Ernst Christoph of Nassau

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Ernst Christoph von Nassau (* 1686 in Hartmannsdorf near Glogau ; † November 19, 1755 in Sagan ) was a Prussian lieutenant general and knight of the Black Eagle Order .

family

Ernst Christoph von Nassau comes from a Silesian family from the Hartmannsdorf house near Glogau . The property was bought by his grandfather Ernst von Nassau in 1600. His son Christoph Erdmann (1722–1752) was already with him in Saxon services as a cornet and died as his adjutant general and Prussian captain . With him this line became extinct again.

After the death of his wife, Ernst Christoph lived with the widow of a sergeant in his regiment, Maria Elisabeth Biebisch, with whom he had three children: Anna Francisca Caroline, Georg Ernst Christoph (* 1747) and Fridrich Joseph Alexander (* 1748/49) . The sons were legitimized by the legitimation patent of February 5, 1787 (= raised to the nobility). The daughter had already died at this point. However, this patent did not come into force until 1804 for the grandchildren, who were then still living, the lieutenant Joseph Ludwig August and the granddaughter Elisabeth Cecilie, married von Schmigelski. The third grandson, Anton, had deserted and was therefore expressly excluded from the promotion of rank. Lieutenant General Ernst Christopgh was buried next to his wife in the Evangelical Trinity Church in Sagan, of which only the stump of the tower survived the Second World War . Ernst Christoph had at least two brothers.

Life

After completing his studies, Nassau volunteered in the Prussian Army . He fought with her in Flanders and Brabant . He then switched to Hessian services, but had to leave them again because he had entered into a duel.

He was then in the Electoral Saxon army . He became a major and was given the free company of Count Promnitz zu Sorau. His talents were soon recognized and he became lieutenant colonel of the cavalry , as well as adjutant general and governor in Dresden , where he was assigned to Field Marshal von Wackerbarth . This soon made him his adjutant general and promoted him to colonel of the cavalry. In addition, he was allowed to set up his own cuirassier regiment and to recruit from all cuirassier and dragoons regiments.

Only Holstein horses were used in the formation of the regiment and all soldiers were equipped with polished cuirassiers. This is how one of the most magnificent Saxon regiments came into being. It was used in the Rhine campaign and in the war in Poland. After the death of August II of Saxony , there was a dispute between him and ministers Brühl and Sulkowski about the future of the army. He then applied for and received his release.

The Prussian King Friedrich the Great accepted him gladly. He appointed Nassau major general , was allowed to set up a dragoon regiment ( Dragoon Regiment No. XI ) and thereby avail himself of Prussian and Saxon officers. He also received ten thalers for every man he tried to recruit. Nassau advertised very successfully in Saxony , so that he had his regiment together in a very short time. After only three months he had a battalion with five squadrons and a second was being established. However, no horses were available yet, but it was ordered to the camp near Strehlen , where it came under the command of Field Marshal von Schwerin .

In the First Silesian War , the regiment fought in Silesia , Bohemia and Moravia . He was present at the siege of Neisse and the conquest of Olomouc . In addition, it was able to distinguish itself in the fighting in Upper Silesia .

During the Second Silesian War , his regiment was the vanguard of Prince Moritz von Anhalt-Dessau's army . The king was very satisfied and so after the conquest of Prague in 1744 the general got a corps of 8,000 to 10,000 men with which he was to secure the area and occupy the fortifications there. He occupied Tabor on September 21, 1745 , Budweis on September 24, 1745 and Frauenberg on October 1, 1745 . So on October 4th he was back in Wodnian with the main army. After the Prussians had to withdraw from Prague under General Einsiedel , he was supposed to occupy Kolin first and thus secure supplies and later meet with him at Marklissa . He managed to retreat through the enemy lines from Kollin to Königgrätz (November 24th), where the king and his army were enclosed. Frederick II was delighted to see him, especially since the withdrawal from Prague meant catastrophic losses. For this he was made a Knight of the Black Eagle Order

In the Battle of Hohenfriedberg he commanded the left wing and was able to contribute a lot to the victory. Then he got a corps of 8,000 men again and was sent to Silesia, where he fought against Hungarian troops. He conquered the Cosel Fortress and captured the crew of 3,000 men. He also occupied Patschkau , Neustadt , Klein Glogau , Löbschütz , Jägerndorf , Troppau and Oderberg . He defeated the Dragoon Regiment Sachsen-Gotha and captured three standards, as well as the Philibert regiment which lost one standard. So he could stay in the winter quarters in Frankenstein until the end of the war .

For his successful approach he was promoted to lieutenant general in 1744. In addition, on March 5, 1746 , he was raised to the Prussian count status and received from the king a golden tobacco box with a personal letter of thanks.

His name was immortalized for his work in 1851 on one of the plaques on the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great .

Works

He kept a diary of his experiences during the Second Silesian War. This was published after his death:

  • Contribution to the history of the Second Silesian War. 1780.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Acta re. The legitimation of Georg Ernst Christoph and Joseph Friedrich Alexander Biebisch with the settlement of the nobility name of Nassau. State Museums Preuss. Kulturbesitz (SMPK), Secret State Archive, Rep. 46 B, No. 32f, Fasz. 9.
personal data
SURNAME Nassau, Ernst Christoph von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian Lieutenant General and Knight of the Black Eagle Order
DATE OF BIRTH 1686
PLACE OF BIRTH Hartmannsdorf near Glogau
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1755
Place of death Sagan