Erzherzog Carl von Österreich: Armeebefehl an seine Truppen - 1809

An impressive contemporary document from the early days of the Fifth Coalition War, in which Archduke Karl, just before the Austrian campaign against Napoleon, calls his soldiers to fight for the Fatherland and for the freedom of Europe. Carl Ludwig Johann Joseph Laurentius of Austria (1771–1847), Archduke of Austria, Duke of Teschen, field marshal and generalissimus of the Austrian army. Army order. Vienna, 6 April 1809. Printed army order on a double-sided folio sheet. 35 x 22 cm. The army order arose in a decisive phase of the Napoleonic Wars. Only a few days later, on 10 April 1809, the Austrian army under Archduke Karl crossed the Inn and thereby opened the war against Napoleonic Bavaria and France. Karl directly addresses his “dear comrades in arms” and justifies the upcoming campaign with the protection of the fatherland and resistance to French hegemony. In a strikingly patriotic language, he calls on his soldiers to unity, discipline, and bravery, and at the same time places the forthcoming struggle in a pan-European context: “the freedom of Europe has fled under our banners.” He also explicitly urges humanity toward the defeated opponents and sparing the civilian population. Noteworthy are the historical allusions to earlier Austrian military successes: Karl reminds his soldiers of the battlefields of Ulm and Marengo as well as of the “glorious deeds at Würzburg and Ostrach, at Liptingen and Zürich, at Verona, the Trebia and Novi.” The order ends with the printed signature “Archduke Karl, Generalissimus.” A characteristic and historically especially vivid testament to Austrian mobilization of 1809 and the military-political program of Archduke Karl on the eve of renewed war against Napoleon. Overall, a well-preserved and effective specimen of this rare one-page military-historical artifact, with the original fold marks and only light age-related stains and signs of use."

Estimate:£126.47

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