Emil von Schwartzkoppen

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Ferdinand Emil Karl Friedrich Wilhelm von Schwartzkoppen (born January 15, 1810 in Obereimer , † January 5, 1878 in Stuttgart ) was a Prussian infantry general .

Life

origin

Emil came from the Swartekop bourgeois family, first mentioned in a document in Braunschweig around 1500 , whose members were raised to the imperial and hereditary-Austrian knightly nobility in 1688 . He was the son of the Prussian forester and chamberlain Ernst August Friedrich von Schwartzkoppen (* May 27, 1776, † February 17, 1827 in Arnsberg) from Königslutter and his wife Marie Therese Charlotte, née Marshal von Bieberstein (* August 17, 1775, † March 25, 1842) from Wallerstein .

Military career

Schwartzkoppen attended the Laurentianum grammar school in Arnsberg and joined the Prussian army on January 10, 1826 after finishing school . His first unit was the 30th Infantry Regiment in Trier and Luxembourg. He became second lieutenant in 1829 and later a battalion or regimental adjutant . In 1841 he became an adjutant in the command office of the Luxembourg Fortress . In 1846 he was promoted to captain with use as a company commander in the 36th Infantry Regiment . In 1847 he was transferred to the 2nd Infantry Regiment .

He gained his first combat experience with this regiment in 1848 during the street fighting in Berlin and then in the war against Denmark . On April 23, he was wounded during the storming of the Annettenhöhe in the battle of Schleswig . Despite a resection , the surgeon Bernhard von Langenbeck saved his right arm after several operations and remained functional. His further military career in various functions made him colonel and commander of the newly founded 6th Westphalian Infantry Regiment No. 55 on July 1, 1860 . With this regiment he was involved in the German-Danish War on April 18, 1864 in the assault on the Düppeler Schanzen .

After the war, he was promoted to major general in 1864 and appointed commander of the 27th Infantry Brigade . With this he was part of the Elbarmee in the German War and marched into the Kingdom of Bohemia . In the battle of Königgrätz he received the order Pour le Mérite for storming the town of Problus . On October 30, 1866, he was transferred as commander to the newly established 18th Division in Flensburg . On August 10, 1867, he took over the 19th division in Hanover and was promoted to lieutenant general at the turn of the year .

Franco-German War

The 19th Division was part of the X Corps in the 2nd Army in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 . The first major operation took place at the Battle of Mars-la-Tour . Schwartzkoppen and his division had marched towards the battle noise and attacked with two of his regiments (together a brigade) while on the move, without having cleared up the terrain or strength and position of the enemy. His soldiers had walked twelve hours and were exhausted accordingly. He assumed that the attack would be against the French flank, but it was the center of the IV French Corps ( Ladmirault ).

During the attack on the heights of Bruville, the two regiments got caught in the crossfire of two French divisions ( Grenier and Cissey ). Within less than 30 minutes, his regiments suffered a loss of 2,600 men and had to withdraw completely defeated. These losses corresponded to 60% of the total strength, 45% of all soldiers of the regiments had fallen, including Brigadier General von Wedell and the two regimental commanders. The soldiers had not even managed to get the French troops within range of their rifles.

It was only thanks to a cavalry attack for relief that the regiments were not immediately completely wiped out, but were able to break away from the enemy. A French counterattack was carried out with only one brigade and could therefore be repulsed when the French came within range of the German rifles.

Post-war years

After this battle it became ill and was not used in this war. After the Peace of Frankfurt he was first military governor of Berlin and was given command of the state gendarmerie . In 1873 he was promoted to general of the infantry and he took over from December 24, 1874 as commanding general of the XIII. (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps . Schwartzkoppen died in this position on January 5, 1878.

After his death he was transferred to Merseburg and buried there on January 8, 1878.

Awards

Schwartzkoppen has received several awards for his many years of service. He received the following medals and decorations :

On the occasion of his 50th anniversary in service, Schwartzkoppen became chief of the 8th Westphalian Infantry Regiment No. 57 . He had also received permission to wear the general uniform of Württemberg .

family

In his first marriage, Schwartzkoppen married Anna Marie Luise von Ditfurth (born September 27, 1816 in Danzig , † April 15, 1865 in Düsseldorf ) on August 4, 1840 in Fischbek , the daughter of the later Prussian infantry general Wilhelm von Ditfurth , landlord of the estate Dankersen at Rinteln , and the Florentine at Brederlow . This marriage produced the following children:

Four years after the death of his first wife, he married Christiane Marie Hildegard von Brederlow on July 29, 1869 in Merseburg (born December 13, 1833 in Halberstadt ; † March 31, 1916 in Merseburg), from the House of Tragarth near Merseburg, the daughter of Prussian Major General Bonaventura von Brederlow and Karoline, née von Branconi . This second marriage has two sons:

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ It can be found e.g. B. in the ADB also the name of Schwarzkoppen .
  2. ↑ The German needle gun had a maximum range of 600 m, the French Chassepot rifle was used from 1200 m
  3. ↑ Geoffrey Wawro: The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870-1871. Cambridge University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-521-61743-X , pp. 157f.
personal data
SURNAME Schwartzkoppen, Emil von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schwartzkoppen, Ferdinand Emil Karl Friedrich Wilhelm von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian general of the infantry
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1810
PLACE OF BIRTH Top bucket
DATE OF DEATH January 5, 1878
Place of death Stuttgart