Andreas O'Reilly von Ballinlough
Encyclopedia
Andreas Graf O'Reilly von Ballinlough (3 August 1742 - 5 July 1832) was an Austria
n soldier and commander of Irish
origin. His military service extended through the Seven Years' War
, War of the Bavarian Succession, Austro-Turkish War, French Revolutionary Wars
, and Napoleonic Wars
. He retired from the army in 1810 and lived until the age of 89.
Ballinlough was born in Ballinlough, County Roscommon
, Ireland. At the age of 14, O'Reilly joined the army of Habsburg Austria and fought against the Kingdom of Prussia
. After rising in the army, he married into an aristocratic family in his 40s. He led a cavalry regiment in combat against the Ottoman Turks
. In the war with the First French Republic he was promoted to general officer. He played a leading role in the Battle of Marengo in 1800, where he led one of the Austrian attack columns. In his 60s he fought courageously against the First French Empire
in 1805 and was compelled to surrender Vienna in 1809. From 1803 until his death he was Proprietor (Inhaber)
of an Austrian light cavalry regiment.
. In 1784 he wed Barbara Gräfin von Sweerts und Sporck (1760–1834) from a Bohemian noble family. That year he also rose in rank to Oberstleutnant
. In 1787 he acquired the aristocratic title, Andreas Graf
O'Reilly von Ballinlough. In 1790 during the war against Turkey he was elevated to Oberst
and took command of the Modena Chevau-léger Regiment # 13. He led his regiment at the Siege of Belgrade
in late 1789.
during the War of the First Coalition in 1794. He achieved distinction at the Battle of Amberg on 24 August 1796. At the First Battle of Zürich
on 4 June 1799, he led a brigade in Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze
's Left Wing. His command consisted of one battalion of the Peterwardeiner Grenz Infantry
Regiment # 9, three battalions of the Kaunitz Infantry Regiment # 20, two squadrons of the Coburg Dragoon
Regiment # 6, and two squadrons of Grenz Hussars. He transferred to the army of Michael von Melas
in Italy and received promotion to Feldmarschallleutnant on 6 March 1800.
Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Italy across the Great St Bernard Pass in May 1800 and seized Milan
on 2 June. Reacting to the surprise French offensive, Melas ordered O'Reilly to take 3,000 troops and an artillery convoy to defend Piacenza
. The Austrian army commander hoped to use Piacenza as a base to launch a counterattack against Milan. In the event, Piacenza fell to the French before O'Reilly reached it. On 6 June, after an 11-hour skirmish, he successfully managed to save the artillery convoy and withdraw to the west, while fending off a French column that tried to cut him off.
At the Battle of Montebello
on 9 June, Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz
ordered O'Reilly to hold the village of Casteggio
with six battalions and four squadrons. When Jean Lannes
advanced that morning, Ott was under instructions to avoid a battle. Yet, when he saw O'Reilly's men come under attack, Ott ignored army Chief of staff
Anton von Zach
's advice and committed his corps to battle. O'Reilly defended Casteggio stubbornly as the French persisted in their attacks for hours. Reinforced by Claude Perrin Victor, the French finally gained the upper hand and Ott called on O'Reilly to cover the retreat.
On 14 June at the Battle of Marengo Melas gave O'Reilly command of the 3,000-strong Right Column. The units under his leadership included single battalions of the Banater #4, Warasdiner-Kreutzer #5, Oguliner # 3, and Ottocaner # 2 Grenz Infantry Regiments, plus one company of Mariassy Jägers. He also led detachments from three cavalry regiments, three squadrons of Nauendorf Hussars # 8, two squadrons of Hussars # 5, and one squadron of Württemberg Dragoons # 8. On the afternoon of the 13th, O'Reilly held Marengo
village, which Melas intended to hold in preparation for his planned offensive the next day. In contrast to his stout defense of Casteggio, O'Reilly's performance was weak and Victor captured Marengo after only an hour of fighting. The loss of the village meant that the Austrian army had to fight over the same ground the next day.
