The Statesman.
London, England, 1809-11-14 00:00:00

; ~

. •

a

SULISTINc;I3 OF TIIE. STATEMENTUF
l'IlE TYRO!. DEPtiIIES.
Ills, county of Tyrol a d the seven principali-
ties of the Voralberg have, for a series of code.
ties, consti.sited all here.litary portion of the Im..
perial House of Austria. The people inhabiting
• these countries distinguished themselves in every
war by such undtunted valour, that the Emper-
ors successively conferred upon them very canal-
d..rable privileges. During the seventeenth and
the I.ist,centuries, when the Swedes, French, and
li:sariatis made such rapid advances in the G,T.
rule V.:npire, these provinces always repulsed the
enemy with considerable loss. In the year 1703.
particularly, when the Bavarian army had 'pene-
trated into the Tyrol, it was so ill received, that
sear, ely a few remained •to attend their Elector
batk. The attachment of the Tyrolean, and Vo.
ralbergers to their Emperors was always firm ; for
they governed them with signal and paternal mild-
ness, faithfully preserving th,:ir privileges. Thus,
though tint blessed either with a ()Akio's% climate,
or a fertile soil, eaese pastoral nations, trot aware
of their poverty, led a very contented and happy
life in their cottages, until the war of the French
Ituvoluiiou broke ant. Tie 'allies were inhabit-
ed by thousands of persons, who, before that
fdiot!, had never seen a soldier ; but thence.
orward I,t hole .aiaaies trauma their orsesitryi
some proceeding to she Interior of Germany, and
others going to Italy. The poor inhabitants
furtaished the:a gratuitously with 'provisions
and all sorts of necessaries, and thereby pot them-
selves to g4at inconvenience. -Still, they not only
refrained from murmurs, but eviseed their loyalty
by the erection of a corps or Tyrol and Voral-
berg chaisetirs, culled it the Tyrol Ficidyagers,"
—all of them volunteers and natives ; who, in
aciddion in their •ay, were allowed by their coun-
try trine creutze'rs earl man daily. It is to be
'observed, text the male population in those moon.
taiva is, from.its eighth year, trained to the use of
the gun, by IN dine, as well is firing at taigets.
Sue' *iiperior mark7inen, as tnii ancient piactice
makes of ben, inust; it may easily be supposed,
proves gr•aat ad lithe' sty army. In fact, they
have ref uireommouly signalized themselves in all
the Austrian stars. Yet they could tort stem the
current of disistor which ove.twheltned the arms
of their 4riverienimt, and in 1791 the enemy ap-
proached their frontiers.
The Emperor now surnmow...d his brave and be.
loved Tyrol or Vat-sib-erg inibj..-cis, reunincliag
then of their ancient fame for sharpshooting.—
. But this had stiticiitated the summons by drgs.
&Bing, of their am(' accord, a !cry en wart.
They itasteuvd to the defence of the frontiers,
end thus preserved their countries free from inva-
sion.
In 1798, the enemy again attempted to make
• inroads hien Daly, Switzerland, the Grisons, and
Swabia. He only succeeded on the side of the
Grisons, where the passes were but weakly guard-
the "sin force had been dispatched towards
Swabia and Italy, where the enemy, likewise,
Ives strongest. Still the 'wafters kept only roar
..mss postbesinn Atthillititschgas, when they
were vigorously driven back upon the Gairosis
and the Engadine, though, in their retreat, they
pillaged anti burnt the toe es of Mak anrlGiarens.
War having again broke out in 1799, their lion.
tiers were also menaced. The inhabitants ionise.
diataly repaired thither to guard them and he
1800, when Marshal Masses* had crossed the
Rhine near Fadkirk, i4s the VoraUaerg, with a
very superiorantl victorious force, he was there, as
well as near the .ai:runst impregnable mountain.
fortress of At. Lneiensteig, so completely defeated,
alto lose several thousand in killed and prisoners,
besides a great quantity of field pieces and ammu-
nition. They also dispossessed him of the Gri.
mons, and pursued him, 141 company with (nicer
troops, as far as Zurich.
After a fe.v years quiet, the flames of war re-'
hinuled more furiously than ever iii 1801. The
inhabitants of the Tyrol
,end 'VoraLserg were at
once attacked on every side, so as to be rendered
dubious whither to carry relief first. Noteith-
standing flue enemy was valorously checked at
livery point, and satfertel, especially on the
banks of the Schartrits, a dreadful discatniture.
Unfortunatey their individual bravery could not
retrieve the general cause. By the terms of the
armistice entered into after the disastrous bat-
tie of Ilohenlinden, the Tyrol and Voralberg,
'countries that had constantly bid defiance
,to
she victorious troops of France, were surren.
dercd as pledges I It was then that the real
. hardships of these poor, mountaineers began.-•
,Their harrea countries, even before drained of
their little pittance, were now obliged to maintain
a body of French troopt, in addition to a corps
of Austrians. The savage foreigners were desti.
tote of every thing, and all their wants were to
be supplied. This dreadful calaMity lasted three
months, a calamity which the ever essuhthles! Ty-,
reticle and Voralbergers imagined to have little
deserved by their firm attachmeat to the Em. I
peep s.
Benaparta's insatiable ambition haying stirred
up war once more in 1805, he• ordered the Ty-
rolese and Vorsibergers to be attacked in every
poiut. MarshaliNey, on the banks of the Scher.
ni4, repeated his attack thrice. He WO driven
back with immense slaughter. The same fate
shared the Bavarian Generals Deroy and Sibbein,
who made a vigorous assault upon Kufstein sad the
pass of Struts.
These efforts, however, were unable to counter-
poise the dit•estrous sidiender of Ulm by General
. black, and the calamitous issue of the eegagement
of Austerlits ; in consequence of whisk, Bona..
parte, in the peace of Praiser& made the cession
of the Tyrol and Vorsiberg an express condition.
It is nut in the power of language to describe
the feelings of the honest 'fyroteans and Vora!_
Bergen at thb receipt of this melancholy in
gene,.. Ever since 1791, whim the Revolutionary
war began, their brilliant victories had not been
sullied by any defeat. They were an heroic peo-
ple in the literal sense of the word. let the re-I
ward of their loyalty was 'fate which usually falls
to the lot of the dastardly. To render their cala-
laity more poignant, visas indigent 4191Alirth
•