Karl von Urban

Karl (Carl) Freiherr von Urban (English: Karl Baron of Urban; Hungarian: Báró Urban Károly; French: Baron Carl d'Urban; born 31 August 1802 in Kraków – died 1 January 1877 in Brünn) was an Austrian Field Marshal-Lieutenant celebrated for his daring tactics of lightning surprise attacks, often against much stronger forces, which earned him the epithet of Austrian Garibaldi.

He is particularly distinguished for his decisive actions during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-1849, and his participation in the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859. Von Urban was the first commander to make a stand against the Revolution in Hungary, organizing the resistance and defending minorities. He captured Klausenburg, the capital of Transylvania, twice.

Early years and baptism of fire Karl von Urban was born in Krakow, at the time part of the Austrian Empire, to a Sudeten German family of officers who served the Imperial Army. He received his education at the prestigious Cadet Academy of Olmütz (Olomouc) and enrolled in the Imperial and Royal Army on 1 November 1815, being assigned to the 29th Infantry Regiment. At the time a young cadet corporal, Urban was selected to integrate the Austrian expeditionary force sent in the name of the Holy Alliance and underwent his baptism of fire at the Battle of Novara on 8 April 1821. From 1828 to 1835 Karl von Urban was the Adjutant to the Military Commander in Moravia and Silesia, Field Marshal-Lieutenant Baron von Eckhardt. Despite being a modest Lieutenant-Colonel at the time, his leadership galvanized the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army and the population of Transylvania on the side of the Emperor and led to the defeat of the Revolutionary movement in the region.

Once the hostilities commenced, Von Urban proved to be an audacious and enterprising field commander, taking active part in intense confrontations and winning several victories on the battlefield. By opening a second front on the rearguard of the Revolutionary Forces, Urban contributed to the defeat of the Revolution.

The July Law also incorporated several units of the Austrian Imperial and Royal army into the Honvédség and ordered them to implement both the conscription and the punishments on the population. Every military personnel was also obliged to make an oath of allegiance to the April Laws. and became the first officer of the Imperial and Royal Army to refuse the pledge of allegiance to the April Laws, and thus to the Revolution.

The Memorandum of 14 September Soon after, Karl von Urban denounced the Revolution in a Memorandum widely distributed.

In the beginning of October 1848 the War Minister Count von Latour appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Urban the Strategic Commander for northern Transylvania in the event of conflict, with the instruction to "trust himself and his judgment".

Revolutionary War The war against the Hungarian Revolutionary Government was officially declared after the assassination in Pest of Count von Lamberg, appointed by Vienna as military commander and palatine for Hungary, by a mob of revolutionaries on 28 October 1848. However, skirmishes between the revolutionary National Guard and the Austrian troops under Von Urban had already started since 22 October. Perceiving the situation as hopeless, the authorities of the city then sent a delegation and signed a formal agreement with Urban, surrendering the city at four o'clock on the morning of 17 November.

The Second Battle of Dés

Meanwhile, the revolutionaries under the command of Katona Miklós had recaptured Dés (Dej/Desch). In a war council in Klausenburg, Lieutenant-Colonel Urban offered to retake the city. During the engagement that lasted several hours, Urban's cavalry charged into the ranks of the insurgents, dismantling their formations.

New orders from Vienna Urban, promoted to the rank of Colonel on 1 December, was by now renowned across the Empire for his remarkable military feats.

Battle of Ciucea (Csucsa) Pass This situation led to the Battle of the Ciucea Pass, where Urban's contingent, consisting of 1,200 men, faced the daunting task of forcing their way through a significantly larger Hungarian column led by the Colonel Károly Riczkó, which boasted 4,000 soldiers. Despite a monumental and valiant effort, Urban's forces were unable to break through the formidable enemy lines in the narrow pass. Klausenburg fell by Christmas day.