On the morning of the 14th, the Advance Guard under Johann Maria Philipp Frimont
and O'Reilly's Right Column soon found Gaspard Amédée Gardanne
's French division blocking their path. Gardanne's men, deployed on a narrow front, blunted the Austrian advance for 90 minutes and forced Melas to commit large forces to the attack. While the rest of the army hammered at the main French battle line near Marengo, O'Reilly became preoccupied with Achille Dampierre's 300 to 400 Frenchmen who occupied Stortigliona Farm on the south flank. When the outnumbered defenders withdrew to the south, O'Reilly, displaying "no initiative whatsoever" followed Dampierre. Ignoring the now-exposed French left flank, the Austrian Right Column hunted down Dampierre's force at Cassina Bianca. Dampierre finally surrendered to the Oguliner Grenz at 7:00 pm that evening after losing two-thirds of his men as casualties. But, the small French detachment tied up a significant part of O'Reilly's column during the day Nevertheless, he earned the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa
on 18 August 1801.
Meanwhile, Melas finally cracked the French line near Marengo and organized a pursuit column. At about 3:00 pm, Konrad Valentin von Kaim
's center column lurched into motion, with Ott's Left Column to the north and elements of O'Reilly and Frimont's forces to the south. Late-arriving French reinforcements routed Kaim's center column around 5:00 pm. In the stampede that followed, O'Reilly was able to retreat to the bridgehead successfully and covered the withdrawal of Ott's column that evening.
At the beginning of the War of the Third Coalition, O'Reilly led a cavalry division in the Armee von Italien of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
. Under his command were the Kaiser Chevau-léger Regiment # 1 and Kienmayer Hussar Regiment # 8, a total of 16 squadrons. In the Battle of Verona (1805)
on 18 October 1805, Count Heinrich von Bellegarde led his corps to support Josef Philipp Vukassovich
, whose division was under attack by the French. O'Reilly's division was only lightly engaged before darkness ended the fighting. At the Battle of Caldiero on 30 October, O'Reilly's division participated in the counterattacks which helped restore the Austrian line. For his actions in the war, he earned the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa on 28 May 1806.
In the War of the Fifth Coalition
, Emperor Napoleon I of France
defeated Johann von Hiller
at the Battle of Landshut
on 21 April 1809 and Archduke Charles at the Battle of Eckmühl
on 22 April. These defeats left Hiller's outnumbered force isolated on the south bank of the Danube. Hiller's retreat left Vienna
exposed to French capture. Accordingly, Archduke Maximilian of Austria-Este was given the task of garrisoning Vienna with the 35,000 available troops. O'Reilly commanded 14 battalions of second-class Austrian and Bohemian landwehr
plus 6,000 armed citizens. Other forces included a brigade of five elite grenadier battalions under Michael von Kienmayer
; Joseph Dedovich's division of eight regular, six landwehr, and six volunteer battalions; and four battalions and five squadrons under Armand von Nordmann
and Joseph, Baron von Mesko de Felsö-Kubiny
. After a bombardment, the inexperienced Maximilian decided to abandon the capital and ordered O'Reilly to surrender with a token garrison. The archduke mismanaged the evacuation and O'Reilly capitulated on 13 May with 2,000 troops, including 13 generals, 17 staff officers, 163 officers. Even worse, the French recovered 100 pieces of artillery and a military chest with 4.5 million Gulden
.
O'Reilly left the army on 7 January 1810, being promoted to General der Kavallerie upon retirement. He died at Vienna on 5 July 1832, only one month shy of his 90th birthday.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n soldier and commander of Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
origin. His military service extended through the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
, War of the Bavarian Succession, Austro-Turkish War, French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
, and Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. He retired from the army in 1810 and lived until the age of 89.
Ballinlough was born in Ballinlough, County Roscommon
Ballinlough, County Roscommon
Ballinlough is a small town in County Roscommon, Ireland. The N60 national secondary road passes through it. The town is between Ballyhaunis and Castlerea on the Roscommon to Castlebar road....
, Ireland. At the age of 14, O'Reilly joined the army of Habsburg Austria and fought against the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
. After rising in the army, he married into an aristocratic family in his 40s. He led a cavalry regiment in combat against the Ottoman Turks
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks were the Turkish-speaking population of the Ottoman Empire who formed the base of the state's military and ruling classes. Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks is scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı , from the house of Osman I The Ottoman...
