Friedrich Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

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Friedrich Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Friedrich Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

Friedrich Josias von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld (born December 26, 1737 at Ehrenburg Castle in Coburg , † February 26, 1815 in Coburg) was a Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , Reich Field Marshal and Imperial Field Marshal .

Life

Origin and youth

Friedrich Josias was the fourth son and the youngest child of Duke Franz Josias of Saxony-Coburg-Saalfeld (1697–1764) from his marriage to Anna Sophia (1700–1780), daughter of Prince Ludwig Friedrich I of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt . As the youngest son, like his brothers Christian Franz and Johann Wilhelm , he was destined for a career in the military, while the eldest brother Ernst Friedrich succeeded his father in the government in 1764.

The prince was trained in languages, religion and science; his teachers included the government councilor Johann August von Schönfeld and Caspar von Berbisdorf. The prince left the country for the first time at the age of 18 when he accompanied his sister Charlotte Sophie to Schwerin on her wedding to the Hereditary Prince Ludwig zu Mecklenburg . Here he visited Rostock and Magdeburg and on the return journey the farms in Hanover and Dresden.

Military career

Seven Years War

On the occasion of the marriage of his next sister, Friederike Caroline , he received a cavalry position in his Austrian regiment from his new brother-in-law Karl Alexander von Brandenburg-Ansbach and Bayreuth in 1755 . Friedrich Josias traveled to Vienna and was introduced to Empress Maria Theresa , who gave him regimental command.

He immediately took part in the Seven Years' War and fought in the Battle of Lobositz . In 1757 he was given an independent command and was trapped in this city after the battle of Prague and only detained again after the battle of Kolin . In 1757 he took part in the bombing of Zittau and the battle of Breslau . In the campaign of 1758 he was shot in his hand and in 1759 was appointed Colonel of the Ansbach Cuirassier Regiment by the Empress. Under Field Marshal Laudon he was involved in the battle of Liegnitz and the conquest of Schweidnitz .

On July 30, 1766 Friedrich Josias was promoted to major general and brigade commander, on May 1, 1773 to field marshal lieutenant. From 1778 to 1788 he was General Commander of Preßburg and in 1785 received the General Command in Galicia and Bukovina . On this occasion he was promoted to General of the Cavalry on August 22, 1786 by Emperor Joseph II .

Turkish war

The solemn welcome entry of Prince Friedrich of Saxe-Coburg into Bucharest (1789)

In the Turkish War from 1788 to 1792 he commanded the Galician army corps under Field Marshal Laudon , conquered the Chotin fortress in August 1788 , won the victory at Focşani on August 4, 1789 together with Suvorov and defeated the four times stronger Turkish main army at Mărtineşti on September 22 Rimnik . For this victory he was appointed field marshal, and had already been awarded the Grand Cross of the Maria Theresa Order . After this victory, Friedrich Josias was able to take Bucharest , where he solemnly moved in on November 8th and received the homage for the emperor. With that the conquest of Wallachia was completed.

The prince then conquered the fortress of Orsowa ; but he had to give up the city ​​of Giurgiu he had taken after the Turks fell out of the fortress. After the Peace of Sistowa in 1791 he was appointed commanding general in Hungary .

In the coalition war of 1793 and 1794

Friedrich Josias

At the end of 1792, Friedrich Josias was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Austrian Army against the French in the French Revolutionary Wars . In the first coalition war he then commanded the troops of the Reich Army in the Austrian Netherlands as Reich Field Marshal . In the first battle near Aldenhoven (March 1, 1793) he was able to decisively defeat the French, conquering Aachen and the fortress of Maastricht . After the imperial army had crossed the Meuse , the Austrian position could be strengthened considerably through the victories in the battle of Neerwind (March 18, 1793) and at Löwen over Charles-François Dumouriez . After the battle he penetrated French territory, won the Battle of Famars on May 23 , besieged and conquered the cities of Valenciennes and Le Quesnoy together with the Duke of York . He then began the siege of Maubeuge in mid-September , which he had to break off due to the defeat against the French under General Jourdan in the Battle of Wattignies (October 15 and 16, 1793). As a result, the coalition forces had to withdraw from Flanders. Coburg withdrew his troops across the Sambre and spent the winter on French soil.