During the retreat to Bukovina, Von Urban fought an exhilarating series of consecutive defensive battles: at Bethlen (Beclean) on 29 December, at Szeretfalva (Sărățel) on 1 January 1849, at Bistritz (Bistrița) on 2 January, at the Borgo Pass (Pasul Tihuța) on 4 January, and finally at Vátra-Dorna (Vatra Dornei) on 5 January.

Urban consistently defended himself against significant superiority in numbers and fire power. Avoiding encirclement and capture, he finally reached Bukovina successfully and received, as his new mission under the command of Field Marshal-Lieutenant Ignaz Malkowsky, the defense of this province from enemy invasion. The revolutionary outpost in Marossény (Marosborgó / Mureșenii Bârgăului), deep inside enemy's territory in Transylvania, was chosen as target for the dangerous mission.

Approaching Marossény, the Austrians managed to take successive sentries by surprise and disarm them. Colonel Urban, leading at the front, directed the attack in complete silence, encircling the Revolutionary forces under the command of Captain Kofler. Within 15 minutes of entering the village, the mission was accomplished; the surprise attack succeeded without noise or a single shot being fired. Besides, he would also be distinguished in March 1849 with the Knight's Cross of the Austrian Imperial Order of Leopold with War Decoration for his outstanding feats of arms of the previous year.

In this role, Karl von Urban conquered Târgu Mureș (Maros-vásárhely) on 2 August and, on 15 August, he achieved the capture of Klausenburg for the second and final time.

Second battle of Ciucea Pass and the last days of the war Urban then led his forces in an endeavor to traverse the Ciucea Pass (Csúcsa Pass) on 17 August. A the Second Battle of Ciucea Pass, Urban successfully defeated the Revolutionary Army after beating five successive defensive lines and crossed into the Great Hungarian Plain.

On the same time General Bem's Corps surrendered at Déva and the war was over. He was promoted to Major-General in June 1850. For these actions of valour and in recognition of his efforts to preserve their city and their rights, he was granted the Honorary Citizenship by the citizens of Klausenburg, which at the time was majoritarily ethnic Hungarian.

Von Urban was promoted to the rank of Feldmarschall-leutnant (Field Marshal-Lieutenant) in September 1857,

Urban's initial mission was to guarantee the order in Veneto behind the frontlines. His division was ready to be deployed anywhere in the province within 24 hours.

Battle of Montebello

At the reconnaissance Battle of Montebello on May 20, the first in the conflict, Urban faced the French and Sardinian Armies. Despite being outnumbered in men and firepower, he managed to resist the enemy's assaults for nine hours, only retreating with the arrival of the Sardinian Cavalry.

For his bravery and great ability displayed during this battle, Karl von Urban was distinguished with the highest honor: the expression of the utmost satisfaction by the Emperor Franz Joseph, conveyed to him on 2 June.

Facing Garibaldi: the Battles of Varese, San Salvatore, San Fermo and Treponti After Montebello, Urban was sent with his Flying Corps by Count Ferenc Gyulay, the Imperial Regent of Lombardy, to the city of Varese, which had been occupied by Giuseppe Garibaldi's Hunters of the Alps (Cacciatori delle Alpi) on 23 May. After three days of preparations, Garibaldi's force was by this time well entrenched in two robust defensive lines. At the ensuing Battle of Varese, the Austrian's initial attack was repulsed and Urban realized that he was facing a well defended and numerically superior enemy. After two hours and a half of combat, the Austrians initiated a retreat.

Battle of San Salvatore The Hunter of the Alps, motivated by the initial victory at Varese, started a relentless pursuit of the retreating Austrian contingent. To confront the impending assault, Von Urban deployed his units in a formidable barrier across a deep gorge sided by hills on the right and left flanks, at the elevated San Salvatore hights between Malnate and Binago. After successfully rebuffing a first infantry charge, the Austrians launched an impetuous counter attack, pushing the Italians back. Garibaldi sent a second change from the left, which albeit repelling the Austrians to some extent in that front, didn't achieve a breakthrough. After two hours of engagement the fire ceased, Garibaldi ordered a withdraw to Varese and Urban retook his orderly retreat to Como.

