Georg von Habermann

Georg Freiherr von Habermann (born May 11, 1766 in Würzburg , † November 30, 1825 in Nuremberg ) was a Bavarian major general and holder of the Commander's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order .

Life

origin

He was the son of the Würzburg, Bamberg and Fulda secret councilors Joseph Cornelius Freiherr von Habermann and his wife Juliana Wilhelmina Ernestina Rufina, née von Diemar.

Military career

On April 23, 1791, he joined the 2nd Grenadier Regiment "Kurprinz" as a subordinate and on May 3, 1792 he was bought by a lieutenant in the 6th Fusilier Regiment, "Count Palatine Wilhelm von Birkenfeld" . As a member of the local I. battalion he was in the last days of November 1792 under Lieutenant Colonel Johann Nepomuk of Triva as reinforcement troops for Mannheim involved and made the campaigns against France in the following years, where he is particularly true in the siege of the fortress Mainz distinguished . On July 17, 1793, Habermann was commissioned to build a litter battery. Since the work took place under enemy supervision and action, he was hit on the arm by a grape ball during the day. Despite severe pain, Habermann stayed with his troops, led the fire fight against the attacking enemy overnight and only received supplies after daybreak and after the construction work was completed. For this he received an express commendation by electoral decree of June 29, 1796. The campaigns in the years 1794/96 he took part in the 6th Fusilier Regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Triva noted in a report to the General Command of the Electoral Palatinate-Bavarian District Contingent on April 14, 1795, “that this officer has, by the way, been brave and courageous in every hostile occasion, as a brave officer is entitled to in full, as well as otherwise is a man full of diligence, eagerness to serve and good conduite, who thereby provides the highest service of the gentleman with beneficial advantages, all the more so since he is very useful in various extraordinarily striking business and one can completely rely on his accuracy ”. For his brave perseverance and the excellent leadership of his 3rd Company (together with the 7th Company) near Kleinnördlingen (August 11, 1796) as well as the successful storming of the vineyard near Würzburg with two other companies of his regiment and the Austrian grenadier battalion “Biäsch “(September 3, 1796) he was awarded the Military Honor Medal in accordance with the electoral rescript of December 29, 1797 , with which he was duly decorated by Colonel Bartels in his then Rheinhausen station on January 30, 1797 .

On November 14, 1798, Habermann bought a captain's post in the "Schwiegeld" military police regiment , which was reclassified into two light battalions in 1800. With the 2nd light battalion " Cloßmann " he was involved in the campaign against France in 1800. In 1803 he was promoted to major in character from March 31, 1804 to major in the 5th light infantry battalion. He took part in the campaigns against Austria in 1805 and Prussia in 1806/07. With the foundation of the Military Max Joseph Order on March 1, 1806, he was made a Knight of the Order. With the promotion to lieutenant colonel on May 2, 1807, he was appointed commander of the 1st light infantry battalion, which also bore his name.

In the campaign against Austria and Tyrol in 1809, Habermann led his battalion for the entire duration of the war. On May 12, 1809, he waded through the Kieferbach, stormed the Tyrolean positions, which were reinforced with entanglements, and drove the Tyroleans over the Dirnberg in front of him. In the army order of June 1, 1809, the courage of the battalion was therefore expressly praised, and its commander was admitted to the French Legion of Honor with a license from May 31, 1809 (confirmed by an order of June 8, 1809). On July 7, 1809, Habermann and his battalion were deployed as an outpost in front of Linz on the left bank of the Danube near Uferling and at Auhof and Katzbach. In the early morning hours, clearly superior Austrian troops attacked the overstretched positions. When the enemy had already seized the Auhof, Habermann threw him out again with a courageous counter-attack and was able to hold his own against the superior force for another five hours. Finally the Austrians broke through between Auhof and Katzbach. Habermann led the reserve from a grenadier company and riflemen of the 1st Line Infantry Body Regiment to the enemy, gathered retreating Bavarian forces and threw himself at the head of the reserve against the enemy. Not only the broken-in enemy parts were driven out, but also the Austrian detachment intended for the main attack, which was on readiness against Katzbach, had to withdraw because it was threatened by his troops in the rear. For this, the divisional Crown Prince Ludwig and the Brigadier Major General Rechberg expressed their appreciation; in the army order of July 29, 1809 he was expressly commended. On August 2, 1809, he proved himself in the fighting south of the Brenner Pass near Mauls, where he re-established the connection to a cut off Saxon division. During the fighting for the Höttinger Alps on October 27, 1809, he succeeded in snatching and holding the hill taken by Tyrolean irregulars by means of a courageous counter-attack. During the fighting for the Battle of Bergisel on November 1, 1809, the heights on the left bank of the Inn were occupied by his battalion, which had to cover the two Inn bridges. With seventeen enemy companies approaching, he decided, instead of waging a bloody defensive battle on the heights, to take the initiative himself and attack the superior forces. So with the courage of his men he broke the order of the advancing Austrians, threw them back several times and forced them to flee wildly. He inflicted very heavy losses on the enemy and made forty prisoners. His assessment of the situation was unreservedly shared by Crown Prince Ludwig and Major General Rechberg.