Memorial of Prince Friedrich Josias in Coburg, 1911

After the resumption of operations in the spring of 1794, the previous military successes due to Thugut's clumsy policy were not long-lasting. Coburg began to besiege the city of Landrecies on April 17th with an army of 75,000 men, the city fell into the hands of his troops on April 30th. In mid-May the French had about 82,000 men at their disposal between Lille and Courtrai . Emperor Franz II , who himself was present at the Allied headquarters in Tournai , urged Coburg to attack the newly deployed French army. In the Battle of Tourcoing on May 17 and 18, 1794, the isolated wing of the Duke of York was defeated. The allies then had to withdraw in the direction of Tournay. The advancing French wanted to drive the allies from the fortified positions there, but were defeated in the battle of Tournay on May 22nd. In the following years, however, there was a stalemate between the warring troops. When the French besieged the city of Charleroi , Coburg successfully attacked Fleurus and the surrounding area on June 26, 1794 with 46,000 men. After it became known that Charleroi had fallen the day before and the French received reinforcements from there - the French troops made up almost 80,000 in the end - Coburg ordered a withdrawal and the company turned into a defeat.

Prince Friedrich Josias had participated in 13 campaigns and 16 battles; in ten battles he was personally in command and had only lost three. He had thrown the French back over the Sambre four times in recent years to protect the Austrian Netherlands , but the Austrians had to evacuate this area for good after the Battle of Fleurus. Bad health (Friedrich Josias suffered from erysipelas on his foot, which meant that he could not mount a horse), he took the loss of the provinces as an opportunity to bid his farewell and retire to Coburg.

retirement

Friedrich Josias bought several pieces of land in Coburg and had the so-called Bürglaß-Schlösschen built. He lived there withdrawn and wrote his life story. After the death of Prince Johann Adolf von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg , he became a senior in the Ernestine House and received the Oldisleben seniority office with his income.

The Coburgs adored him, especially since in 1806 he was able to protect their city from looting and pillage by the French army in the war against Prussia , pointing out that he himself had stood with an army for two years on French territory, without looting . He died on February 26, 1815 and was buried in the Morizkirche in Coburg.

reception

Year badge "Sachsen-Coburg" of the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt

The composer Johann Michael Haydn dedicated to the Prince the Präsentiermarsch Josiah-Coburg-Marsch , who now form the Coburg-march is known. After Coburg's victory against the Turks in 1789, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed the counter dance “The Victory of the Heroes Coburg” in C major (KV 587). On October 24, 1911, a monument to the prince based on a design by Professor August Sommer was inaugurated on the Theaterplatz in Coburg . The Josias garden there is named after the prince.

Through the imperial resolution of Franz Joseph I on February 28, 1863, Friedrich Josias von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld was added to the list of the “most famous warlords and generals of Austria worthy of perpetual emulation” , and a life-size statue in their honor and memory in the Feldherrenhalle of the then newly established Imperial and Royal Court Weapons Museum (today: Army History Museum Vienna ). The statue was created in 1868 by the sculptor Franz Mitterlechner (1819–1884) from Carrara marble and was dedicated by August von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha .

In commemoration, the 2002 class of the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt chose the name “Sachsen-Coburg”.

progeny

Friedrich Josias had morganatically married his housekeeper Therese Stroffeck, with whom he had a son:

  • Friedrich (1789–1873), Baron von Rohmann
⚭ 1812 Theresa Wischotzill von Griffa (1790–1855)

literature

Web links

Commons : Friedrich Josias von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Hochedlinger: Austria's wars of emergence: war, state and society in the Habsburg monarchy , Pearson Education, 2003, p. 383
  2. ^ Charles Gray: The youth of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha , Perthes, 1868, p. 305
  3. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives:@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / web21.ipx20292.ipxserver.de
  4. ^ Coburger Zeitung, October 25, 1911
  5. ↑ Denis André Chevalley, Otto Braasch: Upper Franconia: Ensembles, architectural monuments, archaeological site monuments , Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 1986, p. 73
  6. ↑ Johann Christoph Allmayer-Beck : The Army History Museum Vienna. The museum and its representative rooms . Kiesel Verlag, Salzburg 1981, ISBN 3-7023-0113-5 , p. 30
personal data
SURNAME Friedrich Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Reich Field Marshal and Imperial Field Marshal
DATE OF BIRTH December 26, 1737
PLACE OF BIRTH Coburg
DATE OF DEATH February 26, 1815
Place of death Coburg