Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria inflicted Napoleon's first defeat in a major battle. Born in Florence in 1771, the third son of the future Emperor Leopold II, he was epileptic and physically frail, and was raised by his aunt in Brussels because his mother had too many children to attend to him. He first commanded in the Netherlands in 1793-94 and made his name in Germany in 1796, defeating Jourdan at Amberg and Würzburg and manoeuvring the two French armies out of southern Germany in a campaign studied for a century. He became president of the war council and set about reforming an army that was still organised on eighteenth-century lines: he abolished lifelong conscription in favour of fixed terms, reduced corporal punishment, organised the army into corps on the French model, standardised drill, and established a general staff and a militia reserve. He was repeatedly blocked by the court and by his brother the emperor, and resigned more than once. In 1809 Austria went to war against his advice. He fought Napoleon at Aspern-Essling on 21-22 May, holding the villages on the Danube while the river's flooding broke the French pontoon bridges and cut off reinforcement. The French withdrew across the river with Marshal Lannes mortally wounded — the first defeat Napoleon had suffered in person in a major engagement. He was beaten at Wagram six weeks later after two days of fighting, signed an armistice without authority, and was removed from command. He wrote extensively on strategy and never held a field command again. He died in 1847.
- Lived: 1771 CE – 1847 CE
- Nationality: Austrian
- Roles: general, field_marshal
