Karl von Urban

Karl von Urban was born in Krakow, at the time part of the Austrian Empire, to a Sudeten German family of officers who served the Imperial Army.

[1][2][3] When the Revolution erupted in the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont in 1821, the Quintuple Alliance was assembled at the Congress of Laibach and Prince Metternich decided to intervene to restore the legitimate government.

[4] At the time a young cadet corporal, Urban was selected to integrate the Austrian expeditionary force sent in the name of the Holy Alliance and underwent his baptism of fire at the Battle of Novara on 8 April 1821.

[5]He headed the military survey and recruitment mission of the Inn Valley in Tyrol in the years 1837—1839 and, from 1843, Urban served as assistant to the General-Command Adjutant of the province of Banat.

[2][3] A staunch defender of the Habsburg monarchy and of the ethnic minorities oppressed by the revolutionary movement, Karl von Urban was the first military commander to make a stand against the Revolution in Hungary.

[3][7] Despite being a modest Lieutenant-Colonel at the time, his leadership galvanized the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army and the population of Transylvania on the side of the Emperor and led to the defeat of the Revolutionary movement in the region.

[5][8] Once the hostilities commenced, Von Urban proved to be an audacious and enterprising field commander, taking active part in intense confrontations and winning several victories on the battlefield.

[5] Karl von Urban's leadership against the Revolution derived from his steadfast loyalty to the legitimate Habsburg rule in times of upheaval and increasing tensions in Transylvania and across the Austrian Empire.

[10] Urban's unwavering commitment to the Emperor, to the rights of minorities, specially Romanians, and to the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army led him to be in direct opposition to the Revolutionary Government.

[11] In this context of increasing tensions, Karl von Urban came to understand that the Revolution was ill-intended and in opposition to the well being of the Empire, despite discourses on the contrary, and decided to take the initiative at great personal risk and to his career.

[2][3] In fact, Baron Anton von Puchner, the highest Austrian military authority in Transylvania, had sent a directive on 7 May ordering his subordinates to swear allegiance to the April Laws.

[5] Notwithstanding this opposition, Urban spent the Summer of 1848 in intense activity to restrain the Revolutionary influence among the army and the population by dispatching envoys to villages, communicating with other officials and gathering intelligence.

[2][3][5] Urban addressed the soldiers in Romanian, their native language, exhorting them to remain faithful to the Imperial House and to their original oath to the Emperor, and urging them to refuse to swear the mandatory allegiance to the April Laws.

[10][16] In the beginning of October 1848 the War Minister Count von Latour appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Urban the Strategic Commander for northern Transylvania in the event of conflict, with the instruction to "trust himself and his judgment".

[10] In response to this triumph, the Imperial Commander-in-Chief Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz formulated a strategy to launch an attack on two fronts against the revolutionary forces entrenched in the heartland of Hungary.

[21] Kossuth entrusted the new army to the Polish general József Bem, who promptly organized his heavily armed force of 12,150 infantry, 2,385 cavalry and 24 cannons in three columns.

[21] He managed to deceive this fate by employing audacious flanking maneuvers and breaking through the enemy's encirclement at Apahida, then retreating north-eastwards in a 30 hours forced march towards the province of Bukovina.

Avoiding encirclement and capture, he finally reached Bukovina successfully and received, as his new mission under the command of Field Marshal-Lieutenant Ignaz Malkowsky, the defense of this province from enemy invasion.

The journey was a challenging endeavor, with the troops crossing through deep snow covered unmarked paths, steep mountain terrain and virgin forests, amidst temperatures as low as 24 Celsius below freezing.

[1][36][37] Von Urban distinguished himself as the Military Commander by vigorously protecting the Hungarian population and settlements, previously supporters of the Revolution, from the excesses of a Romanian peasant uprising that targeted them.

[44] For his bravery and great ability displayed during this battle, Karl von Urban was distinguished with the highest honor: the expression of the utmost satisfaction by the Emperor Franz Joseph, conveyed to him on 2 June.

[6][38][45] After Montebello, Urban was sent with his Flying Corps by Count Ferenc Gyulay, the Imperial Regent of Lombardy, to the city of Varese, which had been occupied by Giuseppe Garibaldi's Hunters of the Alps (Cacciatori delle Alpi) on 23 May.

However, the northern force failed to arrive timely and Urban was compelled to attack 3.000 Alpine Hunters - further reinforced by the Civil Guard - with a comparatively modest column of mere 2.000 men.

To confront the impending assault, Von Urban deployed his units in a formidable barrier across a deep gorge sided by hills on the right and left flanks, at the elevated San Salvatore hights between Malnate and Binago.

[46][39] However Garibaldi refused to give combat, preferring to escape to the security of mount Campo dei Fiori, from where he overlooked Urban and his troops amassed in Varese without interfering.

[57] Field Marshal Von Urban orchestrated a sequence of events designed to entice Garibaldi into a trap, with an attack on the Italian positions at Treponti (today in the commune of Rezzato), executed by elements of the Rupprecht Brigade.

[58][59] As the Italian forces discovered themselves entrapped within this intricate web, Von Urban executed a meticulously coordinated maneuver, ordering an attack in pincers by his right and left flanks.

[58] Confronted by this relentless onslaught and entrapped within the tactical scheme, the Italian forces were compelled to retreat in a disorderly rout, retracing their steps in a desperate effort to regain their initial positions at the village of Treponti.

[60] Despite Garibaldi's energetic efforts to quell the rout and reorganize the remnants of his forces for a renewed offensive, his second attack met again with failure and he executed a retreat to Brescia.

[58][61] After the triumph of Treponti, Von Urban was appointed supreme commander over Verona,[18] the Imperial Headquarters and main fortress of the Quadrilateral, the Austrian strategic defensive system in Italy.

Panorama of Olmütz in the 19th century, where Karl von Urban received his military education
Members of the Batthyány government
Scene of the Hungarian Revolution, characterized by intense fighting in several fronts, including in Transylvania.
Ethnic conflicts intrinsically marked the Revolutionary War in the Austrian Empire and particularly in Transylvania (right on the map - in orange: Romanians / in dark green: Hungarians ( Szeklers ) / in red: Germans ( Transylvanian Saxons )
Austrian Infantry in the 1840s, by Wilhelm von Zimburg
The second Battle of Dés, 24 November 1848 - Urban's cavalry played a pivotal role in the two flank attack that pierced the enemy's lines
Military situation in Transylvania mid December 1848. Red: Austrian forces / Green: Revolutionary forces
The Ciucea Pass, scene of intense battles between Urban and the Revolutionary Army
General Bem's invasion of Transylvania and his campaign from 19 December 1848 to 9 February 1849. (Green: Revolutionaries / Orange: Imperials / Red: Russians)
Karl von Urban, 1850 - by Kriehuber.
Military situation in Hungary and Transylvania in mid April 1849. Red: Austrians and Romanian forces / Green: Revolutionary forces
Karl von Urban's Summer Campaign of 1849
Battle of Montebello, by Giovanni Fattori
Battle of Varese
Battle of San Fermo - lithograph by Jules Gaildrau
Battle of Treponti - lithograph by Edoardo Matania
Emperor Franz Joseph on the garden steps at Schönbrunn Palace with knights of the Order of Maria Theresa on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Order. 1857