Ferdinand von Mertens

Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Ferdinand August Mertens , von Mertens since 1863 (born March 13, 1808 in Cottbus , † April 28, 1896 in Pfaffendorf near Koblenz ) was a Prussian lieutenant general .

Life

origin

Ferdinand was a son of Syndikus Karl Wilhelm Mertens and his wife Charlotte Luise, nee Mücke.

Military career

Mertens attended the Friedrichsgymnasium and then studied construction in Berlin. On March 1, 1824, he joined the engineer corps of the Prussian Army as a conductor and on October 1, 1828, he became a one-year volunteer in the guards pioneer department . He became Portepeefähnrich at the end of August 1829 and graduated from the United Artillery and Engineering School on October 1, 1829 . Promoted to Second Lieutenant on December 28, 1830 , he came to the Fortification of Poznan on March 26, 1831. On February 21, 1832 he returned to the Guards Pioneer Department and became an adjutant on September 22, 1835 . On March 24, 1838 he came to the Spandau fortification and was transferred to the 3rd pioneer department on October 3, 1840. On May 19, 1843 he came to the fortification service in Wittenberg. He was promoted to Premier-Lieutenant on March 28, 1844 and transferred to Glogau on June 29, 1845 as an adjutant of the 2nd Pioneer Inspection. From March 27, 1848, Mertens worked as an interim company commander in the 3rd Pioneer Department in Magdeburg and was appointed commander of this company on July 1, 1848 with promotion to Captain II class . On August 28, 1849 he was transferred to the Neisse Fortification and on May 29, 1852 to the Spandau Fortification. Here he acted as an engineer officer from December 23, 1852 and rose to major by April 1, 1856 . At the same time, Mertens was from October 30, 1860 also a member of the examination committee for captains and prime lieutenants of the engineering corps. Promoted to lieutenant colonel on October 18, 1861 , he was commanded as telegraph director in Berlin on November 30, 1861. In Berlin he was also a member of the Federal Coast Fortification Commission. On 10 January 1863 his appointment was made to the Chief of the 6th Fortress inspection in Cologne and in this capacity he was in 1863 on March 17, Colonel and to the hereditary Prussian August 5, 1863 peerage charged .

During the war against Denmark , on December 19, 1863, he was appointed to the staff of the High Command of the Allied Armies under von Wrangel as the first engineer officer . He was at the bombardment and capture of Fredericia , the siege and storming of the Düppeler Schanzen , the crossing to Alsen and the crossing over the Limfjord . For the storming of the Düppeler Schanzen, which was planned together with Colomier , Mertens received the order Pour le Mérite on April 22nd, 1864 and the Commander's Cross of the Order of Leopold with war decoration on December 18th, 1864 .

After the war he returned to his peacetime position, was assigned to the Schleswig government in mid-August 1865 and entrusted with the management of the fortifications of Sønderborg and the port of Kiel. On September 12, 1865, he was appointed inspector of the 3rd Pioneer Inspection and at the same time as port commander of Kiel. On September 12, 1865 he received the Commander's Cross of the Order of Charles III.

During the German War in 1866 he was entrusted with the management of the fortifications of Dresden. With a patent from October 30, 1866, Mertens was promoted to major general on December 31, 1866 . Then he was on January 8, 1867 inspector of the 3rd pioneer inspection in Koblenz and on May 4, 1867 commander of Mainz . On October 3, 1867, he became inspector of the 3rd engineer inspection, before he was put up for disposal on June 6, 1868, with the award of the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class with oak leaves, with a pension .

For the duration of the mobilization on the occasion of the war against France , Mertens was appointed commandant of Magdeburg on July 18, 1870 . On August 14, 1870 he was commanded to lieutenant general von Werder and on August 21, 1870 he was assigned to the siege corps in front of Strasbourg as engineer and chief . After the capitulation of the city and fortress, he became their commander. But on November 11, 1871, he became engineer and chief of the siege corps in front of Belfort . For Strasbourg he received the Iron Cross II. Class and on December 3, 1870 for Belfort the Iron Cross I Class. In addition, on February 4, 1871, he was awarded the Commander-in-Chief of the Württemberg Military Order of Merit and the Commander's Cross 1st Class of the Military Karl Friedrich Order of Merit . King Wilhelm I paid tribute to him by awarding him the oak leaves to the order Pour le Mérite and the promotion to lieutenant general. On February 18, 1871, he was commissioned to repair the Belfort fortress, but on March 25, 1871, he returned to the inactive relationship. On July 18, 1871, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Bavarian Order of Military Merit .

He died on April 28, 1896 in Pfaffendorf near Koblenz.

His commander wrote in his 1847 assessment: “He is an intelligent officer of unusual intellectual abilities and knowledge, very zealous and useful in service, prudent and reliable. Equally useful for both branches of service and placed close to his seniority after the management of a company, a granting of this would fall into the best hands. His moral conduct is commendable, and he is completely worthy of promotion in his tour. It is in advantageous economic conditions. "

family

Mertens married Albertine Amalie Lüdecke, divorced Ravené (1802–1840) on August 13, 1839 in Spandau . The marriage remained childless.

literature

• Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1939], DNB 367632829 , Volume 7, pp. 441-442, No. 2393.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Our time: German revue of the present: monthly for the conversation lexicon , volume 1, p. 174. Ordre de Bataille 1864.