Anton Schübirz von Chobinin Anton Schübirz or Anton Schubirz von Chobinin ( 21 December 1748 – 11 June 1801 ) fought for Habsburg Austria against Ottoman Turkey and the First French Republic . He participated in several noteworthy actions during the French Revolutionary Wars . As a newly promoted general officer in Italy , he led a brigade in an all - night action against the French at Codogno , part of the Battle of Fombio in May 1796 . In the sparring before the Battle of Castiglione , he showed initiative in bringing his troops to the assistance of a fellow general . He also fought at Fontaniva , Caldiero , and Arcole in the autumn of 1796 . This was the theater of war where a young French general named Napoleon Bonaparte earned his fame . Schübirz retired from the army in 1798 and died three years later . Early career . On 21 December 1748 , Schübirz was born at Olomouc ( Olmütz ) , a fortress town in the province of Moravia in Habsburg Austria . Today , the city is part of the Czech Republic . Upon leaving the Vienna Neustadt Academy , he became a junior Leutnant in the " Batthyanyi " Dragoon Regiment Nr . 7 on 23 December 1768 . He was promoted Leutnant on 1 January 1722 , Rittmeister ( captain ) on 10 April 1773 , and Major on 21 March 1786 . Schübirz performed notable service against the Ottoman Turks at Dubica on 25 April 1788 during the Austro - Turkish War ( 1788 - 1791 ) . On 16 January 1790 he was appointed Oberstleutnant of the " Stabs " Dragoon Regiment . That October he transferred back to the " Batthyanyi " Dragoons and was made Oberst ( Colonel ) of the regiment on 30 November . He became Oberst of the newly created " Mészáros " Uhlan Regiment Nr . 1 on 1 November 1791 . Another source states that Schübirz was elevated to Major in the " Josef Kinsky " Dragoon Regiment Nr . 12 ( the successor to the " Batthyanyi " Regiment ) on 30 May 1788 , to Oberstleutnant in 1789 , and to Oberst of the " Mészáros " Uhlans in 1790 . In 1795 , he led a cavalry brigade in Lombardy . 1796 . Montenotte Campaign . On 4 March 1796 , Schübirz found himself elevated to the rank of General - major in Johann Peter Beaulieu ' s Austrian army of Italy . That spring he was assigned to command 10 squadrons of the " Archduke Joseph " Hussar Regiment Nr . 2 at Pavia and several squadrons of the Mészáros Uhlans near Lodi . He led these troops during the Montenotte Campaign in April . During the campaign , Bonaparte ' s army badly defeated the Sardinian army and forced the Kingdom of Sardinia to sue for peace . The small Austrian Auxiliary Corps , which fought under Sardinian command , was placed in a tight spot when its allies laid down their arms . Since its previous commander , Giovanni Marchese di Provera had been captured at the Battle of Millesimo , Beaulieu appointed Schübirz to bring the Corps to safety . In this he was successful , though he had to make a circuitous march in order to get away . Fombio and Codogno . As Beaulieu fell back into the Duchy of Milan , Schübirz ' s troops reached a position at Lomello on the Agogna River on 2 May . By the 7th , his retreating troops joined those of Philipp Pittoni von Dannenfeld , forming a body of seven battalions and 12 squadrons . By dawn on the following day , Bonaparte managed to slip Claude Dallemagne ' s 5 , 000 - strong advance guard across the Po River behind Beaulieu ' s strategic left flank . The 6 , 500 men of Amedee Emmanuel Francois Laharpe ' s division soon followed . During the day , the rapidly moving French defeated Anton Lipthay de Kisfalud at the Battle of Fombio and pressed forward to occupy the town of Codogno . As Beaulieu tried to retreat east beyond the Adda River , he found that the French were already across the southern - most roads . Hoping to cut his way through in the morning , the Austrian commander sent Schübirz toward Codogno with two battalions of the " Reisky " Infantry Regiment Nr . 13 and four squadrons of Uhlans , about 1 , 000 foot soldiers and 580 cavalrymen . Arriving at Codogno in the dark , Schübirz decided on his own initiative to capture the place . At around 10 : 00 PM , his troops routed the French pickets and infiltrated much of the town . Soon , Laharpe and his staff received reports of the Austrian incursion and went out to find out what was going on . It so happened that the French 51st Line Infantry Demi - Brigade was marching through the center of town . As the troops reached the town square , they were ambushed by soldiers of the " Reisky " Regiment and soon both sides were firing blindly into the darkness . After the French rounded up a number of Austrian prisoners , they found Laharpe shot dead , possibly by friendly fire . With the division commander down , Bonaparte ' s chief of staff Louis Alexandre Berthier arrived to direct the fighting . In the wee hours , 75th Line and the 17th Light