Heinrich Hermann Josef Freiherr von Heß
von Hess in 1849
Born(1788-03-17)17 March 1788
Vienna
Died13 April 1870(1870-04-13) (aged 82)
Vienna
AllegianceAustrian Empire
Years of service1805–1860
RankFeldmarschall
Battles/warsWar of the Fifth Coalition
War of the Sixth Coalition
First Italian War of Independence
Second Italian War of Independence
AwardsMilitary Order of Maria Theresa

Heinrich Hermann Josef Freiherr von Heß (alternatively: von Hess) (17 March 1788, Vienna – 13 April 1870, Vienna), was an Austrian soldier and field marshal, who entered the army in 1805 and was soon employed as a staff officer on survey work.

He distinguished himself as a subaltern at Aspern and Wagram, and in 1813, as captain, again served on the staff. In 1815, he was with Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg. He had, in the interval between the two wars, been employed as a military commissioner in Piedmont, and at the peace resumed this post, gaining knowledge which later prover invaluable to the Austrian army.[1]

In 1831, when Radetzky became commander-in-chief in Austrian Italy, he took Heß as his chief of staff. This began the connection between two famous soldiers which, like that of Blücher and Gneisenau, is a classical example of harmonious co-operation between commander and chief of staff. Heß put into shape Radetzky's military ideas, in the form of new drill for each army, and, under their guidance, the Austrian army in North Italy, always on a war footing, became the best in Europe. From 1834 to 1848 Heß was employed in Moravia, at Vienna, etc., but, on the outbreak of revolution and war in the latter year, he was at once sent out to Radetzky as chief of staff.[1]

In the two campaigns against King Charles Albert which followed, culminating in the victory of Novara, Heß's assistance to his chief was made still more valuable by his knowledge of the enemy, and the old field-marshal acknowledged his services in general orders. Lieut.-Fieldmarshal Heß was at once promoted Feldzeugmeister, made a member of the emperor's council, and Freiherr von Heß assumed at the same time the duties of quartermaster-general. Next year he became chief of the staff to the emperor.[1]

He was often employed in missions to various capitals, and he appeared in the field in 1854 at the head of the Austrian army which intervened so effectually in the Crimean War. In 1859 he was sent to the Second Italian War of Independence after the early defeats. He became field-marshal in 1860, and a year later, on resigning his position as chief of staff, he was made captain of the Trabant guard. He died in Vienna in 1870.[1]

Orders and decorations

Notes

  • Regarding personal names: Freiherr is a former title (translated as Baron). In Germany since 1919, it forms part of family names. The feminine forms are Freifrau and Freiin.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hess, Heinrich Hermann Josef". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 409.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "K.K. Armee-Ober-Commando", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Kaiserthumes Österreich, Vienna, 1860, p. 192{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ↑ "Ritter-Orden: Militärischer Maria-Theresien Orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Kaiserthumes Österreich, Vienna, 1860, p. 43{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ↑ "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "Großherzogliche Orden", Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (in German), Karlsruhe, 1858, p. 63{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ↑ "Königliche Orden", Hof- und – Staatshandbuch des Königreichs Bayern (in German), Munich: Druck and Verlag, 1867, p. 28, 66 – via hathitrust.org
  7. ↑ Staat Hannover (1865). Hof- und Staatshandbuch für das Königreich Hannover: 1865. Berenberg. p. 76.
  8. ↑ "Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen", Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein (in German), Darmstadt: Staatsverlag, 1858–1959, pp. 33, 71 – via hathitrust.org
  9. ↑ Lehmann, Gustaf (1913). Die Ritter des Ordens pour le mérite 1812–1913 [The Knights of the Order of the Pour le Mérite] (in German). Vol. 2. Berlin: Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn. p. 241.
  10. ↑ Almanacco di corte (in Italian). 1858. p. 232. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
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