Leopold Freiherr von Hauer
Leopold Freiherr von Hauer was born on the 26th of January
1854 in Budapest. His father Stephan, who was a chief of section at
the Ministry of the Interior was married to Antonia Gräfin
Welsersheimb. The family who also had branches in Bavaria and Austria had
entered the Bavarian nobility with the rank of "Freiherr" in 1792,
the Austrian in 1793 and Leopold's grandfather Joseph, the
Hungarian nobility on account of his military career. Some of his
ancestors had distinguished themselves during the 2nd Ottoman
Siege of Vienna (1683) and the War of the Spanish Succession
(1701-1714). Leopold followed the military tradition of his
family and entered at the age of 10 the cadet institute at
Marburg. Passing through the Theresian Military Academy with
"excellent success" he was commissioned as a Leutnant in hussar regiment number 11 on the 30th of August 1872. After
attending the brigade officers' school in 1874/75 he was
attached to the household of Erzherzogin Elisabeth where he
became the tutor of young Erzherzog Eugen. In 1879 he was
transferred back to his regiment, meanwhile promoted to
Oberleutnant on the 1st of May 1877. In 1883 he attended the
Militär-Reitlehrer-Institut (riding instructor's institute) and received his promotion to
Rittmeister 2nd class on the 1st of May 1885. On the 1st of
January 1889 he was promoted to Rittmeister 1st class shortly
followed by the award of the Prussian Order of the Crown 3rd
class. In 1892 he was again appointed to the court and was transferred to the household
of Erzherzogin Stephanie, the widow of
the heir to the throne Erzherzog Rudolf, as Dienstkämmerer (Duty Chamberlain). During this more than three years of
court duty he
received his promotion to Major on the 1st of November 1894. In
1895 he was transferred back to the troops but now to hussar
regiment number 5 receiving for his performance with the household the commendation
of the Kaiser, which allowed him to wear the
bronze military merit medal (Signum Laudis) on the 21st of May
1895. On the 27th of August 1896 he assumed command of the cavalry cadet institute at Mährisch-Weißkirchen, where he
received his promotion to Oberstleutnant on the 1st of May 1897.
For his achievements in the education of cavalry cadets he was
honored with the award of the Military Merit Cross on the 2nd of
December 1898. Additionally he received the following foreign awards: the commander's cross of the Wasa-Order of Sweden, the
Honorary Commander's cross of the House and Merit order of
Oldenburg and the 2nd class of the Persian Order of the Sun and
the Lion.
In March 1900 he assumed command of hussar regiment
number 16 shortly followed by his promotion to Oberst on the 1st
of May 1900. During the same year he married Elisabeth Fiano, a
widow (born as Scheichenberger) who brought a daughter, Antonia
to the union. As this marriage remained childless they adopted in 1914 the husband of Antonia, a son of
General Conrad von Hötzendorf who then took the name Arnold
Freiherr Conrad-Hauer. Leopold Freiherr von Hauer stayed as a regimental commander during the next 6 years receiving the Order
of the Iron Crown 3rd class on the 16th of April 1904. In October
1906 the took over command of the 13th cavalry brigade followed
by his promotion to Generalmajor on the 1st of November 1906. In
July 1907 he switched to the command of the 4th calvalry brigade
where he received the commanders' cross 1st class of the Order of
Albrecht the Bear of the Duchy of Anhalt. He distinguished himself during the manouvres in 1910 and received excellent
evaluations from his commanding officer General Freiherr von
Kirchbach who highly recommended him for promotion and a more senior command. On the 1st of November 1910 he received
his promotion to
Feldmarschall-Leutnant and was appointed to the important post of
Honvéd-Kavallerie-Inspector in December of the same year. During
the following years he tried to increase the education level of
the cavalry officers in the Hungarian territorial forces. For
his efforts he was honored with the award of the knights' cross
of the Order of Leopold on the 24th of September 1912 and the
following foreign orders: the grand cross of the Military Merit
Order of Spain (1910), the grand cross of the Military Merit Order
of Bulgaria (1910) and the 2nd grade of the 2nd class of the
Chinese Order of the Double Dragon (1911).
