THE 1814 GOLD CROSS OF THE BOHEMIAN NOBLE GUARD

V~clav M~i~ka Prague

This month marks the 160th anniversary of the day on which the Emperor of Austria and King of Bohemia, Francis I, founded for the 38 members of the Czech Noble Guard~ a gold commemorative merit cross.

In 1809, Austria suffered defeat from the armies of Napoleon in the battle of Wagram and accepted the will of the French Emperor. On April ist, 1810, the daughter of Emperor Francis, Marie Louise, became the wife of Napoleon.

In the spring of 1812 the campaign of Russia commenced. Prior to that time Napoleon had forced Prussia to prepare an expeditionary corps with a strength of 20,000 men, and in March of this year also pressed Austria to send 30,000 troops under the command of Charles Philippe, Prince Schwarzenberg, (up to that time the Austrian ambassador at Paris). On June 23rd, 1812, the Grand Army crossed the river Niemen and after the fighting at Smolensk and the battle of Borodino, Moscow was occupied. The great eagles of flew with open wings over the Russian fields, but at the close of the year, returned to Europe, over the banks of the river Berezina, hungry, frozen and completely defeated as an army. On the 19th of December, the Emperor returned to Paris.

On December 30th, 1812, the Prussian General Hans David Ludwig Yorck, the second commander of the Prussian auxiliary corps (under the leadership of the French Field-Marshal Etienne Alexander MacDonald) put aside his allegiance to the French Army and by February, 1813, Prussia had become the ally of Russia. Both these countries decided to fight against Napoleon in Europe and to liberate the occupied countries, especially .

But Napoleon had organized a new army, which entered Germany and on May 2, 1813 defeated both the Russian and Prussian armies in the battle of Gross- Gorschen, and on the 20th and 21st of May, in the battle of Bautzen.

Both defeated states desired to gain Austria as an ally. At first, both the Emperor Francis, and his Grand Chancellor, Klement Lothar, Prince Metternich, were against the military and political unity, because they needed time for the reorganization and restsratlon of their army. Later~ both anticipated that time and events alone would tell whether Austria would have something to gain by playing the third actor in this conflict.

In May, the Prussian General Gerhard Johann David Scharnhorst travelled to Prague on his way to Vienna in order to meet with the Austrian politicians and military experts. But he died in Prague as a result of the wounds he had received in the battles of Gross Gorschen and Lutzen. The only advantage gained was the armed neutrality of Austria. In the meantime, the Chancellor of Austria met with the Russian Tsar Alexander I, and the Prussian King Frederic William III. The meeting was held at the castle of Ratiborice, near Nachod (the seat of Duchess Catherlna Wilhelmine of Sagan), and at the castle of Mnichovo Hradi§tN "~nchengratz", in the domain of Count E~nest Waldstein. On the 26th of June, Metternich visited Napoleon in his camp headquarters at Dresden, but on the 27th of June the Treaty of Reichenbach was signed between Russia, Austria and Prussia~ and the new war-coalitlon was formed.

The three allies announced their demands to Napoleon: FIRST: The new division of the Warsaw duchy between the Allies; SECOND: The return of Danzig to Prussia; THIRD: The return of the llyrian provinces to Austria

I0 The evacuation of the French Army from all fortresses in the Warsaw Duchy and in Prussia; The proclamation of Hamburg and L~beck as free Hansa towns, and, The liquidation of the Confederation.

Prague was the setting for a Congress at which Wilhelm von Humboldt represented Prussia, the State-Councillor yon Anstett represented Russia, and Marshal Caulaincourt, Duke of Vicenza for the French Emperor. The old city viewed the animated negotiations between these diplomats. The Emperor Francis was in residence at this time in his Czech castle Brandeis, and his daughter, the Empress of France was also in Prague. On the lOth of August, 1813, as the result of the meetings, Austria terminated its Armistice and declared war against France.

On the 13th of August, the Prussian general, Gebhard Leberecht Blucher commenced ope~atlons on the river Katzbach in Silesia, while the French penetrated Bohemia near the town of Rumburg and gained some towns in the north of the country. On August 19th, the commander-ln-chief Field-Marshal Prince Schwarzenberg called his general to Melnlk and decided to open the campaign against the French. His army, in four columns, with a strength of 224,000 (125,000 Austrians, including Czechs, 61,000 Russians and 38,000 Prussians) penetrated the Erzgeblrge. But on the 26th of August; Schwarzenberg was defeated in the battle of Dresden and after the famous attack of Joachim Murat on the next day, the whole so-called "Czech Army" began a disastrous retreat into Bohemia. On the 29th and 30th of August, segments of this retreating army were attacked by the French general Rene Dominique Vandamme near the villages of Prlesten, Kulm and Arbesau. As a result of the enormous heroism of the Russian forces under the command of Ostermann-Tolstoi and with the help of the Prussian corps led by General von Kleist, Vandamme was taken prisoner and his army defeated. On the 5th of September 1813, the little battle at Eupen took place and on the same day the Prussian general Bulow, with the help of Swedish Crown- Prince Jean Bernadotte (formerly a field-marshal of France), the battle at Dennewltz was won. The final treaty between the Allies was signed by the three monarchs at Teplice (the spa in North Bohemia) on September 9.

