The Sun.
London, England, 1810-01-03 00:00:00

HOP

BIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF ANDREAS }TOPPER,
THE BRAVE AND LOYAL COMMANDER .OF THE

TYROLESE.

Andreas Hoffer is a native of San?, the princi-
pal town ii)
.the valley of 'Passeyr, - and,. front the
place of his residence, has received the appelltion
orSandwirth, which is as much as to spy, the inn-
keeper of Sand: He is thirty-eight -years of age,,
tall and robust, and has front his youth worn a long
beard, according to the custom of that PUrt of the
country. ,

His religious deportment, his virtuous example,
the uncommon ;auteness and depth of hiS under-
standing; for a man who has, not enjoyed the advan-
.tages of 'a liberal,edocation, together with his mo-
desty and ietegrity, early procured him the e,teerri
of ad tue.inhabitants of. his valltv, andot 12,000 in
numbe, , among-whom . he was. alesointed to fill,an
office which nearly-answers to that of a magistrate,.
or country justice. In this situation he acquired, in
the highest degree, the love and respect of his coon-
trymen. Whenever the dauger of h ,stile incur-,
sions threatened his native Hoffer was alvvrys •
art he head of the 'brive inhabitatits of his valley, as
then- Comm inder';:and in all the nAtons that took
place, lie signalised' himself eqo lly by' his cout%tge,
and sagacity. • He is, besides, accounted one of the
hest riflemen in, the Tyrd ; and in ev,:ry engage-
nient, whether he be on tot or on horseback, he is
sure to carry with hiaphis favourite weapon.
Hoffer, as a man v's, hi) hreedand esteemed religion,
his country, its laws and tile rivileges obtained by
victory; perceived but tr;o clearly that his elreaoy
impoverished country could not possibly exist under
the yoke, of France and Bavaria,. and repaired three
times to Vienna, to the Emperor of Austria, and the
Princes Charles. and John, t 5 seek -assistance, and to
ascertain whether Anstria was not teain dis:,osed to
go to war with its tyrants-; in hop •s that, on this
occasion, the oppressed Tyrolese, who- were still.
warmly attached to' the Honse of Austria, might be
able to shake off the yOke. w, re theie hopes
entirely dis po"Mtetf: he returned, and waited with
anxiety for tt,e commencement of a new war. The
long-exp,6led day at length approached; and Hof-
fer, with two of his most intimate friends and com-
panions in arms, concerted a plan for attacking the
,French and Bat trian troops, who then occupied the
country. It as agreed, that the signal for a, gene-
ral attack on the enemy, amounting in number to
27,000, should he given, by saw-oust thrown into
the Inn, tire principal river, which runs through a
great part of the country of Tyrol. Ls 'all the places
along the where 'there were persons to wboris
the secret had been confided, the meaning of the
saw-,last was perfectly understood :, they instantly
hastened to ring the alarm-bells, in order to coiled
th:• inhabitants of the distrt6is and vallies situated at
a ts,qreater_ distance from the Inn, to form them into
corps, and --to attack and cut, in pieces the enemy,
wherever he appeared. Complete success crowned
the heroic enterprise.
In this affair, as Well as in several other viaories
and engagements, especially that near lonSpruck,
-when ;he enemy sustained a total defeat ; end also
41. e taking of Trent, of which the brave. Imperial
Colonel,-Count von LeiningGst, would not have been
able to make himself master, without the assistance
• of Hoffer and his companions in arms; the latter ac•
quired the confidence of his Countrymen in such a
degree, that he was not only acknowledged as Com-
mandant of Passeyr, as he was then called and sub-
scribed himself, but as the Commander-in-Chief of
the whole country.
Hoffer' keepS his head-quarters in. the 'centre
of Tyrol ; and, according to circumstances, occa-
sionally dismisses his comrades to their homes;
:confident that, when he has occasion for thetif, they
will return ar the slibhtest notice.' He always has-
tens with V•erit, wherever the danger is most press-.
ing, to oppose, and, assnsual, to conquer the enemy.
Inc short, not a single engagement in which Hoffer
has commanded, has yet terminated to the disad-
vantage, of the Tyrolese ; -and he seems destined by
Providence to check Lbe destrnCtive career of a blood-'
thirsty enemy
Had not Hoffer's achievements exhibited him to
the world as a chara6ter worthy Of admiration, still
the gold medal of honour, and the cross of the order
of Maria Theresa, conferred on him by his Majesty
the Emperor of Austria, at different periods, would
sufficiently attest h,s merits; as those honourable
distinalions aregiven only to such as have particularly
signalized themselves,
,or rendered eminent services
to the State. ..

SCHONECHF.R.

BIOGRAPEIY OF JOHN. GEORGE SCHONECHiR, Okii OF
THE DET'UTIES FROM THE TYROLESE TO THE HUI-

TZSH GOVERNMENT.

. John George Schonecher, thirty,eight
.years of
age, is a native of Innspruck, the capital of the Tv,-
•
rol, where he also resides and carries on a co -
derahle trade in the prodations of the country ,with
,Vlenna and Hungary, and is also a proprieto• ')1
great number of vessels on the rivers of_ theSe
COllllo.ies,
From his ekfrisive connexions in the vicinity of
Innspruck, and along the whole of the river Inn;
Schonecher possesses the confidence of the people in
general. He was engaged in all the atlions with the
enemy, and displayed the highest .degree of patii-
otic zeal and intrepidity ; • but he Orticulaily distin-
guished himself in • the campaign of the present
and was wounded- as commanding officer on
the Inn.-. In this capacity lie proceeded, by water,
with the troops under his orders, to within five
hours march of Munich, having formed a well-di-
gested plan fnr seizing the King of BAvaria and his
family, and carrying them off as prisoners to the
Tyrol. This prole& he would have infallibly exe-
cuted; hE.d not the columns, advancing by land and
water upon Munich, received orders to treturn as
speedily as poisible, on account of the armistice
concluded' between the two armies; as the Com-

trianders'of u:erelnformel tl4-it Tyrol
was included in it,s provisions, and were'vaiwlrtiog to
iockir the censare of ciisobedieribq to ihis..-Majesty•tlie
Emperor of Austria.. •

Schonecher has also commanded the levq-en-masse
in several il6..tion, and done considerable mischief to
the enemy,.

He has likewise.been appointed ,Deputy from the
Tyrol, to Erinsail various concerns. abroad : and,
atunig:other irnportact commissions, has beeruchug-
.ed by his. conntrytywn, in conjunction with Ma-
jor' Muller, to lay betoro the British Government the
distresses ci dicif countrymen.