 1796 is considered almost faultless, and he is credited with being one of the greatest generals of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. As a reformer, he modernized the Austrian Army by adopting the nation-at-arms principle and French tactics, though his reforms were incomplete by 1809. His contemporary Carl von Clausewitz criticized his rigidity and adherence to geographic strategy, yet Charles was capable of both cautious defense and daring offensive maneuvers. His legacy is that of a capable commander who handed Napoleon his first major defeat and who is remembered as a hero in Austria. He died in Vienna in 1847 and is buried in the Imperial Crypt.

Did You Know?

• Charles was epileptic but achieved respect as a commander and reformer.
• He was adopted and raised by his childless aunt Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria and her husband Albert of Saxe-Teschen.
• He refused a statue and the title 'saviour of his country' offered by the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg in 1802.
• In 1830, Charles was a candidate for the throne of Belgium.