Friedrich Adolf Riedesel

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Friedrich Adolph Riedesel, 1795
Friedrich Adolph Riedesel

Friedrich Adolf Riedesel Freiherr zu Eisenbach , also wrongly called "von" Riedesel (born June 3, 1738 in Lauterbach (Hesse) ; † January 6, 1800 in Braunschweig ), was a Brunswick-Wolfenbüttelscher general who served the British troops during the American War of Independence supported. He, his wife and his daughters were captured when General John Burgoyne after the Saratoga Campaign in 1777 capitulated.

Life

Riedesel was born as the second son of the Reich Chamber Court Assessors Johann Wilhelm Riedesel Freiherr zu Eisenbach (1705–1782) and Sophia von Borcke (1705–1769) into a family of the Evangelical-Lutheran Hessian nobility, which has been the Hereditary Marshal of Hesse since 1432 and until in the present is a member of the existing Althessian knighthood . He had four brothers: Wilhelm Hermann (1735–1764), Ludwig Volprecht (1740–1758), Johann Conrad (1742–1812), the 25th Hereditary Marshal, and Carl Georg (1746–1819), the 26th Hereditary Marshal.

His birthplace and the place of his first training was the castle in Lauterbach (Hesse) . His parents disagreed about his education. His mother wanted him to have a religious career, while his father favored a legal education and a career in diplomacy. Both were appropriate ways of life for a younger son.

Bending to his father's wishes, he went to the University of Marburg at the age of 15 . Riedesel was a mediocre student, but spent a lot of time watching the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel's troop drill. An officer who noticed his interest befriended him and fraudulently tricked him into enrolling in the military.

His first assignment in London was short-lived, and his regiment returned to Germany in 1759 with the start of the Seven Years' War . He fought honorably and won the attention of Duke Ferdinand of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and Frederick II of Prussia . In 1761 he commanded the newly formed hussars .

In August 1762 he was wounded in a battle against the French and sent back to Minden to recover. There he was looked after by the von Massow family and cared for by their daughter Charlotte. In December 1762 Friedrich Adolf Riedesel married Friederike Charlotte Luise von Massow during the campaign in Paderborn and moved to Wolfenbüttel , where the two lived in peace for several years. During these years Riedesel commuted to Braunschweig, where he served as the Duke's adjutant. The couple had several children including:

  • Auguste (born August 9, 1771 in Wolfenbüttel; † November 21, 1805 in Berlin ) ⚭ May 12, 1792 with Heinrich XLIV. Prince Reuss younger line, Prussian Chamberlain (April 20, 1753 - July 3, 1832)
  • Friederike (1774–1854) ⚭ Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden (1752–1815)
  • Caroline (1776–1861)
  • America (March 7, 1780 - May 17, 1856) ⚭ Count Ernst von Bernstorff auf Gartow (* July 12, 1768 - May 2, 1840), mother of Arthur von Bernstorff
  • Georg Karl Ferdinand Friedrich Johann (born April 26, 1785 - † August 4, 1854), Land Marshal ⚭ Caroline Friederike Louisa Riedesel (1784–1857), daughter of the writer Johann Hermann Riedesel zu Eisenbach (1740–1784)
  • Charlotte Hedwig (* October 4, 1788; † February 24, 1848) ⚭ Helmuth von Schöning (* 1785; † October 24, 1864), son of Major General Christoph Friedrich von Schöning on Schönrade

In Braunschweig he was admitted to the Jonathan Masonic Lodge in 1763 ; In 1788 he became a member of the La Constance Lodge in Maastricht.

American War of Independence

In 1776 the British began to recruit Hessian and other German subsidiary troops for the American War of Independence . The Duke of Braunschweig provided 3,964 infantrymen , including a Jäger company ( Braunschweiger Jäger ) and 336 cavalrymen from the Dragoon Regiment . The latter, however, should only receive their horses in Canada, as it was assumed that mounts were there in abundance. However, as this turned out to be a mistake, the Dragoons ultimately had to fight the war on foot as well. On March 18, they sailed from Stade under the command of the newly appointed Major General Riedesel . After a stay in England, they arrived in Québec on June 1st . They supported the final displacement of the American forces after their invasion of Canada . Then they were distributed to different posts in Canada for the winter.

There is also the story that the first Christmas tree on the American continent was set up at Christmas 1781 on the initiative of Riedesel's wife Friederike in her home in Sorel . A silhouette of a fir tree in front of the former headquarters of the Braunschweig troops still reminds of this today.

Saratoga campaign

See main article: Saratoga Campaign

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Amerika Riedesel Freiin zu Eisenbach ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in Kaestner & von Urach's Genealogical Aristocratic Database @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.stammreihen.de
  2. ↑ Family tree
  3. ^ Hans Schöning, Geschichtliche Nachrichten von dem Geschlechte von Schöning , p. 184, digitized
  4. ↑ Mechthild Wiswe : Freemasons in their time , publication accompanying the exhibition of the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum on the 250th anniversary of the Braunschweig Masonic lodges, Braunschweig 1994, ISBN 978-392793923-3 , p. 27
  5. ^ Jean-Pierre Wilhelmy: Les mercenaires allemands au Québec 1776–1783. Septentrion 1997, p. 115. (French)
  6. ^ Friedrich Adolf Riedesel ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .
  7. ↑ Sorel and the first German Christmas tree on goethe.de
personal data
SURNAME Riedesel, Friedrich Adolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Friedrich Adolph von Riedesel, Freiherr zu Eisenbach
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hessian general in the American War of Independence
DATE OF BIRTH June 3, 1738
PLACE OF BIRTH Lauterbach
DATE OF DEATH January 6, 1800
Place of death Braunschweig