HOFER, Andreas (1767-1810), a Tyrolese patriot, was born October 2,1767, at St Leonhard, in the Passeyr valley. There his father kept a tavern called the Sandhof, which Hofer inherited, and on that account he was popularly known as the “Sandwirth.” In addition to this he carried on a trade in wine and horses with the north of Italy, acquiring a high reputation for intelligence and honesty. On the outbreak of the war in 1796, he commanded a company of riflemen against the French at Lake Garda, and after the peace of Lunéville he took an active part in organizing the Tyrolese militia. After the treaty of Presburg (1805), by which Tyrol was transferred from Austria to Bavaria, Hofer was chosen a member of the secret Tyrolese deputation which went to Vienna to confer with the emperor on the condition of their country; and when, on the advice of Austria, the whole of Tyrol in April 1809 rose in arms, Hofer was chosen to the command of a large division of the insurgents, and inflicted an overwhelming defeat on the Bavarians at Sterzing. Reinforcements sent by Napoleon defeated the Austrians at Woergl and the Tyrolese at Feuersinger, but Hofer coming to the rescue of his country repulsed the Bavarians with great loss at Innsbruck. Notwithstanding also that Austria after Napoleon’s victory at Wagram agreed to evacuate Tyrol, Hofer resolved to maintain the struggle, and on the 13th August, at Berg Isel, routed with great slaughter a combined French and Bavarian force, and completely freed his country from foreign dominion. For some time the internal affairs of Tyrol were administered by an independent Government of which Hofer was the head, but after the peace of Vienna the Bavarians again endeavoured to assert their supremacy, and after a heroic resistance Hofer was ...