Peter Duka von Kadar

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Portrait of Fieldmarshal Duka by Arsenije Teodorović, 1821 (National Museum of Serbia)
Peter Duka von Kadar

Peter Freiherr Duka von Kádár (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар Дука; Esseg, Slavonia, 1756 - Vienna, Austrian Empire, 29 December 1822) was of Croatian Serb ancestry[1] privy councillor,[2] officer (Feldzeugmeister) and Inhaber of the Hungarian Infantry Regiment No. 39, then State and Conference Council of the Emperor.[3] He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. He is remembered as a great adversary of Napoleon[4] and to have negotiated an armistice with the French Emperor at Lusigny-sur-Barse.

Biography[edit]

Duka was born in Osijek in 1756 into a Croatian Serb[1] family, while some sources describe him as coming from an Aromanian Serbian Orthodox family.[5] He enrolled in a military college in late 1773. In 1776 Duka joined the 13th Wallachian-Illyrian (Romanian-Serbian) Regiment in Caransebeş as a cadet, but upon graduation, he was transferred to the General Staff as a lieutenant for his obvious abilities, and in 1787 he became a captain.[6]

Promoted to Major on 1 December 1789, he was transferred to the army under Coburg in the Austrian Netherlands in 1793. After having reconnoitered the area extensively for three days before the Battle of Famars, he led the decisive attack from the main column in four columns, each led by a reserve artillery battery. He was able to communicate the main objectives to the Director of Artillery Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) Karl Freiherr von Rouvroy and led the fourth division himself. After further significant deeds in the battles of Berlaimont and Maubeuge, he was rewarded on 1 May 1794 with promotion to Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) and on 7 July 1794, with the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa.[7] In 1795, as General Wurmser's chief of staff, he planned the successful attack on Mannheim, however, a year later - by now an Oberst colonel (24 February 1796) - he participated in the defeat at the Battle of Castiglione.

On 31 May 1798, he was promoted to Generalmjajor major general and was assigned to Archduke Charles's military staff in Prague, staying with the Archduke to join the Army general staff in Germany a year later. There he directed Feldmarschalleutnant (Lieutenant-General) Joseph Staader von Adelsheim's left-wing in the successful defensive actions during the victory at the Battle of Stockach.

On 5 May 1800, he was promoted to Feldmarschalleutnant Lieutenant-General and in March 1801, Duka was appointed Chief of the General Staff by Archduke Charles, the first peacetime Chief in the world. After power struggles in the Austrian military leadership and government, Duka was banished from Vienna as fortress commander of Temesvar on 14 January 1801. [8] which never materialized owing to extenuating circumstances of the time. On 7 October 1803, he became Inhaber (honorary colonel) the Hungarian Infantry Regiment No. 39.[9][10]

In 1805, Duka was the commanding general in the Banat Military Frontier. He held this office until his death.[11] In 1808 the emperor granted him the rank of baron with the title of Kádár for himself and his legitimate descendants.

On 2 September 1813, Duka rose to the position of Feldzeugmeister (General) and Adjutant General of Emperor Francis II as well as his confidante in military matters.[12] In these capacities, he was sent to Lusigny-sur-Barse to negotiate an armistice with Napoleon.[13][14]

In Vienna, the emperor finally elevated Duka to the Bohemian nobility with the rank of Freiherr/Inkolat on 22 April 1815. On 26 July 1816, he was also ennobled into the Hungarian nobility class and appointed a Real Geheimrat, as well as state and conference council.[15][16][17][18]

Awards[edit]

General Peter Duka was a recipient of numerous decorations, including:[19]

Family[edit]

In 1806, Duka bought the community of Cadăr (pronounced "Kadar"), which is located near the river Pogăniș in Timiș County, three miles south of Timiș Castle. The predicate Kádár in the nobility letter of 1815 refers to this estate. The 748 inhabitants, spread over 134 houses, were predominantly Romanian speakers and of the Eastern Orthodox denomination under the jurisdiction of the Eparchy of Timișoara at the time. His sons Stephan, Emil, Eugen, and Peter inherited the village after his death.[20] His granddaughter Anastasia (born 31 October 1828 in Belatincz, Zala County, Hungary; died 27 March 1907 in Graz) married Count Vincenz von Logothetti (1824–1886).

