Alois von Gavasini Alois Graf von Gavasini ( 1762 – 28 November 1834 ) led a combat brigade in the armies of Habsburg Austria and the Austrian Empire during a remarkable number of battles in the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars . A native of Bonn , he offered his services to Austria and won an award for bravery in 1790 . While a field officer in the Italian campaign , he led the rear guard at Primolano in September 1796 . Badly outnumbered by the French , he and his soldiers put up a vigorous fight until he was wounded and captured . At Arcole in November 1796 , he commanded a brigade on the field of battle against Napoleon Bonaparte ' s French army . Promoted to general officer in the spring of 1800 , he led a powerful brigade at Hohenlinden during that year ' s fall campaign in Bavaria . Though the battle ended in a decisive defeat , Gavasini ' s troops fought well before being forced to retreat . The 1805 campaign in Italy found him directing a reserve brigade at Caldiero . After briefly retiring , the warrior returned to lead a brigade at the battles of Sacile , Piave River , and Graz during the 1809 war . That year he retired from the army and did not return . French Revolutionary Wars . Primolano . Born in 1762 at Bonn in the Electorate of Cologne , Gavasini joined the army of Habsburg Austria . He won the Knight ' s Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa on 19 December 1790 . It is not specified whether the award was given for fighting against the Ottoman Turks or the Brabant Revolution . By September 1793 , he had risen to the rank of Major . His next promotion was to " Oberstleutnant " ( lieutenant colonel ) on 1 April 1796 . In September 1796 , Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser ' s army descended the Brenta Valley as it marched from Trentino in the Italian Tyrol to Bassano del Grappa in the Po Valley . Peter Quasdanovich , who led a division , dropped off Gavasini with a rear guard at Primolano near Cismon del Grappa to hold off Pierre Augereau ' s French pursuit . Gavasini ' s command included one 1 , 108 - man battalion of the " Michael Wallis " Infantry Regiment Nr . 11 , 561 soldiers in four companies of the " Erbach " Infantry Regiment Nr . 42 , one 100 - strong company of the " Mahony " Jägers , a half - company of pioneers , and 90 troopers of the " Erdödy " Hussar Regiment Nr . 9 . Another column of troops under " Oberst " Georg von Stentsch arrived , bringing the total number of troops available to about 2 , 800 . Gavasini drew up his troops behind an entrenchment in a narrow valley with a loop of the Brenta partly protecting his front . On 7 September , Augereau ' s division appeared and began attacking the Austrian defenses . After clambering over the ridges and wading the river , the French skirmishers soon put the Austrian position in peril . The 5th Light and the 4th Line Infantry Demi - Brigades soon forced Gavasini to pull back to the Covelo fort , which perched atop an outcrop high . The 5th Light circled the Austrian left flank , while a strong party of the 4th Line climbed to a site on the Austrian right rear where it poured fire into the fort . After holding out for an hour , the wounded Gavasini led his men out of the trap only to fall captive to Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud ' s 5th Dragoon Regiment . Against " light " French casualties , the Austrians lost 1 , 500 men and five guns captured in the combat , including the greater part of the " Wallis " and " Erbach " battalions . Austrian total strength in the area was 4 , 000 , including the 9th Battalion of the " Karlstadt " Grenz Infantry Regiment , the 4th Battalion of the " Warasdiner " Grenz Infantry Regiment , and the grenadiers of the " Pellegrini " Infantry Regiment Nr . 49 . Augereau ' s 8 , 200 - man division consisted of twelve battalions in two brigades under Jean - Baptiste Dominique Rusca and Claude Perrin Victor . The Battle of Bassano occurred the following day . Arcole . After being freed in a prisoner exchange , Gavasini rejoined the army for the third relief of the Siege of Mantua . His name does not appear in the Austrian order of battle , which lists six divisions of about 4 , 000 men each . On the morning of 15 November 1796 , the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte initiated the Battle of Arcole by crossing the Adige River behind Jozsef Alvinczi ' s left flank . From there , Augereau ' s division drove north toward Arcole village while André Masséna ' s division moved northwest in the direction of Belfiore . In response to orders from Alvinczi , Gavasini moved his brigade to Belfiore at 11 : 00 AM . Leading the " Splényi " Infantry Regiment Nr . 51 along a causeway through the marshes , Gavasini ran into Masséna ' s advance at Bionde , midway between Belfiore and the French crossing site at Ronco all ' Adige . At first the " Splényi " Regiment drove back the French , capturing two cannons . However , a second Austrian column under Adolf Brabeck mistakenly fired into Gavasini ' s men from an adjacent causeway , throwing them into panic . Masséna followed the retreating Austrians and temporarily captured Belfiore . On the second day of battle , Alvinczi ordered six battalions under Giovanni Marchese di Provera to advance from Belfiore while Anton Ferdinand Mittrowsky ' s 14 battalions attacked south from Arcole . At 5 : 00 AM , Provera ' s attack was underway , but it was quickly blunted by Masséna . The French skirmishers riddled the Austrian infantry formations and soon only the Habsburg