. In the war with the First French Republic he was promoted to general officer. He played a leading role in the Battle of Marengo in 1800, where he led one of the Austrian attack columns. In his 60s he fought courageously against the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
in 1805 and was compelled to surrender Vienna in 1809. From 1803 until his death he was Proprietor (Inhaber)
Proprietor (Inhaber)
A Proprietor, or Inhaber, was a term used in the Habsburg military to denote special honors extended to a noble or aristocrat. The Habsburg army was organized on principles developed for the feudal armies in which regiments were raised by a wealthy noble, called the Inhaber who also acted as...
of an Austrian light cavalry regiment.
Early career
Andreas O'Reilly was born in Ireland on 3 August 1742. He joined the army of Habsburg Austria as a volunteer in 1756 and fought in the Seven Years' War. In the War of the Bavarian Succession, he achieved promotion to the rank of MajorMajor
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
. In 1784 he wed Barbara Gräfin von Sweerts und Sporck (1760–1834) from a Bohemian noble family. That year he also rose in rank to Oberstleutnant
Oberstleutnant
Oberstleutnant is a German Army and Air Force rank equal to Lieutenant Colonel, above Major, and below Oberst.There are two paygrade associated to the rank of Oberstleutnant...
. In 1787 he acquired the aristocratic title, Andreas Graf
Graf
Graf is a historical German noble title equal in rank to a count or a British earl...
O'Reilly von Ballinlough. In 1790 during the war against Turkey he was elevated to Oberst
Oberst
Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
and took command of the Modena Chevau-léger Regiment # 13. He led his regiment at the Siege of Belgrade
Siege of Belgrade (1789)
In the Siege of Belgrade from 15 September to 8 October 1789, an army of Habsburg Austria led by Feldmarschall Ernst Gideon Freiherr von Laudon besieged an Ottoman Turkish force in the fortress of Belgrade. After a three week leaguer, the Austrians stormed and captured the fortress...
in late 1789.
French Revolutionary Wars
O'Reilly was promoted to General-MajorBrigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
during the War of the First Coalition in 1794. He achieved distinction at the Battle of Amberg on 24 August 1796. At the First Battle of Zürich
First Battle of Zürich
The Helvetic Republic in 1798 became a battlefield of the French Revolutionary Wars. In the First Battle of Zurich on 4 – 7 June 1799, French general André Masséna was forced to yield the city to the Austrians under Archduke Charles and retreated beyond the Limmat, where he managed to fortify his...
on 4 June 1799, he led a brigade in Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze
Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze
Friedrich Hotze, also known as Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze , a Swiss-born field marshal in the Austrian army during the French Revolutionary Wars, campaigned in the Rhineland during the War of the First Coalition and in Switzerland in the War of the Second Coalition, notably at Battle of...
's Left Wing. His command consisted of one battalion of the Peterwardeiner Grenz Infantry
Grenz infantry
Grenz infantry or Grenzers were light infantry troops who came from the Croatian and Transylvanian Military Frontier in Habsburg Monarchy . This borderland formed a buffer zone between Christian Europe and the Ottoman Empire, and the troops were originally raised to defend Austria against the...
Regiment # 9, three battalions of the Kaunitz Infantry Regiment # 20, two squadrons of the Coburg Dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
Regiment # 6, and two squadrons of Grenz Hussars. He transferred to the army of Michael von Melas
Michael von Melas
Michael Friedrich Benedikt Baron von Melas was a Transylvanian-born field marshal of Greek descent for the Austrian Empire during the Napoleonic Wars....
in Italy and received promotion to Feldmarschallleutnant on 6 March 1800.
Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Italy across the Great St Bernard Pass in May 1800 and seized Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
on 2 June. Reacting to the surprise French offensive, Melas ordered O'Reilly to take 3,000 troops and an artillery convoy to defend Piacenza
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
. The Austrian army commander hoped to use Piacenza as a base to launch a counterattack against Milan. In the event, Piacenza fell to the French before O'Reilly reached it. On 6 June, after an 11-hour skirmish, he successfully managed to save the artillery convoy and withdraw to the west, while fending off a French column that tried to cut him off.
