František Josef Jindřich Count Šlik /Franz Joseph Heinrich Graf Schlik zu Bassano und Weißkirchen; 23 May,1789 Prague; March 17, 1862 Vienna) was a Czech nobleman from the Šlik family and general of the Imperial Austrian cavalry .
At his father's request, František Jindřich first studied law, but after his father's death he left his studies and joined the army in 1809. However in 1808 František Jindřich established three militia companies from his estates, which he himself trained and commanded in the rank of first lieutenant.
Austria with England, Sicily and Sardinia formed the so-called "Fifth Coalition" against Napoleon and on 9 April 1809 the Austrian Empire declared war on France, the next day Austrian troops entered Bavaria . With the outbreak of war, Count František Jindřich relinquished command of his militia unit and joined Prince Albert of Saxony's cuirassier regiment as a lieutenant.
In the Battle of Aspern (May 21–22, 1809), which ended in the first defeat of Napoleon, František Jindřich distinguished himself and was promoted to lieutenant of the Schwarzenberg Hulan regiment , and a few days later he became aide-de-camp to the inspector of cavalry, Major General Ferdinand Count of Bubno and Litic .
After several partial successes of the Austrian units in the battle of Wagram, the French troops pushed the Austrians as far as Znojmo, where on July 11, 1809, the two armies clashed again. Šlik did not take part in these battles, including the heaviest ones at Suchohrdel, but one day later, on July 12, 1809, he already took part in peace negotiations. He was the intermediary between the Austrian General Staff and Napoleon in Vienna, with whom he personally met several times.
By signing the Peace of Schönbrunn on October 14, 1809, the Austrian Empire committed itself to an alliance with France. František Jindřich Šlik was promoted to the rank of rhythm master of the hussar regiment of Field Marshal Josef Radecký , however, he did not agree with sending the Austrian corps of Prince Schwarzenberg alongside the French against Russia, and in 1810 he resigned from the army command.
He returned to the army only after the defeat of Napoleon in Russia , when he joined the cavalry regiment of Jan Josef of Klenová and Janovice .
After Austria joined the "Sixth Anti-Napoleonic Coalition" on August 12, 1813, Count Šlik was reassigned to staff duty as an ordinance officer to Emperor Francis I. At Vachov near Leipzig he suffered a serious head injury from a drunken Russian officer, after which he lost his right eye.
After the outbreak of the March Revolution in Vienna in 1848, he was appointed military governor of the 3rd Army Corps in Kraków , and at the end of November, commander of a detachment of 8,000 men, which was to operate near Dukla in Galicia to thwart the action of the revolutionaries in Upper Hungary (Slovakia). With his units, he won several victories over more numerous Hungarian revolutionary units in the winter campaign and then commanded a strategic retreat near Košice. On September 5, 1849, he was promoted to the rank of Cavalry General.
From 1854 he served as the commander of the Austrian forces in Galicia and Bukovina. On 24 June 1859, he was appointed commander of the 2nd Army, which he led at the Battle of Solferino. He resigned after the signing of the peace of Villafranca.
Count František Josef Jindřich Šlik from Holíč and Pasoun died on March 17, 1862 in Vienna.
