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September 23, 2009
| 28mm Tyrolean Militia c.1797-1809 | The Tyrol lies astride the eastern end of the Alps, approachable by an invading army from the north via the Danube Valley or from the south from the plains of North Italy, and it is somewhat isolated from the support of the rest of Austria away to the east. However the Tyrol is a rugged, mountainous region, with a people accustomed to looking to their own defence. Since the Middle Ages, its inhabitants were exempt from certain taxes and feudal duties in exchange for maintaining a trained militia force, which was organised by parish companies and grouped into battalion-size forces by valley and district. By the late 18th Century the militia was split into companies of riflemen (Schützen), comprising the younger men and professional huntsmen, who would train regularly to keep up their marksmanship, and the levy (Landsturm) which mobilised all able-bodied men, armed with whatever weapons or implements they could muster. While the latter were a purely home-defence force, the former could volunteer for service outside Tyrol, and some companies saw service with the Austrian army in the Low Countries in 1792 during the early campaigns of the Wars of the French Revolution.
The Tyrol itself came under threat from Republican France in 1797, towards the end of General Bonaparte’s first dramatic campaign across north Italy. After the Battle of Rivoli, a French corps of some 18,500 men under Joubert pushed north from Lake Garda into the Tyrol as a flank guard to Bonaparte’s main army as it threatened the very borders of Austria. Turning out in droves, the Tyrolese first cut all Joubert’s communications, and then a body of several thousand militia, supported by a detachment of regulars, attacked the French around the village of Spinges. When the riflemen ran out of ammunition, the French attempted a bayonet charge, but were met by the scythes and morning stars of the Landsturm. A local girl, Catharina Lanz, became an icon of Tyrolean history as she pitched the French from the cemetery wall with a fork. Although a tactical draw, the fight at Spinges blocked Joubert's route to Innsbruck and the Austrian heartland. The French were obliged to withdraw from the mountains, constantly harried by Tyrolese snipers and the rest of the militia, who shadowed them as far as the Italian city of Verona. A French – Austrian armistice at this point brought hostilities to a close. However, several Schützen companies were to march out again with the Austrian army in 1799-1800, 1801 and 1805 and the Tyrolese would show the same fighting spirit in 1809. The great Tyrolean Revolt of 1809 had its roots in the collapse of the Third Coalition after the battle of Austerlitz in 1805. The Austrians were required to cede the western provinces of the Tyrol to the newly created Kingdom of Bavaria as part of the Treaty of Pressburg. Bavaria’s attempts to impose military service in the Bavarian army, and liberal social and religious reforms proved deeply unpopular in the conservative and staunchly Catholic Tyrol. When Austria struck out at France and Bavaria in the spring of 1809 the whole Tyrol rose in revolt.
The war was brutal. The organised peasantry were adept at holding passes, ambushes, merciless sniping and cutting off detachments, and this engendered a ferocious response from the French and Bavarians who responded with arson, pillage, murder and mutilation. Soon driven out of Innsbruck and the whole region, the Bavarians returned to briefly retake the city a month later only to then suffer a major defeat on the slopes of Mount Isel on the 25th May, at the hands of 17,000 Tyrolese militia under the leadership of Josef Speckbacher, Andreas Hofer and the charismatic red bearded priest Johan Haspinger. Austrian regulars then took control of the area and the militia was disbanded, but the defeat of Austria at Wagram in July dramatically changed the situation again. The Armistice of Znaim ceded the Tyrol back to Bavaria, obliging the Austrian regulars to depart, and Napoleon sent 40,000 French and Bavarian troops to re-occupy the region. Andreas Hofer rallied the peasantry, and hostilities resumed in early August with the same intensity as before, culminating in another Franco-Bavarian defeat at Mount Isel which saw Innsbruck and the Tyrol back in Tyrolean hands.
However the Tyrol could not stand alone indefinitely, and a defeated Austria could offer no assistance. Hofer, perhaps emboldened by his success, chose to ignore Austrian suggestions that a negotiated settlement with France and Bavaria might be possible and when the Franco-Bavarian army returned for the third time in the autumn of 1809 he called the peasantry to arms once more. A third battle was fought out on the slopes of Mt Isel, but this time the Franco-Bavarians were victorious and the militia was dispersed into the mountains of the Tyrol. In hiding Hofer vacillated and failed to take an offered amnesty. He was captured, tried and shot, and the revolt spluttered out.
The Tyrolean Militia wore no uniform as such, but many of its companies could be identified by commonly worn items of dress representative of the valleys and communities they came from – especially headgear. Our range is therefore organised by different hat type! Both Landsturm, armed with a random assortment of pole arms, and musket/rifle armed Schützen are available, together with Tyrolese women folk, command and personalities. We have also included a casualty set, and artillery set in the shape of one of the Tyrolean’s rather scary looking home-grown pieces of ordnance.
Here are the catalogue details for the new miniatures – plus details of our New Release Special Offers.
NEW 28mm Tyrolean Militia c.1797-1809 Sculpted by Alan Marsh Number in parenthesis denotes the number of variants. Variants are supplied randomly
100WFR700a Tyrolean with pole arm, round hat c.1797-1809 (4) 100WFR700b Tyrolean with pole arm, tall hat c.1797-1809 (4) 100WFR700c Tyrolean with pole arm, turned-up hat c.1797-1809 (4) 100WFR700d Tyrolean woman with pole arm c.1797-1809 (1) 100WFR701a Tyrolean with firearm, round hat c.1797-1809 (6) 100WFR701b Tyrolean with firearm, tall hat c.1797-1809 (6) 100WFR701c Tyrolean with firearm, tuned-up hat c.1797-1809 (6) 100WFR701d Tyrolean Woman with firearm c.1797-1809 (1) 100WFR702 Andreas Hofer 1809 (1) 100WFR703 Tyrolean priest (1) 100WFR704 Tyrolean drummer c.1797-1809 (1) 100WFR705 Tyrolean standard bearer c.1797-1809 (1) 100WFR706 Tyrolean sergeant with halberd c.1797-1809 (1) 100WFR707 Tyrolean cannon and crew – gun and 4 figure set c.1797-1809 (1) 100WFR708 Tyrolean officer c.1797-1809 (1) 100WFR709 Tyrolean casualties – set of four figures (1)
New Release Special Offers
DEAL ONE: The “It’s you local village militia” Deal A 15 figure set of Tyrolese Landsturm (x 4), Schützen (x6) and female support (x 2) – plus officer, standard bearer and drummer. All different variants – please specify which hat variety you require (round, tall, or turned up) for the special price of au$40.00* (normally au$44.25)
DEAL TWO: The “Hills are alive with Tyrolean rebels” Deal A complete set of the entire Tyrolean Militia new release – 46 figures, including personalities, and the artillery and casualty sets, for the special price of au$120.00* (normally au$139.10)
* Excluding postage and ‘Goods and Services Tax’ payable by Australian customers only Click here to see detailed pictures of all our Tyrolean Militia, place an order, or take advantage of the special offers.
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