page_title: Andreas O'Reilly von Ballinlough
section_title: French Revolutionary Wars
hierarchical_section_title: Andreas O'Reilly von Ballinlough / French Revolutionary Wars
caption_attribution_description: English: Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz
context_page_description: Andreas Graf O'Reilly von Ballinlough was an Irish-Austrian soldier and military commander of Irish origin. His military service extended through the Seven Years' War, War of the Bavarian Succession, Austro-Turkish War, French Revolutionary Wars, and Napoleonic Wars. He retired from the army in 1810 and died at age 89.
  Andrew O'Reilly was born in Ballinlough, County Roscommon, Ireland. His brother, Hugh, was created baronet of Ballinlough in 1795, and in 1812, on the death of their maternal uncle John Nugent, he assumed by Royal licence the surname of Nugent. Their sister Margaret married Richard Talbot and was, as a widow, created Baroness Talbot of Malahide in 1831.
  At the age of 14, Andrew O'Reilly joined the army of Habsburg Austria and fought against the Kingdom of Prussia. After rising in the army, he married into an aristocratic family in his 40s. He led a cavalry regiment in combat against the Ottoman Turks. In the war with the First French Republic he was promoted to general officer. He played a leading role in the Battle of Marengo in 1800, where he led one of the Austrian attack columns.
context_section_description: O'Reilly was promoted to General-Major during the War of the First Coalition in 1794. He achieved distinction at the Battle of Amberg on 24 August 1796. At the First Battle of Zürich on 4 June 1799, he led a brigade in Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze's Left Wing. His command consisted of one battalion of the Peterwardeiner Grenz Infantry Regiment # 9, three battalions of the Kaunitz Infantry Regiment # 20, two squadrons of the Coburg Dragoon Regiment # 6, and two squadrons of Grenz Hussars. He transferred to the army of Michael von Melas in Italy and received promotion to Feldmarschallleutnant on 6 March 1800.
  Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Italy across the Great St Bernard Pass in May 1800 and seized Milan on 2 June. Reacting to the surprise French offensive, Melas ordered O'Reilly to take 3,000 troops and an artillery convoy to defend Piacenza. The Austrian army commander hoped to use Piacenza as a base to launch a counterattack against Milan. In the event, Piacenza fell to the French before O'Reilly reached it. On 6 June, after an 11-hour skirmish, he successfully managed to save the artillery convoy and withdraw to the west, while fending off a French column that tried to cut him off.
  At the Battle of Montebello on 9 June, Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz ordered O'Reilly to hold the village of Casteggio with six battalions and four squadrons. When Jean Lannes advanced that morning, Ott was under instructions to avoid a battle. Yet, when he saw O'Reilly's men come under attack, Ott ignored army Chief of staff Anton von Zach's advice and committed his corps to battle. O'Reilly defended Casteggio stubbornly as the French persisted in their attacks for hours. Reinforced by Claude Perrin Victor, the French finally gained the upper hand and Ott called on O'Reilly to cover the retreat.
  On 14 June at the Battle of Marengo Melas gave O'Reilly command of the 3,000-strong Right Column. The units under his leadership included single battalions of the Banater #4, Warasdiner-Kreutzer #5, Oguliner # 3, and Ottocaner # 2 Grenz Infantry Regiments, plus one company of Mariassy Jägers. He also led detachments from three cavalry regiments, three squadrons of Nauendorf Hussars # 8, two squadrons of Hussars # 5, and one squadron of Württemberg Dragoons # 8. On the afternoon of the 13th, O'Reilly held Marengo village, which Melas intended to hold in preparation for his planned offensive the next day. In contrast to his stout defense of Casteggio, O'Reilly's performance was weak and Victor captured Marengo after only an hour of fighting. The loss of the village meant that the Austrian army had to fight over the same ground the next day.
  On the morning of the 14th, the Advance Guard under Johann Maria Philipp Frimont and O'Reilly's Right Column soon found Gaspard Amédée Gardanne's French division blocking their path. Gardanne's men, deployed on a narrow front, blunted the Austrian advance for 90 minutes and forced Melas to commit large forces to the attack. While the rest of the army hammered at the main French battle line near Marengo, O'Reilly became preoccupied with Achille Dampierre's 300 to 400 Frenchmen who occupied Stortigliona Farm on the south flank. When the outnumbered defenders withdrew to the south, O'Reilly, displaying "no initiative whatsoever" followed Dampierre. Ignoring the now-exposed French left flank, the Austrian Right Column hunted down Dampierre's force at Cassina Bianca. Dampierre finally surrendered to the Oguliner Grenz at 7:00 pm that evening after losing two-thirds of his men as casualties. But, the small French detachment tied up a significant part of O'Reilly's column during the day Nevertheless, he earned the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa on 18 August 1801.
  Meanwhile, Melas finally cracked the French line near Marengo and organized a pursuit column. At about 3:00 pm, Konrad Valentin von Kaim's center column lurched into motion, with Ott's Left Column to the north and elements of O'Reilly and Frimont's forces to the south. Late-arriving French reinforcements routed Kaim's center column around 5:00 
caption: Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz, who ordered O'Reilly to defend Casteggio.
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