Prince Schwarzenberg: The General who Defeated Napoleon

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Pop quiz: which general defeated Napoleon? If you grew up speaking English, chances are you answered Wellington, the Duke who commanded British forces at the Battle of Waterloo. Wellington was indeed the man who oversaw Emperor Napoleon’s bitter end, but while Waterloo may have been the epilogue to the Napoleonic Wars, it wasn’t the grand finale. That had come over a year earlier when one general managed to smash Napoleon’s Grand Army, invade France, capture Paris, and force the petty corporal to abdicate his throne and go into exile. The identity of that man? Prince Karl Philipp von Schwarzenberg, the former supreme commander of the Allied forces.

Schwarzenberg was the first man in history to defeat Napoleon in the field when his army won the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. But Schwarzenberg wasn’t merely a good general; just months before, he had been a Grand Army Field Marshal fighting alongside Napoleon in Russia. He even helped arrange the Emperor’s marriage. Yet when the time came, he was more than happy to deliver his former comrade the killer blow. This is the life of Prince Schwarzenberg, the man who defeated Napoleon.

At the moment Karl Philipp von Schwarzenberg was born on April 15, 1771, there was little to suggest history was on the cusp of changing. His family were old-school aristocrats comfortably settled in the Kingdom of Bohemia, controlled by Europe’s most powerful royals, the Habsburgs. The Habsburgs were also big fans of the Schwarzenbergs, and it seemed Karl was destined for a stable life in their stable Empire. Even though Karl underwent military training as a young man, no one really expected him to do anything beyond fight the odd small war for the glory of the emperor.

However, had Karl been born with second sight, he might have picked a different career. Over in Western Europe, a time bomb was ticking—a gigantic time bomb of resentments and anger that was destined to explode with enough force to reshape the continent: France. When it finally went off, it would very nearly destroy the stable Empire that Karl called home.

In 1788, war broke out between Austria and the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans, just as seventeen-year-old Karl von Schwarzenberg was graduating from Military Academy. This being the olden days, Karl immediately purchased a left-hand and ship in the Imperial cavalry and rode off to fight. His first experience of war was a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, he turned out to be a courageous leader of men; on the other hand, he also turned out to be a sickly individual who would spend most of his adult life laid up with illness. A year into the war, Karl fell badly sick and was discharged to recuperate, spending almost two years pestering people for news from the war.

However, it was the news from France that would really decide his future. On July 14, 1789, an angry Parisian mob stormed the Bastille, lynching its commandant. It was the first sign that something was seriously wrong with the Holy Roman Empire’s western neighbor. In 1791, Schwarzenberg had recovered enough to return to active service. At first, he was posted to the Latorred Dragoons, but everyone knew he had only gotten the job due to his high birth and basically ghosted him until he stormed off in a sulk.

The Osman War concluded with a technical victory for Austria, but so little to show for it that they might as well have stayed home. For Karl, this was likely a disappointment. However, another much bigger war was just around the corner, known as the War of the First Coalition. By 1792, the Revolution was well underway in France, and the National Assembly had deposed the king. It was on this potential powder keg that the Habsburgs dropped a flaming match, leading to France declaring war on April 20, 1792.

Karl von Schwarzenberg was perfectly placed to get stuck right into this new war. He was there at the Battle of Neerwinden on March 18, 1793, helping to beat back the French from the Austrian Netherlands. He was also there at the Battle of Licata on April 26, 1794, leading his regiments on a near-suicidal charge right into the French lines. It was this latter battle that first established Schwarzenberg’s name as a soldier, netting him the Order of Maria Theresa, the Habsburg’s highest military honor.

However, Schwarzenberg wasn’t the only one making a name for himself in this war. Across the lines on the French side, a brilliant young commander from Corsica was rising through the ranks—Napoleon Bonaparte. The War of the First Coalition finally ended in October 1797, with the Habsburgs humiliated but not yet down. Peace did not last long, and the War of the Second Coalition broke out shortly after.

Schwarzenberg spent a collective decade sidelined due to his ill health, but it was during the War of the Second Coalition that he finally exploded onto the international stage. On November 9, 1799, the general overthrew the French Directory in a coup, taking over as First Consul. It was the beginning of the Napoleonic era, an era that would transform the entire world.

Despite his illness, Schwarzenberg was back in the field before 1800 was out. The Habsburgs must have been pretty sure that he was their ticket to victory because they promoted him to division general and assigned him to Archduke Charles, the younger brother of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. However, this was never a war the Habsburgs could win. On February 9, 1801, Francis II signed a treaty with France, ending his involvement in the war.

