Johann Weber (1752 – 1799)
On the battlefield of Neuenegg, on 5 March 1798, Major and Adjutant-General Johann Weber made a decisive contribution to the victory of the Bernese troops over the troops of the newly founded French Republic. It was only the announcement of the Bernese defeat at Grauholz on the same day that forced him to retreat. The war was lost, but the honour of the troops remained intact.
Johann Weber was born on 12 November 1752 in Brüttelen in the Bernese Seeland. His father Abraham was a first lieutenant in the service of France and a mayor. At the age of 16, Johann entered the service of Samuel von Graffenried, a member of the governing council of Erlach, and at the age of 18 he followed in his father’s footsteps and entered the foreign legion. In 1770, he enlisted in the Bernese regiment von May serving in Holland. Six years later, he entered the Dutch regiment van Dopff where, in 1790, he was promoted to captain and, four years later, to lieutenant quartermaster general and assistant to the Prince of Orange. In the latter capacity, he found himself fighting two campaigns against the French armies in the French Revolutionary Wars. After the defeat of the Netherlands, faced with the choice of either submitting to the pro-French regime or giving up his military career, he decided, out of a sense of loyalty, to return home to Switzerland.
In Switzerland, with the rank of major, he served as adjutant-general (Chief of Staff) and made a decisive contribution to the victory of the Bernese troops over the French troops on 5 March 1798, at the battle of Neuenegg. On the same day, however, the victory of the French over the Bernese at Grauholz marked the final defeat of Bern and the end of the Ancien Régime in Switzerland.
During the war between France and Austria in Eastern Switzerland, when Napoleon ordered the Directory to mobilise Swiss troops to support the French Republic, Johann Weber was one of the three adjutant-generals to the Swiss army under the orders of General Augustin Keller. On 25 May 1799, the Swiss Legion was incorporated into General Oudinot’s French Division. Johann Weber led two battalions and a company of marksmen. In an initial attack on the town of Frauenfeld, Weber had managed to push back the Austrians, and then led the attack against the troops of Austrian General Hotzes. While he was advancing in an attempt to see the enemy’s positions, the bullet of an Austrian sharpshooter hit him behind his right ear. Johann Weber was carried back to Frauenfeld, and died after a long agony, unaware that General Keller had been relieved of his post that same day, and that the Directory had appointed Johann Weber himself as commander in chief of the troops of the Helvetic Republic.