Then came Napoleon's defeat at Aspern, and the Tyrolese
rose and again drove the invaders from their country. In July occurred
Napoleon's great victory at Wagram, and the hopes of the Tyrol once more
sank. All the Austrians were withdrawn, and Lefebvre again advanced at
the head of thirty or forty thousand French, Bavarians, and Saxons.
The courage of the peasantry vanished before this threatening invasion.
Hofer alone remained resolute, saying to the Austrian governor, on his
departure, "Well, then, I will undertake the government, and, as long as
God wills, name myself Andrew Hofer, host of the Sand at Passeyr, and
Count of the Tyrol."
He needed resolution, for his fellow-chiefs deserted the cause of their
country on all sides. On his way to his home he met Speckbacher,
hurrying from the country in a carriage with some Austrian officers.
"Wilt thou also desert thy country!" said Hofer to him in tones of sad
reproach.
Another leader, Joachim Haspinger, a Capuchin monk, nicknamed Redbeard,
a man of much military talent, withdrew to his monastery at Seeben.
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