After maintaining peace for a few years, Schwarzenberg stepped back from military duties to begin his second major career as a diplomat. His first assignment was to travel to St. Petersburg and represent Austria at the coronation of Alexander I. But Schwarzenberg’s existence revolved around one thing: war. His most significant war yet was already gearing up.

On December 2, 1804, Napoleon had himself coronated Emperor in Paris. Around this same time, Europe’s other powers decided to finally put a stop to this French nonsense once and for all. The Third Coalition formed over the winter of 1804 to 1806, and Charles sent for Schwarzenberg, appointing him vice-president of the Habsburg War Council. However, he then proceeded to ignore all of Karl’s advice, which included warnings against going to war.

In mid-1805, Austria joined the War of the Third Coalition, which would be a disaster of history-making proportions. The Battle of Ulm should be synonymous with disaster, as the Austrians advanced and were promptly encircled by Napoleon’s forces. Over 25,000 men were captured, along with 18 generals and basically the whole Austrian High Command. The only reason we have the qualifier “basically” is because Schwarzenberg managed to escape.

Karl pulled together his cavalry squadrons and smashed through the French lines to safety. He returned to Vienna, where he desperately warned everyone not to engage Napoleon’s forces again. If only they had listened. On December 2, 1805, the Holy Roman Empire and Russia faced Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz, where the French smashed their opponents so thoroughly that nothing could be salvaged in the aftermath. The Holy Roman Empire, which had stood for roughly a thousand years, was dismantled.

While the Habsburgs managed to consolidate some of their lands into the Austrian Empire, the scale of defeat was still colossal. The Holy Roman Empire ended on August 6, 1806, when Schwarzenberg received the news while he was gravely ill. The shock of the Empire’s fall didn’t finish him off; instead, he slowly began to rally, although it would take three years before he could return to active service.

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As Prussia, Russia, and France duked it out, Karl von Schwarzenberg spent his time back on light duties as an Austrian diplomat. He was in St. Petersburg when Metternich decided that Austria joining the War of the Fifth Coalition would be a splendid idea. However, his brilliant plan collapsed when Tsar Alexander said he would sit this one out. The War of the Fifth Coalition turned out to be even worse for Austria than the last one, with Napoleon smashing their army and occupying Vienna.

Even though Schwarzenberg managed to drag himself back to the field for the Battle of Wagram, it was still a humiliating defeat. In the aftermath, Metternich recalibrated Austria’s stance; no longer would they be fighting France, but rather cozying up to it. Within a month of Napoleon imposing a humiliating treaty on Austria, Schwarzenberg was in Paris as the new ambassador.

He presented his credentials to the Emperor, and it was the first time the two had ever met. Napoleon seemed to respond to the soldier within Schwarzenberg, and they immediately got on well. Schwarzenberg was there in part to help arrange Napoleon’s marriage to Archduchess Marie Louise. With Austria now beaten, Metternich decided to offer the eighteen-year-old Archduchess as a sacrifice to guarantee Napoleon wouldn’t dismantle their empire.

In the spring of 1810, Napoleon and Marie Louise were married, and Schwarzenberg organized a huge ball to celebrate. Unfortunately, the end of the evening was tragic when a candle set fire to a curtain, causing an inferno that swept through the packed hall, killing 19 guests, including Schwarzenberg’s sister. The disaster was written off as bad luck.

A year and a half later, Napoleon began drawing up plans for his grand invasion of Russia. When it came time to assemble his Grand Army’s foreign auxiliaries, he offered Schwarzenberg the chance to lead them, which he accepted without hesitation. On June 24, 1812, the Grand Army marched into Russia, one of the largest fighting forces ever assembled.

As Napoleon headed east, the Russian army fell back without fighting, burning crops and cities until even Moscow was in flames. Schwarzenberg witnessed the whole army march off in summer confidence, only to see the frozen, bedraggled remnants try to scramble back to safety. It was a hideous reversal of fortune, made possible by temperatures so low that Napoleon’s troops died in droves.

Schwarzenberg didn’t gloat over his former enemy’s misfortune; instead, he sprang into action. It was his Austrian auxiliaries who formed the rear guard for the retreating Grand Army, keeping the advancing Russians at bay. It was a courageous stand, but also a risky one. For the first time ever, Napoleon was losing, and this seemed like the right time for the Austrians to turn on the French. But Schwarzenberg was a soldier, and if it was his duty to fight alongside France, then he would do so until his last breath.

For saving the retreat, Napoleon promoted Schwarzenberg to Field Marshal, a huge honor for a foreigner in the Emperor’s forces. Yet Schwarzenberg would soon no longer be part of the French war machine. With Napoleon’s Russian venture failing, Metternich back in Austria decided they no longer had to worry about Schwarzenberg. Austria shifted to an officially neutral position, and Schwarzenberg led his soldiers back onto Austrian territory.