cannoneers were holding back the enemy almost singlehandedly . Then Brabeck was killed and the entire force fled back to Belfiore , which the French captured again , along with five guns . Mittrowsky ' s attack also miscarried , but he managed to hang onto Arcole until nightfall after savage fighting . On the third day , Provera ' s attack on Masséna failed again and this time the Austrian position unraveled . The French general diverted the bulk of his division to help Augereau and the two finally seized Arcole about 5 : 00 PM on 17 November , thereby winning the battle . Hohenlinden . Gavasini was promoted to " Oberst " ( colonel ) on 4 December 1796 and to " General - major " on 6 March 1800 . On 3 December 1800 he led a brigade in Michael von Kienmayer ' s corps - sized Right Column at the Battle of Hohenlinden . His brigade was part of Karl Philipp , Prince of Schwarzenberg ' s division and comprised one battalion of the " Ligne " Infantry Regiment Nr . 30 ; two battalions each of the " Clerfayt " Infantry Regiment Nr . 9 , " Beaulieu " Infantry Regiment Nr . 58 , and " Murray " Infantry Regiment Nr . 55 ; and three battalions of the " Gemmingen " Infantry Regiment Nr . 21 . The battle ended in an Austrian disaster , but alone among his fellow division and column commanders , Schwarzenberg handled his division with skill . While some Austrian leaders proved irresolute , Schwarzenberg thrust boldly at Paul Grenier ' s left wing divisions of Louis Bastoul and Michel Ney . Gavasini ' s " Gemmingen " Regiment quickly seized the village of Forstern and had to be driven out . Schwarzenberg ' s fight centered on a series of hamlets north of Hohenlinden . The " Murray " Regiment carried Kronacker in an impetuous assault , lost it to Ney ' s counterattack , and captured it again . Later in the day , the French retook Kronacker before losing it again to a charge by the " Murray " Regiment . By this time , Kienmayer found out that the French had smashed Johann Kollowrat ' s Left Center Column and he issued orders to retreat . In spite of the difficult tactical situation , Schwarzenberg was able to withdraw his division in good order . Napoleonic Wars . From 1801 to 1805 , Gavasini commanded in Carniola , which roughly corresponds to modern - day Slovenia . His headquarters was located in Ljubljana ( Laibach ) . In the War of the Third Coalition , Gavasini led a seven battalion brigade in Archduke Charles , Duke of Teschen ' s Army of Italy . At the time of the Battle of Verona , his unit was assigned to the Left Wing under Paul Davidovich . After a reorganization , he fought in Eugène - Guillaume Argenteau ' s Reserve at the Battle of Caldiero on 29 – 31 October 1805 . His brigade included four battalions of the " Archduke Rudolf " Infantry Regiment Nr . 16 , three battalions of the " Lattermann " Infantry Regiment Nr . 45 , and eight squadrons of the " Stipczic " Hussar Regiment Nr . 10 . Gavasini resigned from the army in 1806 , but was called back to service before the outbreak of the War of the Fifth Coalition . At the beginning of the conflict he commanded a brigade of Landwehr that comprised two battalions from Trieste , two battalions from Gorizia ( Görz ) , and four battalions from Postojna ( Adelsberg ) . After the eruption of the Tyrolean Rebellion , the Austrian high command dispatched Johann Gabriel Chasteler de Courcelles and a division to the aid of the rebels . In the consequent reorganization of Archduke John of Austria ' s Army of Inner Austria , Gavasini emerged as brigade commander in the IX Armeekorps of Ignaz Gyulai . His brigade was made up of three battalions of the " Reisky " Infantry Regiment N . 13 and one and one - half battalions of the " Otocaner " Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr . 2 . He led this unit at the Battle of Sacile on 16 April 1809 . The VIII Armeekorps of Albert Gyulai absorbed the main attack of Eugène de Beauharnais ' army while the IX Armeekorps waited in reserve . In the afternoon , Archduke John unleashed Ignaz Gyulai ' s troops and they pressed back the outmatched Franco - Italian left flank to win the contest . At the Battle of Piave River on 8 May 1809 , he commanded two battalions of the " Otocaner " Regiment in the IX Armeekorps . None of the sources specify where Gavasini ' s brigade deployed . However , Albert Gyulai ' s two VIII Armeekorps brigades held the right flank near Mandre while Johann Kalnássy ' s IX Armeekorps brigade formed the extreme left flank at Cimadolmo . Late in the afternoon , the Franco - Italian army broke through Ignaz Gyulai ' s line in the center and forced Archduke John to commit his reserve brigade of grenadiers . When these elite troops failed to stop their enemies , the Austrian army was forced to retreat . After the Piave , Archduke John retreated to Villach with his main body while sending Ignaz Gyulai to Laibach to sustain the defense of Croatia . After a reorganization , Gavasini found himself leading a brigade in Anton von Zach ' s division of Ignaz Gyulai ' s army corps . He commanded two battalions of the " Otocaner " Regiment , two battalions of the " Archduke Franz Karl " Infantry Regiment Nr . 52 , and eight cannons of a 3 - pound brigade battery . On 24 June , the " Otocaner " and " Archduke Franz Karl " Regiments skirmished with Jean - Baptiste Broussier ' s division at Karlsdorf , now a suburb of Graz . The troops also fought in the Battle of Graz on 25 and 26 June . Gavasini retired again on 10 December 1809 and never returned to military service . He died at Klagenfurt on 28 November 1834 .