August Wilhelm Hermann von Zenge

August Wilhelm Hermann von Zenge (born October 11, 1736 in Obergebra , Grafschaft Hohenstein , † November 29, 1817 in Berlin ) was a Prussian major general and chief of infantry regiment No. 24 .

Life

origin

August Wilhelm Hermann was the son of Burghard Friedrich von Zenge (1686–1750), Lord of Obergebra and his wife Friederike, née Walther.

Military career

Zenge received his first training at the school in Benneckenstein , then from 1753 he was at the cadet academy in Berlin . He stayed there until 1756. Then he was employed as a corporal in the infantry regiment "von Forcade" .

He fought with the regiment in the battle near Reichenberg . In the Battle of Prague he was seriously injured by a shot in the abdomen. At first he stayed on the battlefield for a whole day, only then was he found and brought to the Margarethen monastery. It wasn't until the third day that he was finally bandaged. After the Battle of Kolin , all wounded were brought to Dresden . He was not treated during the transport either, and it was only in Dresden that he came under the hands of a doctor again. There he was able to recover enough that he was back with the regiment for the battle of Roßbach . Then he marched to Silesia and fought with people . In December 1757 he became an ensign and in 1758 he fought in the siege of Olomouc . After this had to be given up, he came to the battle of Zorndorf . In the battle of Hochkirch he was an orderly officer at the headquarters. During the battle he collected 300 stragglers with five cannons and stood against the Austrians under General Beck , who wanted to fall in the rear of the Prussians.

He later brought up the rear of the army. Margrave Carl was very impressed and praised him, but for Zenge the act did not pay off. In the course of the Seven Years' War he fought in the relief of Neisse , Liegnitz , Torgau and the siege of Schweidnitz .

In the subsequent War of the Bavarian Succession , he received the order Pour le Mérite in the battle near Weißkirchen . He continued to rise in the ranks and became a colonel on February 12, 1793 . During the Prussian-Polish war the commander of the regiment was "Lichnowski" . On May 11, 1799 he was promoted to major general and chief of the infantry regiment "von Grünberg" in Frankfurt an der Oder .

In the Fourth Coalition War , Zenge commanded a brigade in the battle of Auerstedt . It was fired at, but did not take part directly in the battle and was able to withdraw in an orderly manner. During the retreat, the major general fell from his horse on the night of October 15, 1806 and broke his arm. The brigade withdrew to Magdeburg and then followed the "Hohenlohe" corps to Prenzlau . There he was captured regardless of the surrender. After his release, he returned to his family and died in 1817.

family

Zenge was married to Charlotte Margarete von Wulffen (1760-1838) since December 3, 1776. The couple had fourteen children in total, including:

• Carl Friedrich Georg (1777–1802), Prussian officer
• Wilhelmine Charlotte (1780–1852), formerly fiancee of Heinrich von Kleist ⚭ 1803 Wilhelm Traugott Krug (1770–1742)
• Friederike Luise (1782–1855), chanoinesse of the noble ladies' monastery in Lindow
• Charlotte Christiane (* 1783) ⚭ NN from Stojentin
• Friderica Augustina (1784–1786)
• Karoline Henriette (born September 3, 1787) ⚭ Heinrich von Berge and Herrndorf
• August Alexander (April 9, 1789 - August 26, 1865), Prussian Colonel ⚭ Johanna Juliane von Dallwitz (1797–1878)
• Sophia Eleonora (1791-1793)
• Emilie Auguste (born April 27, 1800; † April 27, 1840) ⚭ Alexander von Wulffen (1784–1861), Prussian lieutenant general

literature

• Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 3, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1937], DNB 367632780 , pp. 63-64, no. 977.
• Leopold von Zedlitz-Neukirch : Pantheon of the Prussian Army. P. 108, digitized version

Web links

• Explanations of the letters from Carl von Zenge (PDF; 49 kB)