Ferdinand Friedrich August of Württemberg

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Ferdinand Friedrich August von Württemberg, lithograph by Friedrich Lieder and Alois von Saar

Ferdinand Friedrich August, Duke of Württemberg (born October 21, 1763 in Treptow an der Rega , Western Pomerania , †  January 20, 1834 in Wiesbaden ) was an Austrian field marshal .

Life

Ferdinand Friedrich August was a son of Duke Friedrich Eugen von Württemberg (1732–1797) from his marriage to Friederike Dorothea Sophia von Brandenburg-Schwedt (1736–1798).

At the age of 18 he joined the Austrian army as a lieutenant colonel. After participating in the Great Turkish War , he was promoted to major general on April 9, 1788 and to field marshal lieutenant on August 20, 1790 , and after the outbreak of the war against revolutionary France he took part in the fighting in the Netherlands and in 1796 in the Lower Rhine region. In March 1793 he intervened under Archduke Karl with his second meeting in the battle of Neer winds . He threw back the left wing of the French under General Champmorin and stormed Leau. On April 7, he took over the siege of Condé and forced the commanding General Chancel to surrender on July 11, 1792. For this success, the Duke was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Maria Theresa Order on July 23, 1793 . In spring 1794 he helped the diocese of Liège , which was threatened by French troops , but could not prevent its loss. In the campaign of 1795 he led his army corps against the incursion of the French army under Marshal Jourdan on the Rhine and operated between Lahn and Sieg. Between 9 and 16 September he led several skirmishes near Dünebach, Schlibusch, Buschdorf, Blankenberg, Uckeradt, Weyerbusch and Freylingen, which forced him to retreat quickly. The conclusion of a convention in Ehrenbreitstein on January 4, 1796 finally ended this campaign. On March 21, 1796, Duke Ferdinand was promoted to Feldzeugmeister . In the campaign of 1796 he took command of an 18,000-strong corps on the Lower Rhine , which operated against the left wing of the Sambre and Maas armies of the French general Kleber . At the end of June 1796 physical ailment forced him to leave active military service, whereupon he retired to Vienna.

When Bonaparte advanced from Italy against Inner Austria in the spring of 1797 , Duke Ferdinand was reactivated and on March 18 was appointed commanding general in Inner and Upper Austria. On April 12, 1796, he took over the organization of the volunteer corps to protect Vienna, and moved to his headquarters in Klosterneuburg . Due to the peace preliminaries of Leoben, which Archduke Karl concluded on April 18, the further list became obsolete. Twice, 1798–1799 and 1805, he acted as military representative in Saint Petersburg . As the commanding general of Inner Austria, he stayed in Graz and in August 1799 supported the operations of the Russian relief corps in northern Italy. On September 5, 1800 he was appointed commanding general above and below the Enns and city commandant of Vienna . On April 1, 1805, the emperor honored him with the dignity of an imperial field marshal. Until 1820 he remained city commander of Vienna; his last command from 1829 to 1834 was the position of governor of the Mainz fortress .

As a member of the royal house , Ferdinand had a mandate in the Württemberg Chamber of Notaries since 1851 . However, he was never present in person and was not represented.

family

Ferdinand was married twice. On March 18, 1795, he married Albertine von Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (April 5, 1771– April 25, 1829), daughter of Prince Christian Günther I of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Wilhelmine von Anhalt-Bernburg . The marriage was divorced in 1801.

His second wife, whom he married in Marseilles on February 23, 1817, was Pauline von Metternich-Winneburg (November 29, 1771-23 June 1855), daughter of Franz Georg von Metternich-Winneburg and Maria Beatrix von Kageneck and sister of Klemens Wenzel von Metternich .

honors and awards

In 1869 the Württemberggasse in Vienna- Brigittenau (20th district) was named after him.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Royal Württemberg Court and State Handbook 1828, p. 10.
  2. ↑ Hermann Hengst: The Knights of the Black Eagle Order. Verlag Alexander Duncker, Berlin 1901, p. 369.
personal data
SURNAME Württemberg, Ferdinand Friedrich August von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Württemberg, Ferdinand Friedrich August Herzog too
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German military
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1763
PLACE OF BIRTH Treptow an der Rega , Western Pomerania
DATE OF DEATH January 20, 1834
Place of death Wiesbaden