1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Haynau, Julius Jacob

HAYNAU, JULIUS JACOB (1786–1853), Austrian general, was the natural son of the landgrave—afterwards elector—of Hesse-Cassel, William IX. He entered the Austrian army as an infantry officer in 1801, and saw much service in the Napoleonic wars. He was wounded at Wagram, and distinguished during the operations in Italy in 1813 and 1814. Between 1815 and 1847 he rose to the rank of field marshal lieutenant. A violent temper, which he made no attempt to control or conceal, led him into trouble with his superiors. His hatred of revolutionary principles was fanatical. When the insurrectionary movements of 1848 broke out in Italy, his known zeal for the cause of legitimacy, as much as his reputation as an officer, marked him out for command. He fought with success in Italy, but was chiefly noted for the severity he showed in suppressing and punishing a rising in Brescia. It ought to be remembered that the mob of Brescia had massacred invalid Austrian soldiers in the hospital, a provocation which always leads to reprisals. In June 1849 Haynau was called to Vienna to command first an army of reserve, and then in the field against the Hungarians. His successes against the declining revolutionary cause were numerous and rapid. In Hungary, as in Italy, he was accused of brutality. It was, for instance, asserted that he caused women who showed any sympathy with the insurgents to be whipped. His ostentatious hatred of the revolutionary parties marked him out as the natural object for these accusations. On the restoration of peace he was appointed to high command in Hungary. His temper quickly led him into quarrels with the minister of war, and he resigned his command in 1850. He then travelled abroad. The refugees had spread his evil reputation. In London he was attacked and beaten by Messrs Barclay & Perkins’ draymen when visiting the brewery, and he was saved from mob violence in Brussels with some difficulty. He died on the 14th of March 1853. On the 11th of October 1808 Haynau had married Thérèse von Weber, the daughter of Field Marshal Lieutenant Weber, who was slain at Aspern. She died, leaving one daughter, in 1850.

See R. v. Schönhals, Biographie des K. K. Feldzeugmeisters Julius Freiherrn von Haynau (Vienna, 1875).