(1767-1810)
Andreas Hofer, a native of the village of St. Leonard, in the valley
of Passeyr, was born on November 22, 1767. During the greater part
of his life he resided peaceably in his own neighborhood, where he
kept an inn, and increased his profits by dealing in wine, corn, and
cattle. About his neck he wore at all times a small crucifix and a
medal of St. George. He never held any rank in the Austrian army;
but he had formed a secret connection with the Archduke John, when
that prince had passed a few weeks in the Tyrol making scientific
researches. In November, 1805, Hofer was appointed deputy from his
native valley at the conference of Brunnecken, and again at a second
conference, held at Vienna, in January, 1809.
[Illustration: Andreas Hofer.]
The Tyrol had for many years been an appendage of the Austrian
states, and the inhabitants had become devoted to that government;
so that when, by the treaty of Presburg, the province was
transferred to the rule of the King of Bavaria, then the ally of
Napoleon I., the peasants were greatly irritated, and their
discontent was further provoked by the large and frequent exactions
which the continual wars obliged the new government to levy on the
Tyrolese. The consequence was, that when their own neighborhood
became the theatre of military operations between Austria and
France, in the spring of 1809, a general insurrection broke out in
the Tyrol. His resolution of character, natural eloquence, and
private influence as a wealthy citizen, joined to a figure of great
stature and strength, pointed out Andreas Hofer to his countrymen as
the leader of this revolt; and with him were united Spechbacher,
Joseph Haspinger, and Martin Teimer, whose names have all become
historical. A perfect understanding was maintained between the
insurgents and their late masters, and the signal of the
insurrection was given by the Archduke John in a proclamation from
his head-quarters at Klagenfurth. An Austrian army of 10,000 men,
commanded by the Marquis Castellar, was directed to enter the Tyrol
and support the insurrection, which broke out in every quarter on
the night of April 8, 1809. The Austrian general himself crossed the
frontier at daybreak on the 9th. On their side the Bavarians marched
an army of 25,000 men into the province to quell the revolt. Hofer
and his band of armed peasantry fell upon the Bavarians while
entangled in the narrow glens, and on April 10th defeated Besson and
Lemoine at the Sterzinger Moos. The next day a troop of peasants
under Teimer took possession of Innsbrück. On the 12th Besson
surrendered with his division of 3,000 men. In a single week all the
fortresses were recovered, nearly 10,000 troops of the enemy were
destroyed, and the whole province was redeemed.
Incensed by this interruption of his plans, Napoleon despatched
three armies almost simultaneously to assail the province at three
different points. One of these forces was under the command of
Marshal Lefebvre, who, on May 12th, defeated the united army of the
Austrian soldiers, under Castellar, and the Tyrolese peasantry,
under Haspinger and Spechbacher, at Feuer Singer. The troops made a
bad use of their victory, slaughtering the inhabitants of the
villages on their route, without distinction of age or sex. The
Bavarian and French officers encouraged and took part in the
excesses of the soldiers; while the insurgents, far from
retaliating, refrained from every species of license, and nursed
their wounded prisoners with the same care as their own friends.
Hofer himself was not always present in action, his talent
consisting rather in stimulating his countrymen than in actual
fighting; but at the battle of Innsbrück (May 28, 1809), he led the
Tyrolese, exhibited both skill and daring, and defeated the
Bavarians with a loss of 4,000 men. The whole of the Tyrol was
delivered a second time. But after the battle of Wagram (July 6th),
and the armistice of Znaim which immediately followed, the Austrian
army was obliged to evacuate the Tyrol, leaving the helpless
insurgents to the mercy of an exasperated enemy. Marshal Lefebvre
now invaded the province a second time, and entered it by the road
from Salzburg, with an army of 21,000 troops, while Beaumont, having
crossed the ridge of Schnartz with a force 10,000 strong, threatened
Innsbrück from the north. On July 30th Innsbrück submitted. A series
of desperate contests followed along the line of the Brenner, mostly
with doubtful success, but in one the marshal was defeated, when
twenty-five pieces of artillery and a quantity of ammunition fell
into the hands of the Tyrolese. Again, on August 12th, Marshal
Lefebvre, with an army of 25,000 Bavarian and French soldiers, 2,000
of whom were cavalry, was totally beaten by the Tyrolese army,
consisting of 18,000 armed peasants. The battle, which was fought
near Innsbrück, is said to have lasted from six in the morning until
midnight. For a third time the Tyrol was free.
After this victory, entirely achieved by the peasantry themselves,
Hofer became the absolute ruler of the country; coins were struck
with his effigy, and proclamations issued in his name. His power,
however, scarcely lasted two months, and became the cause of his
ruin ultimately. Three veteran armies, comprising a force of nearly
50,000 French and Bavarian troops, were despatched in October to
subdue the exhausted province; and, unable to make head against
them, Hofer was obliged to take refuge in the mountains. Soon after,
a price having been set on his head, a pretended friend (a priest
named Donay) was induced to betray him, January 20, 1810. After his
arrest he was conveyed to Mantua, and the intelligence having been
communicated by telegraph to the French emperor, an order was
instantly returned that he must be tried. This order was a sentence;
and after a court-martial, at which, however, the majority were
averse to a sentence of death, Hofer was condemned to be shot. His
execution took place on February 20, 1810, his whole military career
having occupied less than forty weeks. The Emperor Francis conferred
a handsome pension upon the widow and family of Hofer, and created
Hofer's son a noble. The Austrian government also raised a marble
statue of heroic size in the cathedral of Innsbrück, where the body
of the patriot was interred; while his own countrymen have
commemorated his efforts by raising a small pyramid to mark the spot
where he was taken.
[Illustration: Andreas Hofer led to Execution.]