Joseph Freiherr Maroičić di Madonna del Monte

Joseph Maroičić was born on the 6th of April1812 as the son of a Hauptmann in Svidnik in the district of Saros in upper Hungary. At the age of 14 he entered the 60th Infantry Regiment as a regimental cadet on the 21st of October1825. Following his military education at the Graz cadet school he returned to his regiment as a Cadet-Feldwebel in1828 in which rank he served for two years before being appointed to the rank of Fähnrich in the 1st Banal-Grenz (Border)-Regiment. In the same year his father was raised to the Hungarian nobility and from this time on Maroičić was entitled to the predicate "von". Commissioned on the 21st of April1831 he was appointed as a battalion adjutant until attached to the General Quartermaster Staff in Milan in1834. Promoted to Oberlieutenant on the 1st of December1834, he was officially transferred to the General Quartermaster Staff on the 17th of July1835 and promoted to Hauptmann on the 29th of September1843.

With the outbreak of the war against Piedmont in1848, Hauptmann Maroičić was assigned as a general staff officer in Feldmarschall-Lieutenant Graf Thurn's division in Feldzeugmeister Graf Nugent's corps which was advancing from the Isonzo to Verona. He saw action at Visco and Privano on the 17th of April, at the assault on Udine on the 21st of April, at the engagements at Cima Fadalto on the 4th of May, at Oniga and Cornudo on the 9th of May and at Treviso on the 12th of May. He was then employed as a staff officer at corps headquarters and with the advance guard prevented the destruction of an important bridge required by the corps over the River Brenta on the19th of May and participated in the assault on the fortified camp at Vicenza on the 20th of May. Following his advice the surrounding area of Vicenza was taken and Verona was captured by the 25th of May.

Following a reconnaissance and the encounter at Goito on the 30th of May, he was on account of his expert knowledge of the local terrain attached to the brigade of Generalmajor Culoz on the orders of Feldmarschall Radetzky which had to take the heights above Vicenza at Madonna del Monte. On account of his extremely knowledgeable advice to his commander and his efforts in executing the operation the heights were taken on the 9th/10th June and Maroičić was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresia at the153rd promotion on the 29th of July1849. He was raised to a Barony in November 1849 and took the predicate "di Madonna del Monte". Having already been promoted to Major in the1st Banal-Grenz-Regiment immediately after the action at Madonna del Monte he was appointed as chief of staff of Feldmarschall-Lieutenant Graf Thurn's 3rd corps. With the reopening of the offensive in July1848 he participated with this corps from the South Tyrol in the actions at Monte Baldo on the 22nd, Rivoli on the 23rd and Peschiera on the 25th. When Feldmarschall-Lieutenant Graf Thurn assumed command of 4th corps he was accompanied by Maroičić as his chief of staff and he saw further action at Milan on the 4th of August1848. In appreciation of his accomplishments as a general staff officer during the1848 campaign in Italy, especially for his circumspection and bravery at Monte Baldo and Rivoli, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Leopold Order on the 30th of November1848. During the campaign in Hungary in 1849 he was assigned as chief of staff to Feldmarschall-Lieutenant von Puchner's corps in Siebenbürgen and saw further action at Mediasch on the 4th of March, at Zeiden on the19th of March and in the Temesvár pass on the 21st of March. Reassigned as chief of staff to General der Cavallerie Graf Schlik's 1st corps he was involved in the skirmish at Alpár on the 29th of July, the attack on Makó on the 4th of August and at Arad on the 10th of August. He was promoted to Oberstlieutenant in the Quartermaster-General staff on the 31st of July 1849.

Following the cessation of hostilities he was further promoted to Oberst on the 8th of November1849 and appointed as commanding officer of the Oguliner Grenz-Regiment number 3 in which he remained until his promotion to Generalmajor on the17th of May 1854 and assignment as a brigade commander in the Serbian-Banat Army Corps. He took part as such in the occupation of Jassy in Moldavia and Galatz in Wallachia and from January1856 commanded a brigade at Kassa. In the war against France and Piedmont in1859 he commanded his brigade from the18th until the end of May in support of Trieste and Fiume and then was moved to the lower Po in support of the army on the Po Delta for the defence against enemy sea borne landings without, however seeing action. From September1859 until February1860 he was assigned as a brigade commander in Komorn and then as a divisional commander. From September1860 he was appointed the interim commander in Fiume which became definitive on the 21st of November. Promoted Feldmarschall-Lieutenant on the 30th of December1860, he was attached to headquarters of the 3rd corps at Laibach and assumed a divisional command there on the 6th of March1861. On the 20th of March1860 he was honored with the appointment as the "Inhaber" of the 7th Infantry Regiment.

With the coming war against Prussia and Italy in the summer of 1866, Feldmarschall-Lieutenant Maroičić was appointed as the commanding general of the 7th Army Corps on the11th of May 1866 in Erzherzog Albrecht's South Army alongside fellow corps commanders Ernst Hartung and Gabriel Freiherr von Rodich. Maroičić commanded his corps in the successful battle of Custozza on the 24th of June1866 for which he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresia at the166th promotion on the 29th of August1866. Shortly before, on the14th of July, he had been appointed a privy councillor. Following the appointment of Erzherzog Albrecht to the supreme command in the north, Maroičić handed over command of his corps to Erzherzog Heinrich and assumed overall command of the Austrian 5th and 9th corps in the south along the Isonzo and along the coast. Following the peace agreement, Maroičić was initially assigned to the general command in Ofen and then on the 20th of March 1868 was appointed commanding general in Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Tyrol, Istria and the Littoral with headquarters at Graz. Promoted to the brevet rank of Feldzeugmeister on the 22nd of April1868, he was transferred as the commanding general in Vienna on the 27th of March1869 followed by his substantive promotion to Feldzeugmeister of the 30th of April 1870.

On the13th of October1871 he was awarded the Order of the Iron Crown 1st Class. During the world exhibition of 1873 in Vienna, Maroičić as commanding general represented his Majesty on accompanying several foreign monarchs at revues of the Viennese garrison and consequently was decorated with numerous high foreign awards. Following a tour of twelve years in post as commanding general in Vienna, Feldzeugmeister Freiherr von Maroičić retired on the1st of May1881 and was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold with War Decoration. He died in Vienna the following year on the 17th of October1882.

Among his high foreign orders were the following: Grand Cross of the Royal Prussian Red Eagle Order, Grand Cross of the Royal Italian Order of Saint Mauritius and Lazarus, Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Ernst-August Order, Knight's Cross of the Imperial Russian White Eagle Order1st Class and Knight's Cross of the Persian Order of the Sun and the Lion 1st Class.

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