of
the French Revolution. He commanded a brigade at Jemappes, and in the
campaign of 1793 distinguished himself at the action of Aldenhoven and
the battle of Neerwinden. In this year he became _Statthalter_ in
Belgium and received the army rank of lieutenant field marshal, which
promotion was soon followed by that to Feldzeugmeister. In the remainder
of the war in the Low Countries he held high commands, and he was
present at Fleurus. In 1795 he served on the Rhine, and in the following
year was entrusted with the chief control of all the Austrian forces on
that river. His conduct of the operations against Jourdan and Moreau in
1796 marked him out at once as one of the greatest generals in Europe.
At first falling back carefully and avoiding a decision, he finally
marched away, leaving a mere screen in front of Moreau; falling upon
Jourdan he beat him in the battles of Amberg and Wurzburg, and drove him
over the Rhine with great loss. He then turned upon Moreau's army, which
he defeated and forced out of Germany. For this campaign, one of the
most brilliant in modern history, see FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS. In 1797
he was sent to arrest the victorious march of General Bonaparte in
Italy, and he conducted the retreat of the over-matched Austrians with
the highest skill. In the campaign of 1799 he was once more opposed to
Jourdan, whom he defeated in the battles of Osterach and Stokach,
following up his success by invading Switzerland and defeating Massena
in the (first) battle of Zurich, after which he re-entered Germany and
drove the French once more over the Rhine. Ill-health, however, forced
him to retire to Bohemia, whence he was soon recalled to undertake the
task of checking Moreau's advance on Vienna. The result of the battle of
Hohenlinden had, however, foredoomed the attempt, and the archduke had
to make the armistice of Steyer. His popularity was now such that the
diet of Regensburg, which met in 1802, resolved to erect a statue in his
honour and to give him the title of saviour of his country; but Charles
refused both distinctions.

In the short and disastrous war of 1805 the archduke Charles commanded
what was intended to be the main army, in Italy, but events made Germany
the decisive theatre of operations, and the defeats sustained on the
Danube neutralized the success obtained by the archduke over Massena in
the desperately fought battle of Caldiero. With the conclusion of peace
began his active work of ar