At the Battle of Montebello
Battle of Montebello (1800)
The Battle of Montebello was fought on 9 June 1800 near Montebello in Lombardy. During the lead-up to the Battle of Marengo, the vanguard of the French army in Italy engaged and defeated an Austrian force in a "glorious victory".-Background:...
on 9 June, Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz
Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz
Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz joined the Austrian army and fought in the wars against the Kingdom of Prussia, Ottoman Turkey, and the First French Republic in the last half of the 18th century. During the French Revolutionary Wars, he rose in rank to general officer and twice campaigned against the...
ordered O'Reilly to hold the village of Casteggio
Casteggio
Casteggio is a comune in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 61 km south of Milan and about 25 km south of Pavia...
with six battalions and four squadrons. When Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes, 1st Duc de Montebello, was a Marshal of France. He was one of Napoleon's most daring and talented generals. Napoleon once commented on Lannes: "I found him a pygmy and left him a giant"...
advanced that morning, Ott was under instructions to avoid a battle. Yet, when he saw O'Reilly's men come under attack, Ott ignored army Chief of staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
Anton von Zach
Anton von Zach
Anton Freiherr von Zach enlisted in the army of Habsburg Austria and fought against the First French Republic. In the French Revolutionary Wars, he gained prominence as a staff officer. Still on active service during the Napoleonic Wars, he fought in the 1805 and 1809 wars...
's advice and committed his corps to battle. O'Reilly defended Casteggio stubbornly as the French persisted in their attacks for hours. Reinforced by Claude Perrin Victor, the French finally gained the upper hand and Ott called on O'Reilly to cover the retreat.
Spinetta Marengo
Spinetta Marengo is a town in Piedmont, Italy located within the municipal boundaries of the comune of Alessandria. The population is 6,417....
village, which Melas intended to hold in preparation for his planned offensive the next day. In contrast to his stout defense of Casteggio, O'Reilly's performance was weak and Victor captured Marengo after only an hour of fighting. The loss of the village meant that the Austrian army had to fight over the same ground the next day.
On the morning of the 14th, the Advance Guard under Johann Maria Philipp Frimont
Johann Maria Philipp Frimont
Johann Maria Philipp Frimont, Count of Palota, Prince of Antrodoco was an Austrian general.Frimont was born at Fénétrange, in what is now French Lorraine...
and O'Reilly's Right Column soon found Gaspard Amédée Gardanne
Gaspard Amédée Gardanne
Gaspard Amédée Gardanne was a French general who fought in the Napoleonic Wars.-Biography:Born at at Solliès-Pont, he joined the French royal army in 1779. After the French Revolution he joined a volunteer unit as an officer. He fought under Napoleon Bonaparte during the 1796-1797 and 1800...
's French division blocking their path. Gardanne's men, deployed on a narrow front, blunted the Austrian advance for 90 minutes and forced Melas to commit large forces to the attack. While the rest of the army hammered at the main French battle line near Marengo, O'Reilly became preoccupied with Achille Dampierre's 300 to 400 Frenchmen who occupied Stortigliona Farm on the south flank. When the outnumbered defenders withdrew to the south, O'Reilly, displaying "no initiative whatsoever" followed Dampierre. Ignoring the now-exposed French left flank, the Austrian Right Column hunted down Dampierre's force at Cassina Bianca. Dampierre finally surrendered to the Oguliner Grenz at 7:00 pm that evening after losing two-thirds of his men as casualties. But, the small French detachment tied up a significant part of O'Reilly's column during the day Nevertheless, he earned the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa
Military Order of Maria Theresa
The Military Order of Maria Theresa was an Order of the Austro-Hungarian Empire founded on June 18, 1757, the day of the Battle of Kolin, by the Empress...
on 18 August 1801.
Meanwhile, Melas finally cracked the French line near Marengo and organized a pursuit column. At about 3:00 pm, Konrad Valentin von Kaim
Konrad Valentin von Kaim
Johann Konrad Valentin Ritter von Kaim was a French soldier and Austrian infantry commander during the French Revolutionary Wars. He was born in Gengenbach and died in Udine.-Footnotes:...
's center column lurched into motion, with Ott's Left Column to the north and elements of O'Reilly and Frimont's forces to the south. Late-arriving French reinforcements routed Kaim's center column around 5:00 pm. In the stampede that followed, O'Reilly was able to retreat to the bridgehead successfully and covered the withdrawal of Ott's column that evening.
Napoleonic Wars
In 1803, he became Inhaber of the O'Reilly Chevau-léger Regiment # 3 and held this position during his lifetime. The regiment became noted for its outstanding combat efficiency during the 1809 war.At the beginning of the War of the Third Coalition, O'Reilly led a cavalry division in the Armee von Italien of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...
