András Hadik
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- The native form of this personal name is futaki gróf Hadik András. This article uses the Western name order.
András Hadik de Futak (German: Andreas Reichsgraf Hadik von Futak; Hungarian: Futaki Hadik András gróf; Slovak: maršal Andrej Hadík), October 16, 1710 – March 12, 1790) was an Austrian-Hungarian Count of Futak. He was commander of an Austrian army corps in the Seven Years' War under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine. He was Governor of Galicia and Lodomeria from January 1774 to June 1774, and the father of Károly József Hadik.
[edit] Early life
Born on October 16, 1710 in Great Rye Island or in Kőszeg to the Hungarian noble family of Mihály Hadik, he volunteered for the Ghilányi-hussar regiment when he was 20, at 22 he was given the rank of officer and became the standard bearer in the Dessewffy-hussar regiment in the Austrian army. Hadik fought in the War of the Polish Succession (1733 – 1738) and the Russo-Turkish War of 1735 – 1739. In 1738 Hadik was promoted to the rank of captain.
During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748) he gained fame for his actions against the Prussians at the city of Neisse (Nysa, Poland) using surprise attacks and tricks under the unwritten laws of the so-called "small war," relying on the excellent training of his light cavalry hussars. During the war, he was again promoted, this time to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1744 he gained the rank of Commanding Colonel of his own hussar regiment, then near the end of the war in 1747 he attained the rank of General and was appointed commander of a cavalry brigade.
Early in the Seven Years' War (1756 – 1763), Hadik executed the most famous hussar action in history: when the Prussian King Frederick was marching south with his powerful armies, the Hungarian general unexpectedly swung his 5,000 force of mostly hussars around the Prussians and took their capital Berlin. The city was spared for a negotiated ransom of 200,000 thalers. For this feat, Hadik was promoted to the rank of Marshal.