When the war started in August 1914 he assumed command of the
9th cavalry division which was part of the 1st army. Hauer and
his division was mainly responsible for reconnaissance and
took part in the battle of Krasnik. During the battle of Komarów
he was engaged as cover for the Army group of Erzherzog Peter
Ferdinand. Between October 1914 and May 1915 Hauer's division was
enlarged, by attaching the 2nd cavalry division and temporarily
also the 7th cavalry division and the German 8th cavalry division, to the "Kavalleriekorps Hauer". On the 1st of
November 1914 Leopold Freiherr von Hauer was promoted to General
der Kavallerie mit Titel und Charakter. (Brevet General of Cavalry). In November 1914 he was
on the left wing of the 1st army of General Dankl and was
then transferred to the Korps Tersztyánszky
with the 2nd army further
taking part in the battle of Limanowa-Lapanów. During the winter
1914/15 Hauer's corps was put under the command of the German
Korps Gallwitz. For his outstanding performance he was honored
with the award of the 2nd class of the Order of the Iron Crown
with war decoration on the 2nd of December 1914 and the 2nd class
of the Military Merit Cross with war decoration on the 8th of
February 1915. For both decorations he later received the newly
introduced swords. Meanwhile substantively promoted to General der
Kavallerie (1st February 1915) he also received the Prussian Iron
Cross 1st and 2nd class. During the May offensive in 1915 the
Kavalleriekorps Hauer crossed the Vistula and later, now
attached to the German Army group Frommel, reached Rosbach north
of the Bialowieza forest. In September 1915 the corps was
disbanded and Hauer's 9th cavalry division was transferred to
Kowel where a new Kavalleriekorps Hauer was raised in October.
Attached to the command of the German General von Linsingen they
had to cover the roads between the rivers Styr and Stochod. After the
front stabilized they had a relatively quiet winter and
spring.
Not until July 1916 did Hauer's troops become involved in the aftermath of
the Brussilow-offensive. After heavy fighting along the Stochod,
followed by the defeat of the brigade of the Polish Legion which was attached to
Hauer, there was continuing heavy fighting in the vicinity of Tobol in
August and September 1916. During the autumn it was again possible
to stabilize the front. During 1916 Freiherr von Hauer was
honored with the title of Geheimer Rat (Privy Councillor) on the 16th of March 1916
and received the 1st class of the decoration of the Society of
the Red Cross with war decoration (2nd August 1916), the grand cross of the Order of the Iron Crown with
war decoration
(13th September 1916) and the grand cross of the Bavarian Military
Merit Order with swords. After another relatively quiet winter
the Kavalleriekorps Hauer was able to capture the Russian
bridgehead at Tobol during a surprise attack at the end of March and
beginning of April 1917. For this unexpected victory he was honored
with the 1st class of the Order of Leopold with war decoration
and swords on the 17th of April 1917. On the 1st of August 1917
Freiherr von Hauer received his promotion to Generaloberst with seniority from the 12th of August 1917.
Following the revolution in Russia the war on the eastern front became
quiescent . In October 1917 the Kavalleriekorps
Hauer was disbanded. Some of his troops went to the Tyrol as formed units while
others were completely broken up and distributed to other units.
Generaloberst Hauer was sent on a leave awaiting a new command
but there was no further use for a cavalry commander in his rank.
In June 1918 he retired to Budapest. After the collapse of
the Dual Monarchy he decided to became an Hungarian citizen. In November
1921 he was remarried to Karoline
Kubinyi von Felsö-Kubin, his first wife having died in 1911. The couple lived
in Budapest
until Generaloberst Leopold Freiherr von Hauer died on the 3rd of
May 1933.
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