Franz Graf Wimpffen

Franz Emil Lorenz Graf Wimpffen (2 April 1797-26 November 1870) was an Austrian general and admiral who served as administrative head of the Austrian Navy from 1851 to 1854.

The son of Maximilian von Wimpffen, who served as Chief of the Austrian General Staff from 1824 to 1830, Franz von Wimpffen was born in Prague on 2 April 1797. He was commissioned "Unterleutnant" in October 1813 and served as an artillery officer in the German and French campaigns of 1813 and 1814. For the campaign of 1815 he served with the Army of Upper Italy.

Promoted "Generalmajor" in 1838, he was given command of a brigade in Trieste. Wimpffen was made commander of a division of II Army Corps in Italy in 1846 with the rank of "Feldmarschall-leutnant." He distinguished himself in the 1848 campaign at Vicenza and Custozza. Later, in the Papal States he compelled by bombardment the surrender of Bologna and Ancona. In October 1849 Wimpffen was named civil and military governor of
Trieste and governor of the Küstenland, the region that included the Istrian Peninsula, with the rank of "Feldzugmeister" (General of Artillery in the Austrian Army).

Upon the resignation of Hans Birch Dahlerup in August 1851, Wimpffen was named his successor as "Oberkommandant der Marine" ('High Commander of the Navy'). During his tenure the development of the naval base of Pola was accelerated and the naval school at Fiumewas converted into the Austrian Naval Academy.

Dismissed by Emperor Franz Josef I against the advice of his military advisers, Wimpffen stepped down as "Oberkommandant der Marine" in September 1854 to take command of I Army Corps. He was succeeded as head of the Navy by Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria, the younger brother of Franz Josef.

However well he had performed as administrative head of the Navy, Wimpffen was known in military circles as "the General who had never won a battle". In the 1859 Italian campaign, after the defeat at Magenta on 4 June he seconded the decision of the Austrian field commander, "Feldmarschall" Graf Gyulai, in making an abject retreat across the Mincio to Mantua, leaving Milan and all of Lombardy to the Sardinians and French. Gyulai was dismissed on 16 June by Franz Josef, who assumed command of the field army with Wimpffen in command of the cavalry.

At Solferino on the fateful Friday 24 June 1859 Wimpffen and his men fought valiantly, but the tide of battle went against them. The carnage of the battle was so severe that it was soon followed by an armistice and then peace negotiations.

In 1861 Wimpffen was retired with the rank of "Generalfeldzeugmeister" (Field Marshal of Artillery in the Austrian Army). He died on 26 November 1870 at Görz (now Gorizia). His son, Heinrich Emil Graf Wimpffen, born 1 May 1827, succeeded him as head of the comital house.

ee also

* Austro-Hungarian Navy

References

* German Wikipedia entry 'Franz Emil Lorenz Wimpffen' {http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_von_Wimpffen.htm]
* Joan Haslip, "The Crown of Mexico", pp. 63, 118-119. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971.
* Alan Palmer, "Twilight of the Habsburgs. The Life and Times of Emperor Francis Joseph", pp. 103-113. New York: Grove Press, 1994. ISBN 0-87113-665-1