Anton von Zach Anton Freiherr von Zach ( 14 June 1747 – 22 November 1826 ) enlisted in the army of Habsburg Austria and fought against the First French Republic . In the French Revolutionary Wars , he gained prominence as a staff officer . Still on active service during the Napoleonic Wars , he fought in the 1805 and 1809 wars . He was not given combat assignments after 1809 . Zach held the office of army chief of staff during the 1796 , 1799 , and 1800 campaigns . In the latter year , he played an important role at the Battle of Marengo , where he was captured . During the Napoleonic Wars he was again chief of staff of the Army of Italy in 1805 . In 1809 he commanded a division in the Italian theater . After 1809 , the Austrian military employed him as a fortress commandant . He was Proprietor ( Inhaber ) of an Austrian infantry regiment from 1807 until his death . Early career . Born at Pest , Hungary , Anton Zach became a petty nobleman when his father was elevated to Freiherr in 1765 . He married Anna Freiin von Moltke ( 1759 – 1832 ) in 1779 . Their daughter Theresa married Auguste Milliet de Faverges et de Challes ( 1780 – 1854 ) . Entering the Austrian military service , Zach became a Major in 1788 , an Oberstleutnant in 1793 , and an Oberst in 1795 . He served as Chief of the Quartermaster General Staff ( chief of staff ) to Johann Peter Beaulieu from 8 April to June 1796 during the Montenotte Campaign , the Battle of Lodi , and the Battle of Borghetto . In June he was succeeded by Franz von Lauer when Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser replaced Beaulieu . Subsequently , he served on Paul Davidovich ' s staff during the Battle of Rovereto on 4 September . In 1797 , Zach served on a commission to analyze the reasons for Austria ' s defeat . He noted that lower - ranking generals displayed little initiative because there were too many regulations . He found that regimental officers showed more interest in pay and privilege and drill than in learning how to make fighting units more efficient . He saw that officers were indifferent toward the rank and file , and that the lower ranks had little trust or enthusiasm for their leaders . From January 1798 to March 1799 , Zach was chief of staff of the " Armee von Italien " . He assumed that role again from July 1799 to June 1800 . On 9 June 1799 he received promotion to General - major . He performed capably at the Battle of Novi on 15 August . For his actions , a grateful emperor awarded him the Knight ' s Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa on 13 October 1799 . A skilled mathematician , Zach was more at home in the field of military engineering than he was at combat leadership or in an operational role . Marengo . At the Battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800 , Zach was chief of staff to Michael von Melas , the Austrian army commander . Late in the afternoon when victory seemed assured , Melas retired to the rear . Two horses had been killed under him , leaving the elderly general ' s left arm with a severe contusion . He instructed Konrad Valentin von Kaim to direct the pursuit of Napoleon Bonaparte ' s apparently defeated army . Instead of advising Kaim , Zach rode off to join the advance elements . Historian David G . Chandler asserts that Melas handed tactical control of the pursuit to Zach and does not mention Kaim ' s role . The advancing Austrians instead encountered Louis Desaix with Jean Boudet ' s fresh French division . Desaix attacked and defeated the " Michael Wallis " Infantry Regiment Nr . 11 , which retired behind a brigade of grenadiers . As the elite Austrian infantry pressed forward , Desaix attacked again with artillery support from Auguste Marmont ' s battery . At that moment , an Austrian artillery caisson detonated in a huge explosion and François Etienne de Kellermann ' s heavy cavalry crashed into the Austrian left flank . These shocks completely unnerved three grenadier battalions and triggered a mass surrender . In the midst of the rout , Trooper Riche of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment grabbed Zach by the throat and secured his surrender . The survivors of the French charge dashed through the ranks of the already - shaken " Michael Wallis " Regiment . This unit promptly bolted through the formations farther back in the column , causing a panic . Meanwhile , the Austrian cavalry regiment that should have