Karl Philipp, Fürst zu Schwarzenberg (or Charles Philip, Prince of Schwarzenberg; 18/19 April 1771 – 15 October 1820) was an Austrian Generalissimo and former Field Marshal. He first entered military service in 1788 and fought against the Turks. During the French Revolutionary War, he fought on the allied side against France and in that period rose through the ranks of the Imperial Army. During the Napoleonic Wars, he fought in the Battle of Wagram (1809), which the Austrians lost decisively against Napoleon. He had to fight for Napoleon in the Battle of Gorodechno (1812) against the Russians and won. During the War of the Sixth Coalition, he was in command of the allied army that decisively defeated Napoleon in the Battle of Leipzig (1813). He participated in the Battle of Paris (1814), which forced Napoleon to abdicate.
Schwarzenberg is well-remembered for his participation in the wars against Napoleon from 1803 to 1815. During the War of the Sixth Coalition to defeat Napoleon, Schwarzenberg was a pioneer of the Trachenberg Plan which led to the success at the Battle of Leipzig and later the campaigns against Napoleon on French soil. During the latter stage of the war he won many victories that garnered him fame and reputation as a military commander, particularly during his campaigns in Germany, Switzerland, and France during the war in 1814. In the years following the war, Schwarzenberg served as a diplomat for the Austrian Empire and later went on to serve as Austrian ambassador to Russia and also represented Austria at the Congress of Vienna.
Background
Family
Karl Philipp was born 18/19 April 1771 in Vienna, the son of Johann Nepomuk Anton of Schwarzenberg, who was a member of the cadet branch of the Schwarzenberg princedom and Marie Eleonore Countess of Öttingen-Wallerstein, whose family ruled the region known as the County of Öttingen since the 11th Century. Their ancestor Ludovicus de Otingen who was a member of a family that is a relative of the imperial House of Hohenstaufen, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire during the Medieval Age. He was one of thirteen siblings, seven of whom did not reach adulthood. His family descends from the line of the Princes of the Schwarzenberg of the illustrious and noble House of Schwarzenberg, whose lineage could be traced back to at least the 16th Century. Their roots began with the Lords (Princes) of Seinsheim in the Middle Ages and they held land and fiefdoms in Franconia and Bohemia. When the founder of the Schwarzenberg line, Erkinger of Seisheim acquired the lands and the castle of Schwarzenberg in the Holy Roman Empire, Erkinger was later made Freiherr (Baron) of the region in 1429. They were at first were made imperial counts by the Holy Roman Emperor and later became counted among the German and Austrian nobility during the 18th Century. Later Emperor Francis I of Austria granted a Prince of Schwarzenberg title specifically for Karl Phillip, for his active military service and contributions during Napoleonic Wars. His branch of the Schwarzenberg princedom still continues to this very day. During the early years of his life, Schwarzenberg underwent extensive military training from an early age. Due to his high birth, rank and his family's relationship with the House of Habsburg, he was enlisted in the Austrian army as a lieutenant in 1788 and that same year, he went on to experience war for the first time in his life.
Imperial service
Early military career
1788-1792
Karl Philipp entered the imperial cavalry in 1788, fought in 1789 under Austrian generals Franz Moritz Graf von Lacy and Ernst Gideon Freiherr von Laudon against the Ottoman Empire, during the Austro-Turkish War. That war was a result of Russian Empress Catherine the Great and the Russian Empire's aggression against the Ottoman Empire, and as Austria was an ally of Russia, it triggered Austria's open involvement in the conflict. In the war, he distinguished himself by his bravery, and became a major in 1792 and campaigned extensively in the Balkans.