Christian August von Lengefeld

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Christian August von Lengefeld (born May 11, 1728 in Laasen ; † July 20, 1789 in Bad Mayenburg) was a Prussian lieutenant general , chief of infantry regiment No. 5 , governor of Magdeburg Fortress and knight of the Order of the Black Eagle .

Life

origin

His family comes from the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt . He was the son of August Alexander von Lengefeld (1697–1740), heir to Laasen, Döhlen and Arnsbach, and his wife Magdalene Friedericke, née von Dobeck from the Kaulsdorf family. Lieutenant General Friedrich Wilhelm von Lengefeld was his brother.

Military career

Lengefeld was initially a page at the court in Rudolstadt. In 1745 he joined the Electoral Saxon service and became a private corporal in the “Prince Xaver” regiment. The prince paid close attention to the training in his regiment and provided a teacher of war architecture and a good stable master. Lengefeld avidly made use of these possibilities. In 1746 he became an ensign , but saw no opportunities for further advancement, took his leave in 1748 and went back to Schwarzburg. He became Prime Lieutenant in a regiment that his Prince Heinrich XXXV. and Johann Friedrich built it to rent it to the Dutch for money. With this regiment he first came to the garrison in Herzogenbusch . Then he came to Feld in Breda and Loo . On October 18, 1748, the troops moved to Deventer in winter quarters . Lengefeld had not collected any medals during this time, but had good contacts with the imperial troops there. In 1749 the regiment was deployed to help fight the unrest that had broken out in Overijssel . In the fall of that year his regiment marched back to Schwarzburg. There it was distributed to various garrisons and the companies downsized. Lengefeld took vacation and made various trips through Germany. He became a staff captain in 1754, but was able to continue his travels. In 1755 the Duke of Württemberg offered him the post of commander of a grenadier company. Thereupon Lengefeld left the Sonderburger services and came to Württemberg .

In the Seven Years' War he was one of the 6,000 men who came to the Austrians for French money. In 1757 he fought against the Prussians in the siege of Scheidnitz , in the Breslau and Leuthen . In 1758 he became major and commander of a grenadier battalion. He came to the French army under the Prince of Soubise and Duke of Broglie . When the army marched from Kassel into the Hanoverian lands, his grenadier battalion formed the vanguard. This met the troops of General Christoph Ludwig von Oberg near Lutterberg on October 10, 1758 , and they were defeated. In 1759 he was made lieutenant colonel in the Württemberg bodyguard. Since the life guards did not take part in the fighting, he was given command of the second battalion of the Prince Louis regiment . Under the command of the Duke of Württemberg were his companies in Hesse and near Fulda. After the battle near Fulda he was given supreme command of all Württemberg grenadiers. At the end of January 1760 they were stationed on the Vogelsberg (Wetterau), in the same year the Duke of Weimar gathered a troop of 12,000 men, including the grenadier battalion. He also led it in the battle near Wittenberg on October 13, 1760. In 1761 he was commissioned to set up a new body grenadier regiment, for which he was appointed colonel and commander of the regiment. In 1765 he received the requested farewell from the Württemberg service.

In the following year, 1766, he went into Prussian service. He was taken over as a colonel and commander in Infantry Regiment No. 50 in Silberberg . In 1770 he received royal approval to volunteer in Russian services. Russia was at war with the Ottoman Empire at the time . He joined the army of Field Marshal Romanzov who fought against the Turks on the Vltava . He fought on June 28th in the Battle of Lapuschna , on July 28th in the Battle of Larga and on August 1st in the Battle of Cahul . On August 3, the Turks were defeated on the Danube and driven out of Moldova. He then went to the army of the Count of Panin, who moved against the fortress of Bender . It was besieged and captured on September 26th. Lengefeld received the royal order to return when the Russian army went into winter quarters. Because of the plague (?) In Poland, he had to take a detour through Transylvania . But he had to go into quarantine at the Ditos pass . After its end he came back to Prussia through Hungary via Vienna. In March 1771 he reached the king in Potsdam, where he had to prepare a detailed report. The king was very satisfied with this and on May 22nd, 1771 he was appointed major general. In 1773 he became chief of the newly established Regiment No. 52 in West Prussia. In 1774 he received the order Pour le Mérite .

In the War of the Bavarian Succession he joined the king's army. He became the commander of a grenadier brigard in the corps of Lieutenant General Wunsch . There he was able to distinguish himself on January 14, 1779 in the battle of Zuckmantel in Upper Silesia. Together with the Oserowski Regiment, he and the newly established regiments were able to drive the Austrians out of their entrenchments after a two-hour cannonade. In 1779 he was also responsible for the exchange of prisoners.

In May 1782 he became lieutenant general and received the Order of the Black Eagle in July of that year . On April 5, 1785 Lengefeld became chief of the infantry regiment "von Saldern" and governor of Magdeburg. On May 26, 1789, he received a two-month vacation to restore his health. He died shortly afterwards at his health resort Bad Mayenburg.

He was greatly appreciated by Friedrich II , who also used him to look after foreign state guests.

literature
personal data
SURNAME Lengefeld, Christian August von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lengefeld, Christophe Auguste de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian lieutenant general, governor of Magdeburg Fortress
DATE OF BIRTH May 11, 1728
PLACE OF BIRTH Laasen
DATE OF DEATH July 20, 1789
Place of death Bad Mayenburg