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conducting the common affairs of life, but he possessed an acute and vigor ous understanding, which in a great measure compensated and supplied this defect. In his earlier years he was remarkable for his dexterity in the chace, and was considered one of the best marksmen in his neighbourhood, a quality more likely to recommend him to his countrymen than the more peaceful acquirements of the study. He was by trade an innkeeper, and in this situation, which is one of considerable importance in the Tyrol, the modesty and integrity of his character had so far gained him the esteem of his neighbours, that while he was yet a young man, he was appointed by them to fill an office in some respects similar to that of an English justice of the peace. During the wars of 1796, 1801, and 1805, he had so much distinguished himself, as to receive from the Emperor the gold medal of honour, in acknowledgment of his services; but it was in the succeeding years when the unfortunate issue of former wars, and the tyranny of enemies, had roused every feeling of indignation against their oppressors, that the prowess and patriotism of the Tyrolese were most conspicuous. In the three years which followed the peace of Presburg, Hofer thrice went to Vienna to represent their miserable condition, and to implore the protection of Austria in their efforts to emancipate themselves. The court of Vienna gave him encouragement to hope for better times; and, when the Emperor had finally determined to make an effort to retrieve the losses which he had sustained by the treaty of Presburg, he apprized Hofer of his intention, granting him at the same time a commission, by which he was appointed Commandant of the district of Passeyr, and in consequence, he immediately took active measures for raising the peasantry, and organizing the insurrection which ensued in 1809. Here commences the portion of Hofer's life which is most interesting, and which affords the greatest variety of materials from which we may be enabled to form an adequate idea of the courage and enterprise, of the sagacity and vigour, with which he conducted this unscientific but destructive warfare.

A few years previous to this, Hofer had become acquainted with Joseph Speckbacher, a respectable farmer, at the cattle fair at Stertzing, and finding

him a person animated with the same desire for the success of the common cause, he imparted to him at different times his designs for the deliverance of the Tyrol. That union of feeling which takes place between kindred minds, soon converted their intimacy into friendship, and when Hofer returned from Vienna the third time, with his Austrian commission, he found no difficulty in persuading his friend to contribute his assistance towards the general rising of the peasantry.

Joseph Speckbacher was born in 1768, at Gnadenwald, near Halle, in the Tyrol, where he at present resides. He was intended by his relations to be educated for the church, but, after having been at school with this intention two years, he had then made very little progress, and had not learned to write. After being at school, and giving up all thoughts of a profession so opposite to his natural inclinations, he happened to make the acquaintance of Staubacher, a hunter, who, with five or six companions, hunted the Bavarian woods, and defied the keepers of the forest. It was dur ing this period that he acquired that thorough knowledge of the country which was afterwards so useful to him in defending it from enemies.

With him Hofer principally formed his plan of the insurrection which took place on the 10th of April. The signal for a general attack on the enemy was given by throwing saw-dust into the river Inn, which traverses the country nearly in a longitudinal direction, and also by floating a plank, with a little pennon affixed to it, down the same river; persons were stationed at the several towns on its banks, who were entrusted with the secret, and roused the peasantry by the ringing of bells, &c. In this manner, the rising was simultaneous. At Stergingen and at Halle, the enemy were surprised and overpowered, and, in a few days afterwards, a body of more than 20,000 peasants, most of them armed, had assembled in the immediate neighbourhood of Innsbruck, at that time occupied by a Bavarian garrison, which surrendered, after having sustained several impetuous attacks. The joy of the peasants on recovering this city was only equalled when they heard of the advance of the Austrian troops. On this occasion, they placed a large carved figure of

the Black Eagle of Austria in front of the Royal Palace,-large tapers were kept burning before it, the peasants beheld the imperial bird with the highest veneration, and inflicted summary chastisement on the obstinate wight who did not perform the nccessary obeisances before it.

During these transactions, Speckbacher, who commanded the peasants in the lower Innthal, was principally occupied with the capture of Halle. He informed himself of the resources of the garrison by feigning drunkenness, and staggered up to the centinels on duty, who drove him back with abuse, but not before he had fully satisfied his curiosity. The armed peasantry had assembled by his orders at Absam, where there was a celebrated image of the Virgin, remarkable for having cured many diseases, and having assisted in the defeat of the French on a former occasion. He remained here during the greater part of the night. The women and children who were left in the villages were directed to light up the beacons on the left bank of the Inn. At midnight they were seen by the garrison of Halle blazing on the different heights, and it was in consequence expected that the attack would be made in that direction. Before day-break, however, Speckbacher and his band, leaving Absam, advanced with caution to the walls on the opposite side. When the bell for matins had rung, the draw-bridge was let down, and the gate opened; the Tyrolese rushed in, overpowered the guard, and took possession of the town with a very trifling loss. It is remark able, that the prisoners seized in this town, about 400 in number, were sent off under an escort of women, who, indeed, appear, during the whole war, to have been very zealous in the cause. When nearly the whole of the country had been cleared of the enemy, fortune seemed once more to desert them. The disasters of the Austrian army, after the battle at Ratisbon, had eventually put the French in possession of Saltzburg. They immediately commenced operations against the Tyrol, and forced the passes on the side of Saltzburg, after considerable opposition; but the attack being made on Holy Thursday, most of the Tyrolese were occupied in hearing mass, and it is highly probable, that this circumstance facilitated their

