...Andreas Hofer was a simple Inn keeper before he joined the army in revolt against occupying France... The only other thing to his name was a very formidable beard that he must have worked on for years... From Marksman to Captain to Commander-in-Chief he came to command the whole Tyrolean army... 20,000 strong... farmers with pitchforks against the best trained... best equipped army in the world...
...And he won victory after victory... the most famous battle happening in Innsbruck where the ski jump is today... (and, eerily, from the top of the ski jump you can see the cemetery)... a hero of the people... tricked... betrayed... captured... and marched to a 19th century show trial in Mantua... "Give him a fair trial and then shoot him" was the message from Napoleon... He died a martyr... A legend...
...For he did not, as said in Wikiwhatever, pay off the French commander and tell him to shoot straight... no... instead... He refused a blindfold... refused to bend his head... or his knee... Even when the French shot him in both arms and both legs... and told him again to kneel... He would not... Instead... tearing open his coat he yelled... "You @^*#*&* French need to learn how to shoot!"... and... properly goaded... he died on his feet... head held high... long ago he made his choice... never again to live on his knees...
... For his courage he recieved the reward of every good rebel leader... His name and picture on a beer bottle for all future generations to see... remember... and toast... Andreas Hofer...
... Prost!...
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