Tinjajući krajiški patriotizam i opsada Zadra 1813. godine
Smouldering Grenzer Patriotism and the Siege of Zadar 1813

Summary/Abstract: On 17 August 1813, five days after Emperor Francis I had formally declared war on his former ally Napoleon I, Austrian Feldmarschall Lieutenant Radivojević crossed the Sava on to the French-held Illyrian provinces. His detached corps of 8,500 men made up the extreme left wing of the Inner Austrian Army under the command of Feldzeugmeister Hiller. Radivojević’s Major General Count Nugent spearheaded the operations in Military Croatia and succeeded in reaching Karlovac on 21 August and Rijeka only five days later. By mid-September, Austria was again in complete control of the Karlovac and Banal Frontier. The main prospect of this very effective Austrian „Blitzkrieg” in the Illyrian provinces had been twofold. Its first aim was to breach French defences in Military Croatia and, by connecting to the British naval forces in the Adriatic, to cut off all French communication between Northeast Italy and Dalmatia. The second aim was to remove Grenzer officers loyal to the French cause and replace them with native officers that had crossed to the Austrian side in 1809. Also, 12,000 muskets were kept in preparation to rearm the population. The Hofkriegsrat in Vienna had little or no doubt about the traditional loyalty of the Grenzer towards the Habsburg Monarchy, but was convinced this loyalty needed to be stirred up by former officers they trusted. It did not expect spontaneous uprisings of the rank and file. Events that occurred in the Karlovac Generalcy prior to Nugent’s arrival confirmed this view of the Austrian Supreme Command. In the Slunj Regiment, pro-Austrian Captain Liebrich had effectively sabotaged defensive measures of French General Jeanin and personally took care of the defection of Grenzer to the Austrian side. As a result of his activities, Nugent was welcomed in Karlovac with open arms by a battalion of Slunj Grenzer ready to be sworn in and join his forces. Liebrich thereupon went to Ogulin to win over the Ogulin Grenzer as well, and after that supervised the incorporation of the Otočac and Lika Regiment, Senj and Karlobag. In a report to Vienna, Liebrich mentioned the indecisiveness of the Grenzer caused by their fear of the „invincible” French, thus confirming its suspicions. An Austrian corps of 2,800 men led by Mayor General Tomašić crossed into Dalmatia on 26 October. Tomašić was confident his campaign would go smoothly thanks to three decisive factors. The first factor that played into his hand was the absence of a united French High Command. Consequently, General Roize secured his defence around Zadar, General de Montrichard concentrated too much on Dubrovnik and General Gauthier on Kotor. In the second place Tomašić expected an insurrection of dissatisfied Dalmatians that would be channelled by Colonello Danese, and thirdly he counted on the defection of „enemy forces, especially Illyrian regiments”. In accordance with that last factor, secret agreements had been made with pro-Austrian officers

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