The Austrian army, it was very tough to be a soldier in it. There was a very large language barrier between officers and those under their command. A great example would be a Hungarian officer leading a regiment of mostly Germans. Mind you, the officers were supposed to know some of the opposite language (Germans should know Hungarian and vice versa), but "some" can only get you so far. Austrian soldiers were without a doubt very good. But, with language barriers, marching, orders, etc. tended to fall to pieces and increased marching times and order times. It happened far too much in the Austro-Hungarian army. There were some reforms, if I recall later on throughout the Napoleonic Wars, sometime during the early 1810s. This reform had Hungarian officers teaching they're men Hungarian to those who couldn't speak it well, or not speak it at all. They were instructed to teach drill in Hungarian, German, and Italian! Yes, Italian. Southern Hapsburg Empire had very many Italians, and border regiments, like Grenzers and Jaeger companies did in fact, consist of some Italians. It's really interesting, the Austro-Hungarian army.
Also, German soldiers were drilled very hard, making these men excellent shots and their ability to reload was astonishing. Mind you, British and Prussian soldiers were far better, but in comparison to let's say, French or Russian soldiers, German soldiers were far superior in everything having to do with ranged. As for Hungarians, it's hard to say with them. They were clearly very brave soldiers, but most had to be forced into line conscription. The Hussar was the prize of Hungary! Being the originals, and the best, I'm sure a majority of Hungarian Conscripts wanted to be a hussar or Chevaux-Leger (Chevaux-Legers were cavalry that could do almost anything. They were light enough for scout work and being lancers, and were heavy enough to also be dragoons and guards!). I read a story somewhere a while ago about a young Hungarian man, no more than 20, who was killed by guards for disobeying his line conscription order. he was found with the Hussars, and was immediately apprehended. He fought back, and they killed him to show an example of what happens when you disobey conscription orders. Nonetheless, Hungarian troops were somewhat of a prize of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They tended to be bigger, more burly men. And, when given the chance to charge, they delivered. And, boy... did they deliver well with cold-steel.
That's my input on Austria of the time.