From August it had been clear that the Emperor Francis meant to follow his army during the field-campalgn which prompted the noblemen of Bohemia to form a special Bodyguard to acoompany the Emperor. This Bodyguard was called the Noble Guard, because it was composed of members of the nobility who had their domains in the kingdom of Bohemia.

After the defeats at Kulm, Eupen and Dennewitz, Napoleon concentrated his armies near Leipzig, where, on the 18th and 19th of October the famous "Battle of Nations" took place. The Allies were the victors in this battle and from that moment prepared a campaign directed ah France itself.

Opinions differed however, the Russians and Prussians desired to pursue Napoleon immediately, but the Austrian emperor decided against the move. It is to the credit of Prince Schwarzenberg that the real campaign began on the 21st of December. Austria possessed at that time the strongest army on the continent. The so called Czech Army consisted of 180 foot battalions, 263 mounted squadrons and 68 artillery batteries. In total, the whole army had 204,000 soldiers and 424 cannons.

The Emperor Francis I at that time was 45 years of age and because of his decision to accompany the army during their march against France, he accepted the offer of the Czech nobility to form a special Lifeguard. There is a question as to who initiated the organization of this body. Probably it was the High Chamberlain (Der Oberst-K~a~merer), Rodolphe, Count Wrbna, who, with the rank of colonel, commanded all Imperial guards (the Royal Hungarian Guard, the Trabants, and the Arciers in Vienna). These 38 members of the Czech (Bohemian) Nobility, mostly of German origin, united in this guard and were the contributors for the necessary funds to sustain the organi- zation. These nobles, at that time, were not in direct military service with Prince Schwarzenberg’s army.

The army marched through Switzerland to France by way of Schaffhausen, Basel, Lauffen, Porrentroul, Pontarller, Barsur-Aube and Troyes. By the 30th of January, the guard reached the town of Barsur-Selne; in February they passed through Alriche, Mont Bellion and Liese, finally entering the town of Dijon.

On the 31st of March 1814,the victorious Allies entered Paris with Tsar Alexander I, the Prussian King and the Austrian Commander-in-Chlef at the head of their respective armies. Emperor Francis I was at Dijon at this time and not until April 15 did he enter Paris with his suite and Czech Nobleguard, four days after Napoleon had abdicated at Fontainbleu.

On the 3rd of May, 1814, at the suggestion of Rodolphe, Count Wrbna, the Emperor decided to institute a specia! commemorative gold cross for the 38 members of his Czech Noble Guard. On the same day, the Austrian Army Cross of 1813/14, the so-called Cannon Cross, and the Gold and Silver Honor Cross were also instituted.

It has been stated that the guard was formed of 38 noblemen serving as guardsmen, but the actual number of soldiers in the unit was much larger. Probably 200 to 250 men, most of them non-commlssioned officers and other ranks served. These soldiers were in charge of the horses, luggage and transport of the troop. The officer in charge was Emanuel, Count Wratislaw, a Major-General in the Austrian Army.

The Emperor’s decision to issue a commemorative cross was conveyed to Vienna, where, the medalllst J.B. Harnisch prepared the design for the Noble Guard Cross. He was also the designer of a model of the Cannon Cross. All 38 Gold Crosses were manufactured by the Viensese Jeweller Johann Haas during the month of June, 1814. On the 30th of June, the "Gehelmes Kammerzahlamt" (Privy Chamber Pay Office) payed the amount of 3860 florins (Vienna currency). This sum represents 1,930 Thalers (i.e. 965 ducats), a considerable amount in those days.

On the 27th of July, 1814 the High Chamberlain, Rodolphe, Count Wrbna dispatched the crosses to individual guardsmen. They were as follows: i. Rudolf Johann Graf Wrbna yon Freudenthal (1761-1823)

2. GeneralmaJor Emanuel Graf Wratlslaw (1760-1840)

3. Obers~ Georg Graf Waldstein (1770-1837)

4. Oberleutnant Johann Graf Wratislaw (1797-1833)

5. Oberleutnant Probst Graf Wratlslaw (!763-1837)

6. Unterleutnant Johann Graf Pachta (1756-1834)

7. Unterleutnant Joachim Graf Woratschiczky (1780-1838)

8. Adjutant der Noblegarde: Klemens Freiherr yon Lincker (1785-1865)