Shortly afterwards Habermann was given command of a corps consisting of all weapons (1st light battalion, riflemen of the 2nd Infantry Regiment, two companies of the 4th Infantry Regiment , one squadron of the 1st Chevauleger Regiment "Crown Prince" , two cannons and a howitzer) with the order to march from Telfs via Silz to Imst and to disarm the region there. On November 11th, 1809, his corps was attacked by around 800 Tyroleans from Mils and Arzell, so that Habermann had to evacuate the heights near Imst after an unsuccessful counter-attack. Major Seiboltsdorf threw himself against the enemy with an intrepid attack by a company of the 1st light battalion and climbed the Gunkel-green hill. Inspired by this, the retreating Bavarian troops turned around and bought the Tyroleans who escaped in wild flight towards Landeck . In the meantime, Habermann received the message that the Inn Bridge near Arzell was also threatened by the enemy, and ordered Major Baron von Fick to hold the Arzeller Bridge with the riflemen of the 2nd Infantry Regiment and a cannon and his unit, which itself was on several sides was pressured by insurgents to keep his back clear. Habermann was able to hold his position at Imst, the insurgents gave up and refrained from further fighting.

On March 23, 1810, Habermann was promoted to colonel and appointed commander of the 5th Line Infantry Regiment “Preysing” . In 1811 he sought the award of the Commander's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order for his deeds at Auhof, Bergisel and Imst, which was unanimously endorsed by the chapter for the affair at the Auhöfen (July 7, 1809), but by the Grand Chancellor with reference to the deeds of other religious knights and the commendation in the army order of July 29, 1809 was judged as a less outstanding achievement. As a result, this request was rejected.

At the beginning of the campaign against Russia in 1812, Habermann took command of the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the 2nd Bavarian Division (20th division based on French counting) after Colonel Franz Xaver von Dallwigk was seriously ill . On August 16, 1812 he repulsed the attacks of superior Russian forces and gave the French deployed on the left and their own troops sufficient time to prepare for the battle of Poloczk. For this he received a commendation in the army order of September 15, 1812. In October 1812 he had to leave the troops in Poloczk due to poor health. Prince Carl Philipp von Wrede praised his achievements as commander of the 3rd Brigade in his accompanying report. After he arrived in his garrison on November 12, 1812, he nevertheless took over command of the reserve battalion of the 5th Infantry Regiment.

On March 13, 1813 - again patterned as fit for field service - Habermann took over the 2nd battalion of the 5th Line Infantry Regiment and reported with his battalion to the observation corps in Franconia, which was under the command of Lieutenant General von Clemens von Raglovich . On August 10, 1813 he was promoted to major general and appointed commander of a brigade stationed in Saxony. With the dissolution of the superior division, he was transferred to Munich at the beginning of October 1813 to take over a brigade with the "Wrede" army corps. After an involuntary stay in Dresden , he finally reached his brigade in Lindau on December 10, 1813 . After the battle of Brienne already commended in the army order of February 16, 1814, he distinguished himself in the battle near Villeneuve. On February 17, 1814, the avant-garde (advance formation) of the "Wittgenstein'schen Corps" withdrew from Moemont to Nangis. The Austro-Hungarian Field Marshal Lieutenant Anton Graf Hardegg now felt compelled to go back to Dannemarie via Villeneuve himself because of the superior enemy. Habermann persuaded the count to wait a while longer, when shortly afterwards he received the order to hold out against the French as long as possible. He then raised his troops in and around Villeneuve. In Villeneuve, two battalions of the 11th Infantry Regiment , half a battery of cannon artillery and two squadrons of the Austro-Hungarian “Schwarzenberg” Ulanes set up for defense. The 1st battalion of the Illerkreis and half a light battery as well as the battalion of the Unterdonaukreis were posted to the left neighbor (Graf Hardegg ). In the rear, Division General Delamotte posted a battalion of the 7th Line Infantry Battalion, which covered the road to Dannemarie. The defenders were able to defy the French attack on Villeneuve thanks to the steadfastness of the infantrymen and the gunners, the attempt of the French forces to bypass Villeneuve was foiled and the Austro-Hungarian Field Marshal Lieutenant Count Anton Hardegg was able to move to Dannemarie. Habermann then broke away from the enemy, fighting hesitantly, and retired in the best order of the troops towards Dannemarie. He deployed the 1st Battalion of the 7th Infantry Regiment reinforced with some light artillery as the rear guard, which had to cover the retreat of the brigade. Before Dannemarie he and his brigade took up position for a few hours to keep the road from Monterreau open and then to leave for Bray. With a report dated September 2, 1814, Count Hardegg affirmed Habermann's wise behavior and the bravery of his brigade. Habermann now submitted an application to Villeneuve to be awarded the Commander's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order for his services. In the subsequent skirmishes from Bar-sur-Aube (February 27, 1814) until the invasion of Paris, he distinguished himself repeatedly, for which he was expressly commended in the army order of April 18, 1814. The Chapter of the Order, which was chaired by Count Reuss in Munich, unanimously accepted the request on March 11, 1815, and according to an army order of June 24, 1815, Habermann was appointed commander of the Order for his award at Villeneuve.

During 1815 Habermann was used as the commandant of Germersheim . In this function he was commissioned with the 2nd Battalion of the 9th Infantry Regiment , 2nd Battalion of the 5th Infantry Regiment , a cavalry division and a company of artillery to occupy the left bank of the Rhine in the Palatinate. After the peace treaty he was given command of the 1st Infantry Brigade of the 3rd Army Division in Nuremberg . Habermann died on November 30, 1825 in Nuremberg.

Honors

The Vorwerk XXI of the Ingolstadt fortress was given the name "Habermann" on January 26, 1842.

literature

• Baptist Schrettinger: The Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order and its members. R. Oldenbourg. Munich 1882