He then hightailed it back to Paris to try and broker peace. By now, Napoleon was back in the French capital, even as his army continued to suffer in Central Europe. Schwarzenberg begged his former comrade to do a deal, but Napoleon rebuffed him, still certain he could win the war. Shortly after, in August 1813, Metternich brought Austria into the newly formed Sixth Coalition alongside Russia, Prussia, and Belgium.

It was decided that this huge Allied force needed a supreme commander, someone who could head its vast operations across Europe. You can almost imagine Metternich smirking and saying, “I’ve got just the guy.” Although Schwarzenberg technically became supreme commander of the Allies that summer, in reality, he wasn’t as supreme as he may have liked. Every nation fighting the war had wildly different goals and ideas of how to achieve them.

This led to disaster at Dresden in August 1813, where the war council decided to advance on the city despite Schwarzenberg’s warnings. Napoleon sprang his trap, and the Sixth Coalition was nearly destroyed. It was only Napoleon’s own mistakes that prevented a French victory. After the Dresden debacle, people started to listen to Schwarzenberg. His plan was simple: go slow, don’t split forces, pick off Napoleon’s field marshals one by one, and avoid traps.

It became a war of attrition, with Schwarzenberg’s huge army grinding slowly on, denying Napoleon the epic battles he had been expecting. Finally, in mid-October, Schwarzenberg was ready to meet his former comrade on the field at the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of Nations. It was the largest single engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, likely the largest European battle prior to World War I. Across four days, half a million men fought to decide the fate of Europe.

At the end of it, the Allies stood victorious. On the first day, Napoleon nearly broke Schwarzenberg’s Royal Army of Bohemia before reinforcements arrived. The turning point was Schwarzenberg personally leading a counter-offensive cavalry charge that drove Napoleon’s troops back, breaking his advantage. By October 18, the battle was over, with 127,000 casualties. The Allies had done it; for the first time ever, Napoleon had been defeated in the field, not by Russian weather but by another general.

In the aftermath, Schwarzenberg pushed for an invasion of France, only to be rebuffed by Metternich, who wanted to try for peace. On January 1, 1814, Schwarzenberg divided the Allied army in two and marched half of it into southern France. The French campaign is today a great “what if.” Napoleon fought so well that you almost want to declare him the moral victor. Had he been up against slightly weaker opponents, the war could have ended very differently.

But Schwarzenberg wasn’t weak. He held his nerve as his forces moved across France, ignoring cries to press his advantage. It was only when Napoleon ceased to cut the Allied lines of communication that Schwarzenberg rolled everything on the biggest gamble of his career. Instead of pursuing his enemy, he raced north for Paris. On March 31, 1814, coalition troops entered the French capital. Realizing his mistake, Napoleon tried to double back, but it was too late. Schwarzenberg entered the city two days later, and on April 2, the French Senate deposed Napoleon, ending his reign.

Of course, this wasn’t the end of Napoleon. In February 1815, he escaped his island prison and returned to France, kicking off a period known as the Hundred Days. This period ended with Waterloo, where Wellington defeated Napoleon for the final time. But by then, Karl von Schwarzenberg’s part in this story was already over. It ended with him marching into Paris, triumphant as the first man to have ever bested Napoleon.

Yet his triumph didn’t last long. In October 1820, Schwarzenberg was back at Leipzig, revisiting the battlefield from seven years earlier. While surveying the site, the former general suffered a catastrophic stroke and died just days later, not yet even 50. When the news broke, Austria declared three days of mourning. The Russian Tsar said, “Europe has lost a hero, and I a friend.” For everyone alive in 1820, it was clear that a legend had just died.

Yet today, some 200 years later, who still remembers Karl Philipp von Schwarzenberg? While Napoleon, Wellington, and even Metternich are still famous, Schwarzenberg has slipped through the cracks of history, disappearing into the footnotes. Partly that’s because of the Hundred Days; if your major claim to fame is beating Napoleon, it kind of puts a damper on things if he then returns. However, the Hundred Days was just a sad tribute act. While Wellington was undoubtedly talented, his victory was only so final because Schwarzenberg had already laid the groundwork.

In learning about history, it’s all too tempting to focus only on the headline acts, to read about the people whose names still resonate. But the story of Prince Schwarzenberg shows that sometimes it’s the most fascinating characters who get forgotten the most—the most talented men who slip into obscurity. We will remember Wellington today, but we should also take care to remember Karl von Schwarzenberg, the general who defeated Napoleon.

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