Johann von Klenau

Johann von Klenau or Johann Josef Cajetan von Klenau und Janowitz (13 April 1758 – 6 October 1819) joined the Austrian army, fought the French in the French Revolutionary Wars, and commanded a corps in several important battles during the Napoleonic Wars.

Early career

Klenau was born into a noble family at Prague in the Austrian province of Bohemia on 13 April 1758. He entered an infantry regiment in 1774 as an Officer Cadet and became a Leutnant in 1775. He fought in the War of the Bavarian Succession after tranferring into a Chevauleger (light cavalry) regiment as a Rittmeister. In the Austro-Turkish War (1787-1791), Klenau served in a Dragoon regiment, winning promotion to Major in 1788.

French Revolutionary Wars

Elevation to Oberstleutnant in a Uhlan regiment occurred in 1793. Klenau commanded a brigade in Friedrich Hotze's 3rd Column at the Battle of Wissembourg on 13 October 1793. At the battle of Handschuhsheim on 24 September 1795, he commanded a cavalry brigade. In this action, he led the battle-winning charge, dispersing two French divisions. For a loss of 187 men, the Austrians inflicted over 1,500 casualties on their enemies and captured eight cannon. For this brilliant exploit, Klenau was promoted to Oberst and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa.

In 1796, Klenau tranferred to the Italian theater. He led the advance guard of Peter Quasdanovich's Right Column as it descended from the Alps upon Brescia. Finding that the French garrison was not alert, he set out at midnight with two squadrons of the Wurmser Hussar Regiment # 8, a battalion of the De Vins Infantry Regiment # 37, and one company of the Mahony Jägers. Favored by a late fog, Klenau surprised the Brescia garrison on the morning of 30 July, capturing 600-700 French soldiers together with Jean Lannes, Joachim Murat, and François Étienne de Kellermann. Left alone at Montichiari to face Napoleon Bonaparte and 12,000 Frenchmen, his advance guard was quickly pushed back and out of Brescia on 1 August. The Battle of Lonato ended badly for Austria and the French forced Quasdanovich's column to withdraw into the mountains.

Klenau fought at the Battle of Bassano on 8 September. He was with Dagobert von Wurmser's column as it fought its way into Mantua and he participated in the combat of La Favorita near Mantua on 15 September. From that time until 2 February 1797, he was trapped in the fortress during the Siege of Mantua. After the Austrian disaster at the Battle of Rivoli, Klenau negotiated conditions of surrender with French General Jean Sérurier. When the garrison capitulated in February, Klenau co-signed the document with Wurmser. In May, Klenau was elevated to the rank of General-Major.

In the 1799 campaign, Klenau served with the army in Italy. In October 1800, he was promoted to Feldmarschal-Leutnant and later fought a successful action near Nuremburg. In 1800 he married Maria Josephina Tallian de Viseck. In 1804 he became the proprietor (inhaber) of Chevauleger Regiment # 5.

Napoleonic Wars

Klenau joined the army of Archduke Ferdinand for the War of the Third Coalition. He was captured in the Battle of Ulm when Karl Mack surrendered the encircled army on 21 October 1805. At the Battle of Aspern-Essling in May, he led the independent, division-sized army Avantgarde in repeated attacks on the village of Essling. At the Battle of Wagram in July of that year, Klenau led the 13,740 soldiers of VI Corps. For this, he received the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa.

Klenau was promoted to General der Kavallerie (full general) on 26 July 1813. When Austria joined the allies in the War of the Sixth Coalition, he held command of an independent corps in the Army of Bohemia. In the Battle of Dresden, the leading elements of his corps were placed on the army's left flank, separated from the main body by the flooded Weisseritz stream. Marshal Joachim Murat took advantage of this isolation and inflicted heavy losses on the Austrians. Klenau's formation later became known as the IV Corps. On 16 October at the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of Nations, his troops defended the Army of Bohemia's right flank against the attacks of Marshal Jacques MacDonald. After Leipzig, the allied high command assigned him to blockade the large French garrison of Dresden and Marshal Laurent de Gouvion-Saint-Cyr surrendered to Klenau on 11 November. During 1814 he commanded a corps in Italy. After the war (1815), Klenau was appointed Commanding General in Moravia and Silesia.

Promotions

Major: 15 January 1790

Lt. Colonel: 12 February 1793

Colonel 8 August 1795

Major General 1 May 1797 (effective 13 June 1797)

Lt. Field Marshal 29 October 1800 (effective 18 November 1800)

General of the Cavalry: 26 July 1813

Later career

After the war, the army appointed Klenau commander of Moravia. He held this office until his death on 6 October 1819 at Brno in the modern-day Czech Republic.

References

• Bowden, Scotty & Tarbox, Charlie. Armies on the Danube 1809. Arlington, Texas: Empire Games Press, 1980.
• Boycott-Brown, Martin. The Road to Rivoli. London: Cassell & Co., 2001. ISBN 0-304-35305-1
• Chandler, David. The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York: Macmillan, 1966.
• Pivka, Otto von. Armies of the Napoleonic Era. New York: Taplinger Publishing, 1979. ISBN 0-8008-5471-3
• Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill, 1998. ISBN 1-85367-276-9

External links

• Klenau by Digby Smith, compiled by Leopold Kudrna