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Austrian Order-of-Battle at Rivoli: 14-15 January 1797In early 1797, Feldzugmeister Josef, Freiherr Alvinczy von Borberek launched an offensive in northern Italy to relieve the besieged Austrian fortress of Mantua. It was his fourth attempt to link up with the isolated 30,000-man garrison commanded by Feldmarschall Dagobert-Sigismond, Graf Wurmser. Although Alvinczy’s main army (28,000 men) was split into six columns, one column – under Generalmajor Josef-Philipp, Freiherr Vukassovich – was on the far side of the Adige River and could only provide artillery support. The remaining five columns attacked part of General Napoleon Bonaparte’s Army of Italy on 14 January 1797 near the town of Rivoli. The outnumbered French troops of General Barthelemy-Catharine Joubert’s division held on until reinforcements under Massena and Rey arrived (bringing Bonaparte’s total to 23,000 men). Subsequent Austrian assaults failed, forcing Alvinczy to retreat in disorder. The Battle of Rivoli – and the French pursuit the next day – cost Alvinczy 2,000 casualties and 12,000 prisoners. Although reinforced by troops under Feldmarschalleutnant Giovanni, Marchese Provera, Wurmser was forced to surrender Mantua on 2 February 1797. There is some dispute over Alvinczy’s exact order-of-battle at Rivoli. Most sources agree that five columns were commanded by Generalmajors Lipthay, Ocskay von Ocska, Vukassovich, Koblos and Reuss zu Plauen (with a sixth under Oberst Lusignan); some sources, however, say troops commanded by Feldmarschalleutnant Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich also participated in the battle. The post-Rivoli careers of the major Austrian officers were varied. Feldzugmeister Alvinczy [1808 Feldmarschall] was later appointed military governor of Hungary; his chief-of-staff – Major [1805 Generalmajor] Franz von Weyrother (1754-1806) – became infamous for planning the disastrous Allied attack at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805. Generalmajor Josef, Freiherr Ocskay von Ocska (1745-1805) was forced to retire during the 1797 Campaign, while Generalmajor [1798 Feldmarschalleutnant] Anton, Freiherr Lipthay (1745-1800) was mortally-wounded on 25 March 1799 at Verona. Three other column commanders served during the Napoleonic Wars: Generalmajor [1800 Feldmarschalleutnant] Josef-Philipp, Freiherr Vukassovich (1755-1809) was mortally-wounded at the Battle of Wagram in 1809; Oberst [1801 Feldmarschalleutnant, 1809 Feldzugmeister] Franz-Josef, Marquis Lusignan (1753-1832) was badly-wounded on 19 April 1809 and subsequently retired; Generalmajor Heinrich XV, Prinz Reuss zu Plauen was awarded the Military Order of Maria-Theresia and later promoted to the rank of Feldzugmeister. There is a minor mystery surrounding the sixth column commander, Generalmajor Koblos. On his Internet website, Martin Boycott-Brown, author of The Road to Rivoli: Napoleon’s First Campaign [2001], writes :
Further, Koblos’ name is not found on the awards list of the Military Order of Maria-Theresa nor was he appointed to fill the position of a regimental colonel-in-chief in the infantry. 1 October 2005: Enrico Ascerbi in Italy has provided some biographical information about this officer. Generalmajor Samuel Koblos was a Hungarian grenadier officer who was colonel of the Warasdiner-Kreutzer Grenz Regiment in 1785. He was subsequently an aide-de-camp to Alvinczy. Koblos lived in Sopron. Austrian Army Commander: Alvinczy von Borberek, Feldzugmeister Josef, Freiherr Chief-of-Staff: Weyrother, Major Franz von Column 1 Lusignan, Oberst Franz-Josef, Marquis
Column 2 Lipthay, Generalmajor Anton, Freiherr
Column 3 Koblos, Generalmajor
Column 4 Ocskay von Ocska, Generalmajor Josef, Freiherr
Column 5 Reuss zu Plauen, Generalmajor Heinrich XV, Prinz
Column 6 Vukassovich, Generalmajor Josef-Philipp, Freiherr
Army Artillery
Notes: [1] This battalion was composed of companies from:
[2] This battalion was composed of companies from: [3] This battalion was composed of companies from:
[4] These battalions were composed of companies from:
[5] This battalion was composed of companies from:
[6] This battalion was composed of companies from
[7] This battalion was composed of companies from:
Sources: http://napoleonuniforme.free.fr/ http://www.napoleonicminiatureswargame.com/rivoliob.html http://www.historydata.com/index.html http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/ Placed on the Napoleon Series: March 2005; updated October 2005.
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