protected the infantry from Kellermann ' s attack also stampeded and carried away other cavalry units . Kaim and other officers were unable to halt the terror - stricken soldiers . Though the army ' s center was routed , a second grenadier brigade and some unbroken cavalry covered its retreat . The commanders of the right and left flank columns , Andreas O ' Reilly von Ballinlough and Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz managed to bring their troops away with minimal additional loss . That evening , Bonaparte proposed a temporary truce to his prisoner , and Zach was allowed to send a note through the lines with the suggestion . The badly rattled Melas agreed to the truce . Bonaparte fully exploited his opponent ' s demoralized state in the negotiations that followed , in which Zach played a minor role . The result was the Convention of Alessandria , in which the Austrian army was allowed to retreat behind the Mincio River in return for evacuating all of their hard - won gains Piedmont and Lombardy . An Austrian officer noted that the empire would have been better served if Zach had been teaching at the military academy rather than directing the advance guard at Marengo . Evidently , Melas bore a grudge against Zach . When he introduced Zach to his successor , Count Heinrich von Bellegarde , Melas said , " You see this little man , he has a soul as black as his countenance . " Yet Bellegarde employed Zach as chief of staff from September 1800 to March 1801 , including the Battle of the Mincio River . Zach attained the noble rank of Freiherr on 4 February 1801 . Zach ' s daughter Maria Angelika Wilhelmine ( 1784 – 1855 ) married Oberstleutnant Franz Xaver Richter von Binnenthal ( 1759 – 1840 ) in 1802 . Zach brought his family to Padua while he and Richter mapped the province of Venetia . Richter met Maria in Padua and married her there . Like his father - in - law , Richter served on the staff and became a general officer . Zach ' s son - in - law rose in rank to become a Feldzeugmeister in 1836 and wrote an autobiography of his career in the military . Napoleonic Wars . Zach was promoted to Feldmarschallleutnant on 1 September 1805 . That year he served as chief of staff in Archduke Charles ' " Armee von Italien " . The army fought the Battle of Caldiero from 29 to 31 October . This action was Austria ' s best showing during the War of the Third Coalition . After the war , Charles dismissed Zach as too old to serve as chief of staff . On 23 September 1807 , Zach became Proprietor ( Inhaber ) of Infantry Regiment Nr . 15 and held the post during his lifetime . At the beginning of the War of the Fifth Coalition , an army under Archduke John of Austria invaded Italy . Surprised by the early timing of the invasion , the French commander Eugène de Beauharnais left garrisons at Osoppo and Palmanova and fell back to Sacile . Eugène unwisely attacked John ' s army and was defeated in the Battle of Sacile on 16 April 1809 . Subsequently , the French general retreated to Verona . Meanwhile , John left a brigade under Zach to blockade the fortress of Palmanova . After John ' s retreat from Italy and the Battle of Piave River on 8 May , Johann Kalnássy ' s brigade became separated from the main army . Zach joined Kalnássy and both fell back across the Isonzo River into Carniola ( modern - day Slovenia ) on 13 May 1809 . Eugene directed Jacques MacDonald to capture Ljubljana ( Laibach ) , which he did on 23 May after seizing a fort at Prawald on the 20th . Zach and Kalnássy were too weak to oppose MacDonald ' s corps and 7 , 000 muskets , 71 artillery pieces , and large stockpiles of food and ammunition fell into French hands . An order of battle dated 15 May , names Zach as a division commander in Ignaz Gyulai ' s IX Armeekorps , located at Kranj . He supervised brigades led by Kalnássy , Alois von Gavasini , Ignaz Splényi , and Joseph Munkácsy . Gyulai ' s force later fought in the Battle of Graz from 24 to 26 June . Zach received the Order of Leopold in 1809 . After this year , he was no longer employed in the field . He was deputy commandant of the Olomouc ( Olmütz ) fortress from 1810 to 1812 . In November 1812 , he became commandant of the fortress and in 1815 he became governor of Olomouc . Still governor , Zach officially retired from military service in early 1825 and was appointed to the rank of Feldzeugmeister . He died in Graz on 22 November 1826 .