Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz

General Prince Alfred Candidus Ferdinand zu Windisch-Graetz
Prince Windisch-Graetz in an 1852 lithograph
Born	(1787-05-11)11 May 1787 Brussels, Austrian Netherlands
Died	Vienna, Austrian Empire
Allegiance	Austrian Empire
Battles/wars	Battle of Leipzig (1813) Battle of Pákozd (1848) Battle of Schwechat (1848) Battle of Komárom (1849) Battle of Segesvár (1849)

Alfred I
Prince of Windisch-Grätz
Spouse(s)	Princess Eleonore of Schwarzenberg
Noble family	Windisch-Graetz
Father	Joseph Nicholas of Windisch-Graetz
Mother	Duchess Maria Leopoldine Franziska of Arenberg
Born	(1787-05-11)11 May 1787 Brussels, Austrian Netherlands
Died	Vienna

General Alfred Candidus Ferdinand, Prince of Windisch-Grätz (German: Alfred Candidus Ferdinand Fürst zu Windisch-Grätz; 11 May 1787 – 21 March 1862), a member of the Bohemian noble Windisch-Graetz family, was a Field Marshal in the Austrian army.

Background

Originally from Styria, the Windisch-Graetz dynasty had received Inkolat rights of nobility by the Bohemian Crown in 1574. Alfred was born in Brussels, then capital of the Austrian Netherlands, the son of Count Joseph Nicholas of Windisch-Graetz (1744–1802) and his second wife, Duchess Maria Leopoldine Franziska of Arenberg. The family took its residence at Tachau (Tachov), the lordship had been purchased by Alfred's father in 1781.

On 15 June 1817 he married Princess Eleonore of Schwarzenberg.

Napoleon

He started service in the Habsburg imperial army in 1804. As an Austrian army officer he distinguished himself throughout the wars fought by the Habsburg Monarchy in the 19th century.

Windisch-Grätz participated in all the wars against Napoleon and fought with distinction at the Battle of Leipzig and in the campaign of 1814. In 1833, he was named Field Marshal (German: Feldmarschall).

Bohemia

In the years of peace that followed, Windisch-Grätz held commands in Prague, being appointed head of the army in Bohemia in 1840. Having gained a reputation as a champion of energetic measures against revolution, during the Revolutions of 1848 in Habsburg areas he was called upon to suppress the March 1848 insurrection in Vienna. However, finding himself ill-supported by government ministers he resigned from his post.

After returning to Prague, his wife was killed by a stray bullet during the popular uprising. He then showed firmness in quelling an armed outbreak of the Czech separatists (June 1848), declaring martial law throughout Bohemia. Upon the recrudescence of revolt in Vienna he was summoned to head a large army that reduced the city through a formal siege by October 1848.

Hungary

Main article: Hungarian Revolution of 1848

Appointed to the chief command against the Hungarian revolutionaries under Lajos Kossuth, he gained some early successes and reoccupied Buda and Pest (January 1849), but by his slowness in pursuit he allowed the enemy to rally in superior numbers and to prevent an effective concentration of the Austrian forces.

In April 1849 he was relieved of his command and thenceforth rarely appeared again in public life.

Quotes

(In reference to rebellious constitutionalists) "They do not want to hear about the Grace of God? They will hear the grace of the cannon."

Ancestry

Family of Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz

16. Count Gottlieb Amadeus of Windisch-Grätz               8. Count Viktorin Karl of Windisch-Grätz                       17. Countess Maria Theresia of Saurau               4. Count Leopold Karl of Windisch-Grätz                             18. Count Marzio Antonio of Strassoldo               9. Countess Marie Ernestine of Strassoldo                       19. Countess Aurora Aldegonda of Strassoldo-Klingenfels               2. Count Joseph Nicholas of Windisch-Graetz                                   20. Count Franz Christoph Khevenhüller, Graf zu Frankenburg               10. Count Ludwig Andreas of Khevenhüller                       21. Countess Ernestine Montecuccoli               5. Countess Maria Antonia of Khevenhüller                             22. Leopold Matthias, 1st Prince Lamberg, Landgrave of Leuchtenberg               11. Philippina Maria Anna Josepha , Gräfin von Lamberg                       23. Countess Maria Claudia of Künigl               1. Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz                                         24. Philippe Charles François, 3rd Duke of Arenberg, 9th Duke of Aarschot               12. Leopold Philippe of Arenberg, 4th Duke of Arenberg, 10th Duke of Aarschot                       25. Marie-Henriette del Caretto, Marquise of Grana and Savona               6. Charles Marie Raymond, 5th Duke of Arenberg, 11th Duke of Aarschot                             26. Niccolo Pignatelli, Duke of Bisaccia               13. Donna Maria Francesca Pignatelli, Duchesse de Bisaccia, Comtesse van Egmond                       27. Maria Clara Angelica van Egmond               3. Princess and Duchess Leopoldine of Arenberg                                   28. Louis Pierre Engelbert, Comte de La Marck               14. Louis Engelbert, Comte de La Marck                       29. Marie Marguerite de Rohan-Chabot, Mademoiselle de Rohan               7. Countess Louise Marguerite de La Marck et de Schleiden                             30. René François de Visdelou, Vicomte de Bienassis               15. Marie Anne Hyacinthe de Visdelou, Dame de Bienassis                       31. Marguerite Iris de Poix, Dame de Fouesnel

Bibliography

• Fürst Windischgrätz. Eine Lebensskizze. Aus den Papieren eines Zeitgenossen der Sturm-Jahre 1848 und 1849 (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1898)

References

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