Infantry Demi - Brigades added their weight to the battle . By dawn , convinced that the odds against him were increasing , Schübirz withdrew . Given some breathing room by his lieutenant ' s all - night combat , on 9 May Beaulieu directed his troops to cross the Adda farther north at Lodi . The Battle of Lodi occurred on 10 May , though Schübirz missed it , having been ordered to march four battalions and four squadrons to Crema . By 16 May , the Austrian army pulled back behind the Mincio River , covered on its right rear by Schübirz . After the Battle of Borghetto on 30 May , Beaulieu withdrew north into the Tyrol . At this time an English observer , Thomas Graham noted that Schübirz was one of the few generals still with the army . Castiglione . Though his name does not appear in the Castiglione 1796 Campaign Order of Battle , he nevertheless served with the army . At 3 : 00 AM on 2 August 1796 , the army of Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser , having relieved Mantua , began to move on Goito . An advance guard led by Lipthay , plus a body of troops commanded by Schübirz crossed the Mincio at Goito . Wanting to prevent Wurmser from attacking his rear while he disposed of Peter Quasdanovich ' s column , Bonaparte ordered Pierre Augereau to attack the Austrian advance guard at Castiglione delle Stiviere . Accordingly , on 3 August , Augereau fell on Lipthay ' s 4 , 000 - strong brigade with 11 , 000 men . Though driven back , the Austrians put up a spirited fight . Schübirz made the soldierly decision to march at once for the sound of the guns . Once he arrived on the field , he launched an effective attack that saved the village of Solferino from capture and helped halt the French advance . On 5 August at the Battle of Castiglione , Schübirz and Anton Ferdinand Mittrowsky held the Austrian right flank at Solferino . Helped by late - arriving reinforcements , the right wing got away in good order . Schübirz led the rear guard of three squadrons of hussars , which were the last Austrians to cross the Mincio at the Borghetto bridge . Arcole . On 16 August after the Castglione campaign , Schübirz was ordered to march two battalions of the " Deutschmeister " Infantry Regiment Nr . 4 and two squadrons of the " Erdödy " Hussar Regiment Nr . 11 to hold Pontebba , a strategic point in northeastern Italy . The trek took two weeks but as soon as he arrived there , he was recalled to Bassano del Grappa . This march took an additional two weeks , but by this time the Battle of Bassano was fought on 8 September . In late October 1796 , Schübirz commanded a brigade in the Friaul Corps , which was accompanied by the army commander József Alvinczi . He was present in the Second Battle of Bassano on 6 November , where his troops were called upon to reinforce Lipthay ' s roughly handled brigade near Fontaniva . The French suffered 3 , 000 killed , wounded , and missing , while 508 soldiers and one howitzer were captured . The victorious Austrians did not escape heavy losses . Quasdanovich ' s right wing at Bassano lost 1 , 633 men and two guns , while Provera ' s left wing at Fontaniva lost 1 , 190 , including 208 killed , 873 wounded , and 109 captured . At the Battle of Caldiero on 12 November , Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern - Hechingen held off Bonaparte ' s initial attacks . Schübirz brought up his brigade sometime after 3 : 00 PM , and together with other reinforcements , the Austrians repulsed the French and forced them back into Verona . The Austrians inflicted 1 , 800 casualties on their enemies for a loss of about 1 , 300 men . On the second day of the Battle of Arcole , Schübirz ' s brigade was sent to reinforce Mittrowsky at the village of Arcole . The orders for the morning of 16 November were to attack the French and drive them into the Adige River . At first , the attack met with success . But when the Austrian right wing gave way at Belfiore , the soldiers lost heart and fell back to Arcole . By holding both banks of the Alpone River in strength , Mittrowsky defeated all French attacks on the 16th . The following day saw bitter fighting and until 4 : 00 PM it looked as though the Austrians might prevail . But another collapse of Austrian resistance at Belfiore allowed Bonaparte to concentrate against Arcole and the village finally fell at 5 : 00 PM on the 17th . That evening , the French tried to cut the main east - west highway but , at Alvinczi ' s direction , Schübirz drove them back . This final action of the day allowed the Austrian right wing to get away . Schübirz retired from the military in 1798 and died at Graz on 11 June 1801 . Another source gives his retirement date as 1800 . External references . " The following source provides the Bouvier citation listed above . " " This source traces the ancestry of Austrian cavalry regiments . "