From the 13th to the 19th July.
In the evening of the 13th, the infantry of the Imperial army destined
for the garrison of Vienna marched into the city; and now all the
gates, even including that of the Rothenthurm, by which these troops
had entered, were built up and barricaded. On the same day two
summonses in the Latin language were thrown over the counterscarp. They
remained unanswered. The following were the military arrangements for
the defence:—Stahremberg’s principal subordinates in command were the
Generals Daun and Serini; the Brigadiers Souches and Scheffenberg; the
Marquis of Obizzi, commander of the city guard; Colonels the Duke of
Wirtemberg, the Baron von Beck; Counts Dupigny and Heister—all men of
experience and proved courage.[10] The affairs of the city were managed
by a separate and secret college of Imperial Councillors of State,
of which the President was Count Cappliers. The other members were
Count Molart, Marshal of Austria; the Baron von Belchamin; Hartmann
von Hüttendorf, and the Secretaries Haekl and Fux. Among those who
volunteered their services in any capacity, the worthy Bishop of
Neustadt, Leopold Count von Kollonitsch, demands special mention. The
Bishop of Vienna, Emerich Sinellius, had accompanied the Emperor to
Passau, and had thus left the affairs of his see to be administered by
one who by his discharge of spiritual functions, by his expenditure on
works of charity, and by his attendance on the sick and wounded, earned
a reputation as sound and as honourable as could be obtained by others
in the battery or the breach. Nor was his ministry confined to these
sacred functions. He had served as a Knight of Malta in his youth
against the Turks, and his military experience now became scarcely of
less value than his spiritual labours. He was among the most active
at the side of Stahremberg; was his companion daily at the posts of
greatest danger, encouraging the combatants by his example, tending
the wounded, and administering the rites of religion to the dying. The
systematic arrangements for the extinction of fires, for the collection
and distribution of provisions, and for the prevention of extortion
during the siege, were all due to this remarkable man. In the crowded
hospital, where the mien of death is most hideous, he was to be found
dispensing hopes of heaven to those who had no longer hope on earth.
Women, children, and old men, usually the burthens of a besieged place,
were by him organized and disciplined for services which would have
otherwise drawn off defenders from the walls. Through his exertions
also a subscription was set on foot, which, backed by his own liberal
contributions, and those of other leading men, such as Prince Ferdinand
of Schwarzenberg, who contributed 50,000 florins and 3000 eimers
of wine, reached the sum of 600,000 florins. The example of this
prelate was emulated by Maximilian, Count of Trautmansdorf; Charles,
Count of Fünfkirchen; Godfrey, Count of Salzburg; Count Vignoncourt;
Matthew, Count of Colalto; Frederick, Baron of Kielmansegg, who
besides his services in action assisted the defence by the invention
of a powder-mill, and of a hand-grenade. To the above names are to be
added those of Zetteritz, Rünnlingen and Rosstauscher. The garrison
consisted of 13,000 regular troops from the regiments of Stahremberg
(now of the Archduke Louis, No. 8); Mansfield (now Duke of Lucca, No.
24); Souches (now Archduke Rainer, No. 11); Bock (now Grand Duke of
Baden, No. 59); Scherfenberg; of the half regiments Pfalz Newburg (now
Hohenegg, No. 20); Thungen (now Wellington, No. 42); Heister, and nine
companies of Dupigny’s horse; finally of the usual city-guard, 1200
strong. In addition to these, all men capable of bearing arms were
called out and divided into companies. These amounted to 2382, and were
commanded first by the burgomaster, John Andrew von Liebenberg, and
after his death by fever, by his successor, Daniel Focky. Ambros Frank,
a member of the inferior town-council, formed a free corps 255 strong,
principally composed of tavern-keepers. In the University, 700 students
armed themselves and were distributed into three companies under the
command of the Rector Magnifiens, Laurence Grüner. The merchants and
wholesale dealers formed a company of 250 men. The officials and
servants of the Imperial household formed a corps of nearly 1000 men,
commanded by Maximilian, Count of Trautmansdorf. Finally, many guilds
and corporations formed themselves into companies either separate
or conjoined. Thus, for example, the butchers with the brewers,
294 strong. The bakers, 150. The shoemakers, 288. The remaining
handicraftsmen, 300 in number, were distributed into two companies;
some others were employed in the arsenals. The guilds furnished in all
1293 men. The number under arms altogether amounted to about 20,000.
The remaining population was not less than 60,000 souls.
At sunrise of the 14th July the main force of the enemy showed
itself on the heights of the Wienerberg. It was difficult for the
most practised eye to distinguish particular objects from amidst
the multitudinous crowd of men, horses, camels, and carriages. The
mass extended itself from the Lauer wood to near the Hundsthurm, by
Gumpendorf, Penzing, Ottakring, Hernals, Währing and Döbling, towards
Nussdorf and the Danube, in a circuit of some 25,000 paces. The camp
was marked out in the form of a half-moon. In a few hours 25,000 tents
had risen from the ground. That of the Vizier was pitched on the high
ground in the present suburb of St. Ulric, behind the walls of the
houses which had been burned. It rivalled in beauty and splendour of
decoration Soliman’s famous pavilion of 1529, being of green silk
worked with gold and silver, and adorned within with pearls, precious
stones, and carpets, and contained in a central sanctuary the sacred
standard of the Prophet. Within its precincts were baths, fountains,
and flower-gardens, and even a menagerie. In respect of its numerous
alleys and compartments, it was likened to a town of canvas. The value
of it with its contents was estimated at a million dollars. Under St.
Ulric, towards the Burg gate, the Aga of the Janissaries had arrayed
his forces: the precincts of St. Ulric itself were occupied by the
Tartars under Kara Mehemed. The other Pachas were stationed opposite
the Kärnthner and Stuben gates, and the city was threatened from five
distinct quarters, though it was soon easy to perceive that the main
attack would be directed against the Burg and the Löbelbastion. The
first care of the Turks was to plunder and destroy the few buildings
which had escaped destruction in the suburbs.
The church of the Servites in the Rossau was the only edifice that
escaped, and this exception was due to a singular incident. Its
distance from the town had preserved it from the general conflagration.
The Turks are said to have taken the Patriarchs depicted on the
ceiling, with their long beards and Oriental costume, for followers
of Mahomet, and under this misapprehension to have spared the church.
Such is the solution of the fact to be found in all the accounts of
the time, but it is probable that there was no misapprehension in the
case. The Mussulman holds the Jewish Patriarchs in as much respect as
does the Christian, and has even adopted their names, for Ibrahim is
nothing but Abraham, Musa Moses, &c. &c. It is not therefore necessary
to suppose that the Turks entertained the absurd notion imputed to them
that a Christian temple could have been decorated with portraits of
Mahometan saints.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] Sigbert Count von Heister, one of the best soldiers of his day. At
the beginning of the siege his hat was shot through by a Turkish arrow.
Arrow and hat are preserved in the Ambros collection at Vienna.