Nagy-L István szerk.: Pápai Múzeumi Értesítő 11. (Pápa, 2006)

Haderő és hadviselés 1809-ben - DAVID HOLLINS: Ausztria vezérleti rendszere - a modern szervezet eredete

However, political manoeuvring in Vienna had enabled the Hofkriegsrat once again to appoint the Chiefs of Staff. Mayer was removed and replaced by the incompetent Feldmarschalleutnant Prochaska. Once away from Vienna, Charles was in more control of his army and following the failure at Teugn-Hausen, Prochaska was expelled from headquarters. The new Chief of Staff was the former General Adjutant, Max, who would plan and direct the victory at Aspern and fighting napoleon to a bloody standstill at Wagram. Archduke John's Chief of Staff was Laval Nugent, who was 32 at this time. He was one of the Irish (although of Scottish ancestry) in the Imperial Army, as his father had left Dublin to join the Austrian army with the "Wild Geese". Like several Chiefs of Staff, he had served in the technical branches, having joined the Engineers as an Oberleutnant in 1794. He had joined the staff in 1799, when it was expanded for the Second Coalition, as a technical officer and he directed the successful siege of the Turin citadel in June. Promoted to Major in 1800, he was chief of staff to his fellow countryman, Generalmajor Brady, who comamdned a column of the army around Genoa that spring. In a typical staff task, he led an assault on the St. Croce mountains near Genoa. From there, he joined Archduke Charles' headquarters in the 1805 Italian campaign and was the obvious choice as Archduke John's Chief of Staff in the same theatre in 1809, directing the victory at Sacile. Tn 1813, as a Generalmajor, he led a small force to raise the former Grenzers in French-held Croatia and took the key port of Trieste before forming the left wing of Bellegarde'

s main army. His last command was as corps commander once again in Italy under Radetzky in the 1848-9 campaign. Austrian Staff System: 1811 to the 1813/15 War The final phase of the development of the Austrian staff began in 1811, as Radetzky, who was both Army Chief of Staff and a member of the Hofkriegrat (Administrative War Council), began his own reform programme. His proposals in "Uber die bessere Einrichtung des General stabs" prioritised the Chief of Staff's managerial and supervisory role. His task was now to take charge of all the staff officers and the various departments would be under their own directors. The Chief of Staff could then look at the whole army and its operations, so that he could be aware of everything happening in headquarters as the Commander-in-Chief's right-hand man. The training of staff officers, where Austria had been deficient in previous campaigns, received greater attention, with a training plan written by Schels and winter classes for the officers from 1811 onwards. In this system lay the beginnings of a formal staff corps, whose members could also specialise further in operations, intelligence and logistics. In 1813, Prince Schwarzenberg enjoyed complete independence from Vienna's politicians as all the monarchs had agreed on his appointment as Allied army commander. Although it was a full-time political task for the Prince to keep them happy, his position enabled him to confirm Radetzky as Allied Chief of Staff for the 1813 war. Within the political requirements - Metternich'

s policy was to defeat napoleon, but not to destroy his army - Radetzky could agree the operational strategy, known as the Trachenberg plan, with the Prussian Scharnhorst, the head of Operations, the Saxon Langenau, and the Russian general Toll. While his boss dealt with the political leaders and was responsible