On 27 May, however, Garibaldi attacked with the bulk of his forces through San Fermo, overrunning the Hungarian defenses. The Field Marshal ordered counter-attacks to regain the position, but the troops were unable to dislodge the enemy positioned on higher ground.

Von Urban then decided to leave Como and retreat to Monza, in order to assemble the entirety of his regiments. Great part of his forces were absent, thus unable to take part in the Battles of Varese and San Fermo. The regroupment of the Division would provide him numerical superiority.

Second advance on Varese and the order to disengage Garibaldi After reuniting his three regiments Rupprecht, Augustin and Schaffgotsche at Milan, Urban marched again on Varese on 31 May with a force of 11.000 men, captured the city and encircled Garibaldi. However Garibaldi refused to give combat, preferring to escape to the security of mount Campo dei Fiori, from where he overlooked Urban and his troops amassed in Varese without interfering. which was falling back to the defensive position of the River Mincio and the fortresses of the Quadrilatero. Urban eluded the threat to his flank by conducting a forced march and successfully reached the Mincio through arduous and bloody rear-guard actions.

Battle of Treponti (Castenedolo) Battle of Treponti - lithograph by Edoardo MataniaThe Battle of Treponti (also known as Battle of Castenedolo), on 15 June, was the fourth and final encounter between Karl von Urban and Giuseppe Garibaldi during the conflict. The Hunters of the Alps had been further reinforced by the Sardinian brigade Voghera.

Field Marshal Von Urban orchestrated a sequence of events designed to entice Garibaldi into a trap, with an attack on the Italian positions at Treponti (today in the commune of Rezzato), executed by elements of the Rupprecht Brigade.

After having successfully breached the initial Austrian lines of defense, crossing two bridges over the Lupo canal, the Italian forces soon found themselves entrapped, surrounded from three directions, and subjected to relentless and withering enemy fire after crossing the third bridge. Despite Garibaldi's energetic efforts to quell the rout and reorganize the remnants of his forces for a renewed offensive, his second attack met again with failure and he executed a retreat to Brescia.

Supreme commander of Verona After the triumph of Treponti, Von Urban was appointed supreme commander over Verona, the Imperial Headquarters and main fortress of the Quadrilateral, the Austrian strategic defensive system in Italy. He kept this command until 13 July, after the war had ended.

Peace and final years Following the Battle of Solferino and the Peace of Villafranca, Field Marshal Karl von Urban was assigned commander of the 4th Army Corps in Brünn, Bohemia. He was then commissioned to the Military General-Command for Moravia and Silesia in February 1862, a post he held until his retirement on 1 May 1865.

On 1 January 1877, in the late morning hours, Karl von Urban requisitioned a carriage and directed the coachman to transport him to the garrison hospital. As the carriage was passing under the Obrowitz Bridge during the journey, a gunshot was discerned by the coachman, who, however, did not accord it significant attention. Upon arrival at the hospital and subsequent opening of the carriage, it was discovered that the 74-year-old field marshal had died. Speculations circulated that intense physical distress might have compelled Karl von Urban to end his own life.

Honours Emperor Franz Joseph on the garden steps at Schönbrunn Palace with knights of the Order of Maria Theresa on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Order. 1857

Austrian Empire Knight of the Military Order of Maria Theresa Knight of the Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen Knight of the Austrian Imperial Order of Leopold with war decoration Officer's Service Badge 1st Class War Medal 1873 Kingdom of Bavaria Royal Merit Order of St. Michael Russian Empire Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stanislaus 1st Class Knight of the Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir with Swords Knight of the Order of St. Anne with Crown and Swords Knight of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky

Other

Honorary Citizenship of Klausenburg (Cluj-Napuca) The expression of the utmost satisfaction by the Emperor Franz Joseph