Karl Leopold von Hohenberg was a seasoned and capable Austrian general who served as the primary antagonist to Gaspard Lefebvre during the wars of the First Coalition. Representing the traditional military aristocracy of the Habsburg monarchy, Hohenberg was a competent commander who initially proved to be a dangerous foe for the disorganized French Republic. In October 1794, during the French invasion of the Austrian Netherlands, he orchestrated a masterful ambush at the Battle of Ostend. Utilizing a massive artillery bombardment and a surprise cavalry flank, he decimated the French I and III Divisions, routing the invaders and seemingly saving the province for the Emperor.

However, Hohenberg’s rigid adherence to conventional warfare proved to be his undoing when matched against the unorthodox brilliance of Lefebvre. Following his victory at Ostend, Hohenberg was deceived by Lefebvre’s rogue offensive into the Ardennes. Believing reports of a phantom army of 12,000 men destroying his supply lines, the Austrian general panicked and split his forces, leading to his defeat at the Battle of Dinze and the total loss of the Austrian Netherlands. He returned to the field in 1795 with a reinforced army of 55,000 men to reclaim the Rhineland, but was once again outmaneuvered in the Vosges mountains when Lefebvre led a high-risk march through the terrain to flank him, forcing another humiliating retreat.

The rivalry culminated in the Bohemian Forest in May 1796. having retreated deep into Imperial territory, Hohenberg established what he believed to be an impregnable defensive position in the Valley of the Upper Vltava, intending to crush the pursuing French army in a pitched battle where flanking was impossible. He was proven wrong when Lefebvre led his cavalry through the dense, pathless woods to strike the Austrian rear. With his army shattered and his tactical doctrine completely dismantled, Hohenberg was forced to personally surrender on the battlefield. In a moment of intense bitterness and aristocratic pride, he threw his sword onto the ground rather than hand it to the "colonial upstart." That sword was later retrieved by Lefebvre and presented to Elsie Dupont as a token of love, cementing Hohenberg’s legacy not as the savior of Austria, but as the unwilling architect of his rival's romantic and military legend.