Haynau, JULIUS JAKOB, BARON VON

Haynau, JULIUS JAKOB, BARON VON, an Austrian general, was born at Cassel, in Germany, 14th October 1786. Entering the Austrian service in 1801, he signalised himself during the Italian campaigns of 1848-49 by his ruthless severity, especially at the capture of Brescia, where his flogging of women and other atrocities gained him the name of the 'Hyana of Brescia.' Haynau was engaged in the siege of Venice, when he was summoned by the emperor to Hungary, in May 1849, to take the supreme command of the forces in that country. The storming of Raab, his victory at Komorn, his occupation of Szegedin, and his victories on the Theiss contributed materially to the final success of the imperialists. But Haynau's atrocious severity towards the defeated Hungarians excited the detestation of Europe. Although appointed dictator of Hungary after its pacification, he was nevertheless dismissed in 1850 on account of the intractability of his character. In the same year, when visiting the brewery of Messrs Barclay & Perkins, in London, he was assaulted by the draymen, on account of his cruelty, and escaped with his life, but the loss of his moustache. Baron Schönhals, in a biography of his friend Haynau (Gratz, 1853), tries to exonerate his character, and asserts that he only acted in obedience to the orders of his masters. Haynau died at Vienna, March 14, 1853.