La Bataille d' Eggmuhl 1809

Austrians Cannot Control Uprisings

Andreas Hofer by Georg Wachtel

The Tyrolean revolt started on April 9, 1809, and initially was successful. However, as the Eggmühl battles went the French way, the Austrians lost contact to their Tyrolean allies, and the revolt began to lose steam. The Tyroleans lost their initial gains when Marshal Lefebvre, fresh off his Eggmühl victories, attacked Hofer’s forces in May. The revolt would linger on for a few months, but Francis was unable to maintain his support of Hofer’s forces, and the post-Wagram armistice of Znaim again awarded the Tyrol to Bavaria. Hofer went back and forth about whether to acquiesce to the armistice terms, ultimately deciding to continue his fight. He defeated Lefebvre at Third Bergisel in August and kept Tyrol independent for a few more months. But the Treaty of Schönbrunn again awarded Tyrol back to Bavaria. Hofer decided to continue his fight. However, his struggle would evaporate as France, Bavaria and the Kingdom of Italy would destroy the rebellion. Hofer was captured by the Army of Italy. Napoleon reportedly said, “give him a fair trial and then shoot him. The revolt was over, and Hofer was a dead folk hero. Francis turned his back on Tyrol at least twice, and initial Tyrolean dissatisfaction was against another German entity, Bavaria. The Hofer adventure was totally local, and the great villains were either German or Italian. Francis “German insurrection” move had failed, and the War of the Fifth Coalition was a French victory.

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