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The Marquis of Chastellar was defeated on the 13th of May, and retreating, experienced in his flight the honest contempt of the peasantry collected in the towns through which he passed. An order of the day had been issued by Bonaparte, in which he was condemned to be shot as a "Chef de Brigands," within forty hours after being taken. He appears to have determined to depart as quickly as possible, in which he was opposed by Hofer and Speckbacher. He deceived them by appearing to yield to their wishes, and Hofer, being dispatched to Stertzing with orders to raise the peasantry, he seized that opportunity, and issued orders to the other Austrian corps to retire, himself setting the example. Hofer, who had succeeded in raising a body of 8000 men, was deeply affected on hearing this intelligence; but, with the assistance of Eisenstecker, his adjutant, he persuaded an Austrian corps, commanded by General Buol, to disobey the instructions of their commander, and remain to assist in the defence of the country.

The French and Bavarians again took possession of Innsbruck on the 19th of May, and treated the vanquished with much inhumanity. The Tyrolese, compelled in a great measure by the withdrawing of the Austrian troops, to abandon their conquests, determined still to continue the war as soon as a favourable opportunity should present itself.

Speckbacher had retreated to his own valley, near Halle, where the peasantry promised to renew the war, provided they could secure the co-operation of Hofer, who was separated from them by a tract of country in the possession of the enemy. Determined, however, to procure an interview with Hofer, Speckbacher, accompanied by George Zoppel and Simon Lechner, set out on the evening of Whitmonday. During the night they encountered a body of Bavarian dragoons, but succeeded in evading them, and procured a meeting with Hofer, who pledged himself to co-operate. On his return he wished to communicate the intelligence to the inhabitants of the opposite side of the river, but he found the bridge of Halle, and the other points of communication, strictly guarded, and all passengers were searched and examined. In this

gem of Zoppel and his servant maid. The dispatches containing the information were concealed in the woolly tail of a large poodel dog belonging to Speckbacher. The servant-maid crossed the bridge first, and nothing suspicious being found about her, she was allowed to pass; and while the sentinels were searching Zoppel's pockets, she called the dog, who brushed past the soldiers and followed her.

dilemma, he was relieved by a strata- have occasion to mention hereafter. Speckbacher now laid siege to the fortress of Kufstein, which was on the point of surrendering, when he received intelligence of the armistice which had been agreed upon by France and Austria. In consequence of this armistice, which stipulated the evacuation of the Tyrol by Austria, the country was once more left at the mercy of its enemies. On leaving Innsbruck, which had been occupied by the Austrian authorities, they issued a proclamation advising the Tyrolese to lay down their arms, and rely on the clemency of the Duke of Dantzic.

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The Tyrolese inhabiting the south ern and eastern vallies, were collected by Hofer, and assembled at the foot of Berg Isel, and in the neighbourhood of Kloster, Wildau. This "Kloster' is remarkable as possessing, among other legendary relics, an image of the Virgin believed to have been brought into the country by the Christians who served in the Thundering Legion under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, in his wars against the Quadi and Marcomanni, about the year 174; and some writers have even pointed out the neighbourhood of Berg Isel, as the spot where the miracle related by Xiphilin, patriarch of Constantinople, was performed in favour of Aurelius and the Roman army, in consequence of the prayers of these Christians.

It is not impossible that this spot, auspicious in their legendary history and the modern annals of the Tyrol, may have been chosen as well calculated to inflame the enthusiasm of a superstitious and spirited peasantry. Here they opposed themselves to their enemies on the 25th of May, when an indecisive action took place; but being renewed on the 29th, it ended in the total defeat of the Bavarians. In this battle Speckbacher's assistance proved eminently useful. Fearing lest the Bavarians should attack a weak point of their position, he threw up an entrenchment, mounted with trunks of trees, cut in such a manner as to resemble field pieces, and having tied several musquets together, and discharging all at the same time, a report sufficiently loud to deceive the Bavarians was produced, and the stratagem succeeded in preventing their attack. Another individual who figured afterwards in the war, also contributed to this victory by his example and eloquence, Friar Joachim Haspinger, a nephew of Hofer, whom we shall

In this unpropitious state of affairs, Hofer appears to have considered the cause of his country as lost. For some time he secluded himself among the rocks in solitude and prayer, but he soon recovered again his wonted firmness, and resumed the command. He wrote to his nephew Friar Joachim, at that time holding forth at Clausen to the inhabitants, and urging them to continue their resistance, that he had resumed the command, and implored them to make one more effort in defence of their beloved vallies. The Friar succeeded in collecting a considerable body of men assembled by Speckbacher and Kemenater, who, in addition to their former grievances, were now animated by feelings of revenge, called forth by the disgraceful cruelty exercised on their helpless countrymen under the orders of the Duke of Dantzic.

