August Wilhelm von Neumann-Cosel

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August Wilhelm von Neumann (-Cosel) (born April 17, 1786 in Neisse ; † May 20, 1865 in Berlin ) was a Prussian infantry general and from 1841 to 1848 head of the military cabinet of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV.

Life

August Wilhelm was the son of the later major general David von Neumann (1739–1807) from Wehlau and his wife Elisabeth Josepha Maria Antonia, born von Jost (1745–1827) from Potsdam . His father, who was elevated to the Prussian nobility on June 10, 1779 as Prime Lieutenant, was in command of the Cosel Fortress in Silesia from 1802 until his death on April 16, 1807 .

Neumann joined the infantry regiment "von Sanitz" on January 1, 1800 as a private corporal , became ensign in 1803 and second lieutenant in 1806 . He fought in the war with France in 1806 , was wounded in the battle near Ohlau and was later assigned to his father as an adjutant in the defense of Cosel against Bavarian and French troops . On March 31, 1807, he managed to leave the besieged fortress to bring a report from his father to the king in Königsberg . He promoted the fortress commander David von Neumann to major general, but August Wilhelm only returned to Cosel with this news after his death. The advancing commander Ludwig Wilhelm von Puttkamer held the fortress until the Peace of Tilsit in July 1807. In the following years of peace Neumann served in various adjutant offices.

During the Wars of Liberation Neumann was wounded again in the Battle of Großgörschen in 1813 and was awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd class. In the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 he led the Silesian Rifle Battalion , whose commander he had become in 1814, and earned the Iron Cross 1st Class and the Russian Order of St. George IV Class. Then Neumann took over command of the Guard Jäger Battalion as a major and was appointed inspector of all hunters and riflemen in 1817 . Promoted to colonel in 1829 and major general in 1836, Neumann became Chief of Staff at Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm in May 1838. After his accession to the throne, Friedrich Wilhelm appointed him his adjutant general in June 1840.

A year later he was head of the King's personal affairs department in the War Ministry and thus head of the military cabinet. In 1844 he was promoted to lieutenant general , from 1847 he was head of the Reitende Feldjägerkorps . In June 1848, during the March Revolution , he asked the king to be released from his duties at the War Ministry. This followed his request, but Neumann did not receive any higher troop command. Promoted to general of the infantry in 1853, he submitted his departure in April 1856 . The king refused, reduced Neumann's area of ​​responsibility and gave him a deadline for a new application until autumn 1856. Neumann let this pass. For his services he was awarded the Order of the Black Eagle in 1857 .

August Wilhelm von Neumann died at the age of 79 on May 20, 1865 in Berlin. His wife, Amalie von Dresky (born August 17, 1788 in Glatz ; † February 9, 1859), whom he married on October 12, 1810 in Kreisau near Schweidnitz , had also died in Berlin in 1859. Both are buried in the old garrison cemetery in Berlin. The couple had five sons, all of whom were officers. The two youngest, Gustav (1819–1879) and Rudolf von Neumann-Cosel (1822–1888), became generals in the Prussian Army.

As a result of his proximity to the king and official contacts, Neumann was the owner of numerous high orders from German and foreign states. On January 27, 1889, Emperor Wilhelm II gave him the name "von Neumann" in honor of the 1st Silesian Jäger Battalion No. 5 in Hirschberg .

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Individual evidence

  1. In memory of the father who died prematurely in 1807 while defending the Cosel Fortress and his own involvement as his adjutant, the name “von Neumann-Cosel” was used on his own initiative . He himself was not granted the official Prussian approval to use the name in any case during his lifetime, but only in 1880/1881 to his son Rudolf and two grandchildren (see: Neumann-Cosel ).
  2. ^ Yearbook of the German Nobility . Volume 1, 1896 p. 519.