Sources[edit]

  • Jaromir Hirtenfeld: The Military Maria Theresa Order and its members. Volume 1, K. K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1857
  • Constantin von Wurzbach: Duka, Peter Freiherr von. In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich. 3rd part. Typogr.-literar.-artist publishing house. Establishment (L. C. Zamarski, C. Dittmarsch & Comp.), Vienna 1858, p. 389 f. (Digitized version).
  • Wilhelm Edler von Janko: Duka, Peter Freiherr von. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 455.
  • Duka von Kadar, Friedrich (Peter) Frh .. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957, p. 203.
  • David Hollins: Austrian Commanders of the Napoleonic Wars 1792-1815. Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2004, ISBN 1-84176-664-X.
  • Antonio Schmidt-Brentano: Imperial and k. k. Generals (1618-1815). Austrian State Archives / A. Schmidt-Brentano 2006.
  • Tötösy de Zepetnek, Steven, ed. Nobilitashungariae: List of Historical Names of the Hungarian Nobility / A magyar történelmi nemesség családneveinek listája. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press, 2010-. nobilitashungariae: List of Historical Surnames of the Hungarian Nobility.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Acović, Dragomir (2017). "Šest vekova odlikovanja među Srbima". Politikin Zabavnik. 3438: 10–11.
  2. ^ "Collections Online | British Museum".
  3. ^ https://www.biographien.ac.at/oebl_1/203.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  4. ^ Napoleon's Great Adversaries: The Archduke Charles and the Austrian Army, 1792-1814. Indiana University Press. 1982. ISBN 9780253339690.
  5. ^ Österreichisches Ost- und Südosteuropa-Institut, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ost: „Österreichische Osthefte“, Band 36, Österreichisches Ost- und Südosteuropa-Institut, Wien 1994, S. 452
  6. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20131203071053/http://de.valka.cz/viewtopic.php/t/17631. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ^ "Austro-Hungarian Army - Military Maria Theresia Order". Archived from the original on 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  8. ^ The Formative Influences, Theories, and Campaigns of the Archduke Carl of Austria. Greenwood Publishing. 2000. ISBN 9780313309960.
  9. ^ "Austrian Infantry Regiments Part IV".
  10. ^ Hubert Zeinar: „Geschichte des Österreichischen Generalstabes“, Böhlau Verlag GmbH und Co. KG, Wien – Köln – Weimar. 2006, S. 832
  11. ^ Hubert Zeinar: „Geschichte des Österreichischen Generalstabes“, Böhlau Verlag GmbH und Co. KG, Wien – Köln – Weimar 2006, S. 272
  12. ^ Blücher: Scourge of Napoleon. University of Oklahoma Press. 29 January 2014. ISBN 9780806145662.
  13. ^ Antonio Schmidt-Brentano: Kaiserliche und k. k. Generale (1618–1815), Österreichisches Staatsarchiv/A. Schmidt-Brentano 2006, S. 27
  14. ^ David Hollins: „Austrian Commanders of the Napoleonic Wars 1792-1815“, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 2004, S. 60
  15. ^ ÖBL|1|203||Duka von Kadar, Friedrich (Peter) Frh.
  16. ^ "Domum - Collegium rerum nobilium Austriae". www.coresno.com.
  17. ^ Stephan Tötösy de Zepetnek (Hg.): Nobilitas Hungariae - A magyar történelmi nemesség családneveinek listája. Purdue University Press, West Lafayette 2010
  18. ^ Johann Siebmacher (Begr.): Der Adel von Kroatien und Slavonien (= J. Siebmacher's großes Wappenbuch, Band 35). Verlag Bauer & Raspe, Nürnberg 1986, S. 42
  19. ^ "A Biographical Dictionary of all Austrian Generals during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars". www.napoleon-series.org.
  20. ^ "K-lexikon". Archived from the original on 2012-08-24. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
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