Friedrich Ludwig von Wachholtz

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Friedrich Ludwig von Wachholtz (born August 30, 1783 in Breslau , † September 16, 1841 in Braunschweig ) was a Braunschweig major general who took part in the Wars of Liberation as an officer in the Braunschweig troops and through his memoirs and reports on the Braunschweig troops in the fight against Napoleon Bonaparte matters .

family

Friedrich Ludwig von Wachholtz came from the originally Pomeranian noble family von Wachholtz , he was a son of Philipp Friedrich von Wachholtz (* 1740, † 1803), royal Prussian major and commander of the 3rd Musketeer Battalion of the Malschitzky regiment and the Amalie Charlotte Wilhelmine von Braatz ( * 1761). He had been married to Karoline Johanne Henriette von Girsewald (* August 6, 1787, † June 18, 1868) since October 7, 1814 . From this marriage there were four daughters and two sons:

  • Marie (June 2, 1815 - September 13, 1892), canon
  • Robert August Wilhelm (born November 26, 1816 - † December 28, 1897) ducal lieutenant general and adjutant general of Prince Albrecht of Prussia .
  • Agnes Luise Johanne Auguste Bernhardine (born November 21, 1817 - April 7, 1865), canon
  • August Wilhelm Alexander (February 8, 1819 - January 16, 1892), ducal head forester of Brunswick ⚭ April 13, 1851 Klara Charlotte Amalie Josephine Walkenried widowed Krause (November 19, 1829 - December 31, 1904)
  • Eugenie Auguste Georgine Thusnelda (* May 16, 1820 - May 29, 1865) ⚭ Baron Reinhard Ludwig Karl Gustav von Dalwigk zu Lichtenfels, Grand Ducal Oldenburg Chamberlain and Upper Court Marshal († June 3, 1897)
  • Luise Karoline Amalie Katharina Franziska (born May 29, 1822), dominatrix in the monastery for the glory of God in Wolfenbüttel

Early years in Prussian service

Wachholtz also entered Prussian service on April 1, 1798 and fought in the Malschitzky infantry regiment (No. 28) in the battle of Jena and Auerstedt and was taken prisoner of war when Magdeburg fell , from which he was released on word of honor. In the garrison Brieg near Breslau he looked for a new job when he the structure of the black crowd by Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Brunswick learned.

In the service of the "Black Duke"

Duke Friedrich Wilhelm set up his Freikorps in Silesia in 1809 , so Wachholtz went to Nachod and was personally introduced to the Duke and accepted into the Black Band as a lieutenant . He took part in the Black Duke's procession through northern Germany, on which he rose to become captain and company commander . When the Black Company embarked for England in Elsfleth and Brake , he stayed behind as rearguard and followed the troops on his own via Heligoland to England, where the entire contingent entered English service.

On the Iberian Peninsula 1810–1814

In the Braunschweig contingent in the English service, the Braunschweig-Lüneburgsche Jäger , he received the command of the sniper company , which differed from the other Braunschweigers in its green uniform and armed with rifles. On September 16, 1810, he was disembarked with the troops near Lisbon , and on October 10, 1810, his company came under fire for the first time. In 1811 the sniper company was placed under General Cole's 4th Division. In addition to the siege of Badajoz , in which he particularly distinguished himself, he also took part in the battle of Salamanca , the battle of Vitoria , the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo and the conquest of San Sebastian .

At the end of 1813, Duke Wachholtz called to Braunschweig to promote the establishment of a new field corps.

June 1815: the battles of Quatre-Bras and Waterloo

After Napoleon's return from Elba , the Brunswick Field Corps marched to Belgium under the command of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm . Wachholtz, meanwhile promoted to major , was quartermaster general in the immediate vicinity of the duke.

During the Battle of Quatre-Bras , the Duke was fatally hit by a bullet and immediately brought behind the lines by three soldiers ( Corporal Külbel , Hornist Aue and Jäger Reckau). He died there that same evening from his injuries. The last words of the dying man were addressed to Wachholtz: “My dear Wachholtz, where is Olfermann?” (Meaning the Brunswick officer Johann Elias Olfermann , who also fought with the black crowd). Wachholtz names Olfermann's account of the Battle of Waterloo as one that stood out in particular.

Braunschweig after 1815

After returning to Braunschweig, he became a member of the Military Administration Commission, the highest military administrative authority. From 1827 he was a member of the State Ministry. Promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1822 , he took over command of the Braunschweig infantry regiment , from 1830 commander of the field corps (of the active troops), and in 1835 promoted to major general. In 1841 he was retired.

He was Commander First Class of the Order of Henry the Lion .

Works

  • History of the Ducal Braunschweig Army Corps in the campaign of the Allied powers against Napoleon Buonaparte in 1815. Braunschweig 1816.
  • Friedrich Karl von Vechelde (Ed.): From the diary of General Fr. L. von Wachholtz. On the history of the earlier conditions of the Prussian army and especially the campaign of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm von Braunschweig-Oels in 1809. Braunschweig 1843 ( books.google.de ).
  • Hilmar L. von Wachholz (Ed.): On the Peninsula 1810 to 1813. War diary. Brunswick 1907.
  • Theodor Rehtwisch (Ed.): Under the flag of the Black Duke in 1809. Memories of General von Wachholz. Leipzig 1912. (New edition: tredition, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-8424-1483-9 .)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Deutsche Adelsgenossenschaft (Ed.): Yearbook of the German Adels . Berlin 1898, Volume 2, p. 941.
  2. ↑ Krause. online-ofb.de.
  3. ^ Ernst Carl Külbel: The last moments of our most noble Duke Friedrich Wilhelm at Quatrebras on June 16, 1815. 2nd edition, Celle 1865, viceroybooks.com.au (PDF).
  4. ^ Two reports from Colonel Olfermann to the Prince. Secret = Raths = Collegium. 17./19. June 1815.
personal data
SURNAME Wachholtz, Friedrich Ludwig von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Braunschweig major general
DATE OF BIRTH August 30, 1783
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH September 16, 1841
Place of death Braunschweig