Georg August von Wangenheim

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Georg August von Wangenheim

Georg August von Wangenheim (born November 9, 1706 , † September 24, 1780 in Hanover ) was an electoral Braunschweig-Lüneburg general of the infantry .

His father was the chief hunter Hartmann Ludwig von Wangenheim (born September 29, 1638; † December 30, 1718) and his third wife Anna Magdalena von Reden (born April 9, 1669; † March 2, 1730). His older brother August Wilhelm von Wangenheim (* January 8, 1697, † November 25, 1764) was also a general and also Oberhofmarschall.

Life

In 1722 [150] he joined the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel as an ensign . There he came to the Prince Friedrich infantry regiment in 1731. But already in 1732 he changed to the electoral Braunschweig-Lüneburg service. There he was hired on September 13, 1732 as staff captain of the foot guard in Hanover, lived in 1734 under Prince Eugene as a volunteer in the campaign on the Rhine and took part with his regiment in 1743 on the Main and from 1744 to 1748 in Brabant in the War of the Austrian Succession . On October 12, 1741 he was promoted to major. In the battle of Lauffeldt on July 2, 1747, he commanded the regiment, which lost 300 men here. In March 1751 he was appointed colonel and commander of the 14th Infantry Regiment (actually just one battalion) standing with the staff in Hoya .

Seven Years War

With the 14th Infantry Regiment he was one of the Hanoverian troops sent to England to protect against a French landing in 1755/56 and commanded it on July 26, 1757 in the lost battle of Hastenbeck . In the same year he was also promoted to major general. As such, in the order of battle which Duke Ferdinand von Braunschweig issued when he took command, three infantry regiments in General Spörcken's army division were subordinate to him; But when the Duke set out against the Rhine at the beginning of 1758, he gave Wangenheim the order to take six battalions, six squadrons and ten guns from Bremervörde against the Wümme on February 18 and take Rotenburg and Ottersberg . The garrison of the Rotenburg fort surrendered on February 20 after seven hours of bombardment; that of Ottersberg withdrew voluntarily, as did that of Bremen, which Wangenheim was supposed to help capture. Then he received the order to enclose Minden on the right bank of the Weser , while the city on the left would be attacked by other troops. On March 16, the garrison extended their rifle without Wangenheim's “division” coming to the fencing. When the duke crossed the Rhine, he was ordered to make mock movements with four battalions and four squadrons on the right wing in order to deflect the enemy. He left his camp near Dorsten on the 28th , crossed the river himself at Essenberg after the company had succeeded and was there when the Duke attacked the French near Krefeld on June 23rd , he gave in in Wangenheim's tent the previous night, issued his orders to the generals. In the report that he submitted to King George II , he says that the success of the Hereditary Prince, whose energy, bravery and cleverness were above all praise, and the fearlessness with which Wangenheim carried out the orders received, was most successful to be thanked of the day; He praised Wangenheim's efficiency, diligence and bravery to King Friedrich II . Determined to exploit the victory he had won to the best of his ability, he dispatched Wangenheim in the early hours of June 24th to seize Düsseldorf . On June 27, he appeared in front of the city, locked it on both banks of the Rhine and, as the crew refused to surrender, had it set on fire. An armistice followed, which was ended on July 7, 1758 by a surrender.

In the victorious battle of Minden delivered on August 1, 1759 , Wangenheim commanded a separate corps of 12,300 men (15 battalions, 19 squadrons), which stood on the far left wing of the Todtenhausen camp . According to the intentions of the French army command, the Duke of Broglie was to launch the first blow against it. Wangenheim was completely taken by surprise, but since the attack was not carried out with the force ordered, the failure had no further consequences. He did better service in the fall of the year in which he was promoted to lieutenant general. He carried out some undertakings in Hesse and the Duke of Brunswick gave special recognition to the troops who had carried out the provisions of Dillenburg , which Wangenheim had carried out with great difficulty and danger on January 7, 1760 . On September 19, 1760, with 5 battalions, 9 squadrons, 9 park guns and light troops standing in an advanced position near Löwenhagen near Dransfeld , Broglie attacked in broad daylight and forced a loss-making retreat. During the advance to the south, through which the winter rest of the French was disturbed in February 1761, Wangenheim commanded one of the two columns into which Spörcken had divided his army division, and then the cordon off of the lower Diemel to protect the resting quarters occupied by his own troops Resumption of hostilities 5500 men in the Rüthen camp . In that year he did not get any outstanding work; an attempt, carried out in partnership with the Hessian general von Wutgenau , to possibly capture two French detachments in the area of Stadtberge on August 5th, was unsuccessful. In the 1762 campaign he was under Lord Granby , who decided the battle of Wilhelmsthal on June 24th . At the end of the war Wilhelm von Freytag reproached him for not intervening in a battle delivered on August 27 at Alsfeld. Otherwise "there would be little echo from the enemy corps."

Wangenheim's last noteworthy military activity consisted of leading a major troop exercise, which was held in the period from September 16 to 26, 1779 near the fortress of Hamelin , of which he was appointed commander. In 1777 he had been appointed general of the infantry. He died on September 24, 1780 in Hanover. He found his final resting place in the Hameln garrison cemetery .

family

He was married twice. His first wife was the widow of the secret secretary Johann Conrad Mohr (1688-1732) Sophie Caroline Mehmet von Königstreu († 1758) in 1733 . The couple had several children including:

  • Georg Wilhelm Philipp (1735–1799), Major General of the Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg
  • Sophie Charlotte Frederica (born January 15, 1737)
  • Erich Ludwig (born February 10, 1738)
  • Anna Louise (born October 10, 1739)
  • Friedrich Carl (born October 4, 1740)
  • Johann Wilhelm (born October 27, 1742)
  • Georg August (born August 14, 1744)

Also the stepdaughter Maria Carolina Mohr, all children except Georg Wilhelm Philipp died young.

After the death of his first wife in 1767, he married Anna Friederike von Frankenberg-Proschlitz (* December 30, 1722; † July 6, 1806), the widow of Minister Johann Clamor August von dem Bussche (1706–1764). The couple also had a daughter Charlotte (* 1768). This daughter married the Army Commissioner Lütjens in 1791/2 and died shortly after the birth of a son.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ New patriotic archive, p. 100, digitized version
  2. ^ Anna Friederike von Frankenberg and Proschlitz at geneanet.org
personal data
SURNAME Wangenheim, Georg August von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg General of the Infantry; later commander of the Hamelin Fortress
DATE OF BIRTH November 9, 1706
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 1780
Place of death Hanover