Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 6.djvu/70

 248 WORKMEN AND HEROES % not always present in action, his talent consisting rather in stimulating his coun trymen than in actual fighting; but at the battle of Innsbruck (May 28, 1809), he led the Tyrolese, exhibited both skill and daring, and defeated the Bavarians with a loss of 4,000 men. The whole of the Tyrol was delivered a second time. But after the battle of Wagram (July 6th), and the armistice of Znaim which im- mediately followed, the Austrian army was obliged to evacuate the Tyrol, leav- ing the helpless insurgents to the mercy of an exasperated enemy. Marshal Le- febvre now invaded the province a second time, and entered it by the road from Salzburg, with an army of 21,000 troops, while Beaumont, having crossed the ridge of Schnartz with a force 10,000 strong, threatened Innsbruck from the north. On July 30th Innsbruck submitted. A series of desperate contests fol- lowed along the line of the Brenner, mostly with doubtful success, but in one the marshal was defeated, when twenty-five pieces of artillery and a quantity of am- munition fell into the hands of the Tyrolese. Again, on August 12th, Marshal Lefebvre, with an army of 25,000 Bavarian and French soldiers, 2,000 of whom were cavalry, was totally beaten by the Tyrolese army, consisting of 18,000 armed peasants. The battle, which was fought near Innsbruck, is said to have lasted from six in the morning until midnight. For a third time the Tyrol was free. After this victory, entirely achieved by the peasantry themselves, Hofer be- came the absolute ruler of the country ; coins were struck with his effigy, and proclamations issued in his name. His power, however, scarcely lasted two months, and became the cause of his ruin ultimately. Three veteran armies, comprising a force of nearly 50,000 French and Bavarian troops, were despatched in October to subdue the exhausted province ; and, unable to make head against them, Hofer was obliged to take refuge in the mountains. Soon after, a price having been set on his head, a pretended friend (a priest named Donay) was in- duced to betray him, January 20, 18 10. After his arrest he was conveyed to Mantua, and the intelligence having been communicated by telegraph to the French emperor, an order was instantly returned that he must be tried. This order was a sentence ; and after a court-martial, at which, however, the majority were averse to a sentence of death, Hofer was condemned to be shot His exe- cution took place on February 20, 18 10, his whole military career having occu- pied less than forty weeks. The Emperor Francis conferred a handsome pension upon the widow and family of Hofer, and created Hofer's son a noble. The Austrian government also raised a marble statue of heroic size in the cathedral of InnsbrUck, where the body of the patriot was interred ; while his own coun- trymen have commemorated his efforts by raising a small pyramid to mark the spot where he was taken.