. Under his command were the Kaiser Chevau-léger Regiment # 1 and Kienmayer Hussar Regiment # 8, a total of 16 squadrons. In the Battle of Verona (1805)
Battle of Verona (1805)
The Battle of Verona was fought on 18 October 1805 between the French Army of Italy under the command of André Masséna and an Austrian army led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. By the end of the day, Massena seized a bridgehead on the east bank of the Adige River, driving back the defending...
on 18 October 1805, Count Heinrich von Bellegarde led his corps to support Josef Philipp Vukassovich
Josef Philipp Vukassovich
Josef Philipp von Vukassovich , also Josef Wukassovitch, was a Croatian soldier who joined the army of Habsburg Monarchy and fought against both Ottoman Empire and the First French Republic. During the French Revolutionary Wars, he commanded a brigade in the 1796–1797 Italian campaign against...
, whose division was under attack by the French. O'Reilly's division was only lightly engaged before darkness ended the fighting. At the Battle of Caldiero on 30 October, O'Reilly's division participated in the counterattacks which helped restore the Austrian line. For his actions in the war, he earned the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa on 28 May 1806.
In the War of the Fifth Coalition
War of the Fifth Coalition
The War of the Fifth Coalition, fought in the year 1809, pitted a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and Bavaria. Major engagements between France and Austria, the main participants, unfolded over much of Central Europe from April to July, with...
, Emperor Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
defeated Johann von Hiller
Johann von Hiller
Johann Baron von Hiller, June 10, 1754 – June 5, 1819, was an Austrian general during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars...
at the Battle of Landshut
Battle of Landshut (1809)
The Battle of Landshut took place on April 21, 1809, between the French, Württembergers and Bavarians under Napoleon which numbered about 77,000 strong, and 36,000 Austrians under the General Johann von Hiller...
on 21 April 1809 and Archduke Charles at the Battle of Eckmühl
Battle of Eckmühl
The Battle of Eckmühl fought on 21 April – 22 April 1809, was the turning point of the 1809 Campaign, also known as the War of the Fifth Coalition...
on 22 April. These defeats left Hiller's outnumbered force isolated on the south bank of the Danube. Hiller's retreat left Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
exposed to French capture. Accordingly, Archduke Maximilian of Austria-Este was given the task of garrisoning Vienna with the 35,000 available troops. O'Reilly commanded 14 battalions of second-class Austrian and Bohemian landwehr
Landwehr
Landwehr, or Landeswehr, is a German language term used in referring to certain national armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large scale, low strength fortifications...
plus 6,000 armed citizens. Other forces included a brigade of five elite grenadier battalions under Michael von Kienmayer
Michael von Kienmayer
Michael von Kienmayer was an Austrian general who was active during the Napoleonic Wars.von Kienmayer joined the army of Habsburg Austria and fought against the Kingdom of Prussia and Ottoman Turkey. During the French Revolutionary Wars, he continued to make his reputation in the cavalry and...
; Joseph Dedovich's division of eight regular, six landwehr, and six volunteer battalions; and four battalions and five squadrons under Armand von Nordmann
Armand von Nordmann
Joseph-Armand Ritter von Nordmann, born 31 August 1759 – died 6 July 1809, was a French officer in the French Royal Army. He transferred his allegiance to Habsburg Austria during the French Revolution, like other French émigrés...
and Joseph, Baron von Mesko de Felsö-Kubiny
Joseph, Baron von Mesko de Felsö-Kubiny
Joseph de Mesko, Freiherr von Felsö-Kubiny was a cavalry general and field marshal in Austrian service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.- Military service :...
. After a bombardment, the inexperienced Maximilian decided to abandon the capital and ordered O'Reilly to surrender with a token garrison. The archduke mismanaged the evacuation and O'Reilly capitulated on 13 May with 2,000 troops, including 13 generals, 17 staff officers, 163 officers. Even worse, the French recovered 100 pieces of artillery and a military chest with 4.5 million Gulden
Austro-Hungarian gulden
The Gulden or forint was the currency of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1754 and 1892 when it was replaced by the Krone/korona as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the Gulden was initially divided into 60 Kreuzer, and in Hungary, the...
.
O'Reilly left the army on 7 January 1810, being promoted to General der Kavallerie upon retirement. He died at Vienna on 5 July 1832, only one month shy of his 90th birthday.