The object of the Duke of Dantzic appears to have been to make himself master of Brixen and the Lower Tyrol. With this view, he left a garrison in Innsbruck, and sent a detachment, consisting of 10,000 men, to the Upper Innthal; and with 20,000 under his own command, entered the mountainous country occupied by Speckbacher, the Friar, and Kemenater, who defended themselves with great obstinacy. He directed his attacks chiefly against Hofer, who had taken a strong entrenched position in the Unterau; he thrice attempted to force him from this position, and after having lost many lives, he retreated to Stertzing, leaving behind him eight pieces of cannon. Hoter pursued and attacked him in the Moor of Stertzing, and again defeated him with great loss, taking many horses, and a great part

of the baggage, in his disorderly retreat towards Innsbruck.

The other detachment of the enemy, which had been dispatched to the Upper Innthal, did not meet with a better fate. Hofer had directed the heights to be occupied between Landeck and Prutz, above a ravine through which the road passes, following the impetuous course of the river Inn, and enclosed on both sides with precipitous rocks. In this pass, the detachment was destroyed by a well conducted stratagem.

The advanced guard was allowed to pass quietly to Prutz, where they were made prisoners. One of the prisoners was induced to ride back, and report to the general that they had reached Prutz without opposition. The detachment immediately entered the defile, and when they had advanced a considerable way, a loud voice was heard above, "Shall I knock it off?" which was answered in a louder response from the opposite side, "No." They had advanced too far to be able now to retreat, and presently they heard the word given from above," In the name of the Most Holy Trinity cut all loose." In a moment the Tyrolese, stationed on the heights in both sides along the whole line of the deep ravine, which enclosed the detachment, set in motion large masses of rock, trunks of trees, and missiles of every kind, turning their own indignant mountains into the most formidable means of destruction to their enemies.

It is related of one grey-headed old man, that having placed himself against a rock, he brought down, at every shot, one of the invaders of his country. He was so placed as to be secure in front, owing to the abruptness of the precipice below; but some of the Bavarians succeeded in climbing up the crags, and came down upon him from above. Seeing that he could not escape, he set up a shout of defiance, and with his last shot laid the first dead at his feet, and seizing hold of the second, exclaimed, "In God's name," and then threw him, with himself, from the precipice into the river below.

The army of the Duke of Dantzic, after its retreat from Stertzing, assembled itself before Innsbruck, in the neighbourhood of Berg Isel and Wildau. Hofer, with his forces, had

now joined the Friar and Kemenater; and this spot was again to lend its influence to the Tyrolese, by reminding them of former triumph.

The different commanders assembled at two o'clock on the morning of the 12th of August, and heard mass, which was performed by Friar Joachim. The battle commenced at six in the morning, and continued till midnight, when victory once more crowned with success the arms of the Tyrolese. During the battle, Friar Joachim assisted like a 66 preux et vaillant Chevalier," both by his prowess and eloquence. The French army retreated through Innsbruck, without attempting to defend it, and, after burning a few houses in the suburbs, continued its retreat, and was afterwards recalled towards the Danube, owing to the check which the French arms had received by the battle of Aspern. Hofer now resumed the chief administration of affairs at Innsbruck; he struck money, bearing on one side the eagle of the Tyrol crowned with laurels, and on the reverse inscribed "By the Convention 1809." For the purpose of raising a supply of money for the exigencies of the time, deputies were sent from the different districts, as the present state of affairs did not admit of the regular meeting of the estates. He enforced other measures, more indicative of the simplicity and virtue of his character than of deep political sagacity. The Tyrolese women had, of late, thrown aside their former modest dress, and had assumed something of the negligence of French costume. Hofer issued a religious proclamation, which exhorted them to reform their indecent fashions, otherwise, it informed them, they would only have themselves to blame if, by the repetition of these heinous exposures, they subjected themselves to certain inflictions, which should compel them to veil their fascinating beauties.

At this period Speckbacher had his head-quarters at Muhleg in Bavaria, the Tyrol having been entirely evacuated by the enemy. Here he was attacked and surrounded, on the 18th of October, by the Bavarians. Having placed himself at the head of 200 of his men, he succeeded in cutting his way through, having made a very narrow escape with his life. During the conflict he was felled to

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