August von Kruse

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August von Kruse

August Heinrich Ernst von Kruse (born November 5, 1779 in Wiesbaden , † January 31, 1848 in Eisenbach ) was a Nassau general, military and agricultural reformer and president of the Herrenbank (the first chamber) of the estates of the Duchy of Nassau .

Life

August von Kruse was born as the only child of the Nassau-Usingischen district president Karl Friedrich von Kruse . Against his father's wishes, he entered military service at the age of 17. First he served in the Electorate of Braunschweig-Lüneburg for seven years and retired with the rank of first lieutenant . He then joined the Nassau-Weilburg military as a captain on July 1, 1803 . The armed forces of the principality consisted of two companies at that time , which Kruse was to expand into a battalion . With the merging of Nassau-Weilburg in the new Duchy of Nassau in 1806 Kruse was the rank of Major chief of the brigade of the Duke of Nassau army , the troops of Napoleon Bonaparte supported the war against Prussia. The Nassauer took part in several smaller battles. On September 1, Kruse returned to Nassau as a lieutenant colonel .

In the summer of 1808, Kruse set up the 2nd Infantry Regiment that took part in the Napoleonic Wars on the Iberian Peninsula on the French side . On October 13, 1808, the regiment crossed the Spanish border. The Nassauer took part in 42 skirmishes under Kruse, including the Battle of Vitoria on June 21, 1813. On December 10, 1813, the regiment changed sides on the ducal orders at Bayonne and joined the British. The Nassauer were shipped via England to the Netherlands, where they fought against the French and their remaining allies. In the battle of Waterloo , Kruse, meanwhile major general , served on Wellington's staff , having previously led the Nassau troops in battle. After the Nassau residents had taken part in the victory parade in Paris, August von Kruse took their place in Wiesbaden on December 28, 1815. In the meantime he had been appointed a member of the ducal war college.

In 1830 the Upper Hesse peasant uprising broke out in the Electorate of Hesse . Troops from Baden , Bavaria and Nassau were moved to the border to prevent them from spreading to neighboring states. Kruse was in command of this combined division, to which Nassau assigned 2,000 soldiers.

With the rank of lieutenant general , Kruse reformed the Nassau military until 1837. He founded a military school , pension and disability funds and set up artillery and engineer units for the first time .

In 1812 his elevation to the ducal Nassau baron status was recognized. Four years later he married Henriette von Dungern, a sister of Emil August von Dungern . The marriage remained childless.

In 1815 the Duke gave Kruse the right to farm at Hausen near Eisenbach im Taunus and took up residence there. In 1822, after the death of the previous tenant Philipp von Hohenfels, the property became the private property of Kruses. On the 58 hectare property, he tried new cultivation methods and made cattle breeding experiments. His findings were reflected in specialist publications. He was committed to the establishment of agricultural and moderation associations (against alcohol abuse ). He also supported early forms of the animal protection movement. Kruse and his wife Henriette († 1873) are buried in the courtyard at Hausen.

Honors

He received the Imperial Russian Order of St. Anne with Star and Grand Cross , the Nassau Waterloo Medal , the Royal Dutch Military William Order Knight 3rd Class and the Cross of the French Legion of Honor for officers.

literature

  • Homeland yearbook of the Limburg-Weilburg district . 1979.
  • Jochen Lengemann : MdL Hessen. 1808-1996. Biographical index (= political and parliamentary history of the state of Hesse. Vol. 14 = publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse. Vol. 48, 7). Elwert, Marburg 1996, ISBN 3-7708-1071-6 , p. 229.
  • Nassau parliamentarians. Part 1: Cornelia Rösner: The Landtag of the Duchy of Nassau 1818–1866 (= publications of the Historical Commission for Nassau. Vol. 59 = Prehistory and history of parliamentarism in Hesse. Vol. 16). Historical Commission for Nassau, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-930221-00-4 , No. 135.
  • Karl Schwartz .:  Kruse, August Freiherr von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 17, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1883, pp. 258-261.
  • Peter Wacker: The ducal-Nassau military 1813–1866. Volume 2, 1998, ISBN 3-922027-85-7 , p. 454 and others

Web links

Commons : August von Kruse  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Wacker: The ducal-Nassau military 1813-1866. Volume 2, 1998, ISBN 3-922027-85-7 , p. 262
personal data
SURNAME Kruse, August von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kruse, August Heinrich Ernst Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Nassau general, military and agricultural reformer and President of the Herrenbank of the Estates of the Duchy of Nassau
DATE OF BIRTH November 5, 1779
PLACE OF BIRTH Wiesbaden
DATE OF DEATH January 31, 1848
Place of death Eisenbach