Georg von Wedell

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Richard Georg von Wedell (born May 17, 1820 in Augustwalde , district of Naugard , † March 27, 1894 in Leer (East Frisia) ) was a Prussian lieutenant general .

Life

origin

Georg was the son of the Prussian officer Wilhelm Sigismund von Wedell (1772–1827) and his wife Friederike Wilhelmine Christiane, née von Gregorski (1780–1851). His father was a captain a. D. and was last in the 3rd Battalion of the 9th Landwehr Regiment.

Military career

Wedell visited the cadet houses in Kulm and Berlin . On August 5, 1837, he joined the Guard Artillery Brigade of the Prussian Army as a second lieutenant . From October 1, 1837 to July 15, 1839 he was assigned to the United Artillery and Engineering School. For further training followed from October 1, 1843 to July 15, 1846 as Prime Lieutenant (from October 10, 1842) the command to the General War School . During the campaign in Baden Wedell took part in the siege and capture of Rastatt with the 7th Artillery Brigade . In 1850 he was assigned to the topographical department of the Great General Staff . At the same time as he was promoted to captain, he transferred to the 6th Artillery Regiment on July 22, 1852 , where he served as battery chief from May 1, 1855 . From here Wedell was transferred to the General Staff on January 13, 1858 and promoted to major on July 12, 1858 . At the same time he was from October 1, 1859 to July 1, 1960 teacher of war history at the General War School. He was then transferred to the General Staff of the 16th Division . After his promotion to lieutenant colonel on March 17, 1863, he was appointed commander of the 1st battalion of the 26th Infantry Regiment on August 12, 1863

Two years later, from June 13, 1865, he was commander of Infantry Regiment No. 17 and promoted to colonel in this position . After only ten months, he was transferred to the War Ministry on April 3, 1866 , where he worked as a department head. When the German War broke out in June 1866, he became the commander of Infantry Regiment No. 31 . He took over command of the campaign in Bohemia, his regiment belonged to the 7th Division under General von Fransecky . The most important mission in this war was in the battle of Königgrätz : The 7th Division stopped the attack of two Austrian army corps in the battle for the Swiepwald. The battle for the Swiepwald was one of the key points in the battle. In this battle the regiment lost ten officers and 208 soldiers. For services in battle, Wedell received the order Pour le Mérite on September 20, 1866 .

With the mobilization in July 1870 on the occasion of the war against France , Wedell was given command of the 38th Infantry Brigade ( regiments No. 16 and No. 57 ), which was part of the 19th Division ( Schwartzkoppen ) in the X Army Corps ( Voigts-Rhetz ). The first combat mission was in the battle of Mars-la-Tour on August 16, 1870. The fight began as an attack by the German III. Army corps against French troops withdrawing from Metz towards Verdun . What was planned as an attack against the rearguard of the French turns out to be a battle with the head of five entire army corps. Less than 30,000 German soldiers faced almost 130,000 French here. Wedell and his brigade were on their way to the Maas to intercept the supposedly withdrawing French Rhine Army there, but were then sent to Mars-la-Tour as reinforcements. He arrived there around 4 p.m. after a day's march of almost 12 hours. Wedell received the order to attack the flank of the French army. Since there was no reconnaissance and the hilly terrain did not allow a good overview, this attack did not lead to the flank, but precisely to the center of the IV French Corps ( Ladmirault ). His two regiments came into the crossfire of two French divisions ( Grenier and Cissey ) when attacking the heights of Bruville .

In less than 30 minutes, his regiments suffered the loss of 73 officers and 2543 men, including over 400 prisoners, and had to withdraw completely defeated. The two regimental commanders were among the fallen. The soldiers had not even managed to get the French troops within range of their rifles. It was only thanks to a cavalry attack by the Guard Dragoons for relief that the regiments were not completely wiped out, but were able to break away from the enemy. A French counterattack was carried out with only one brigade and could therefore be repulsed when the French came within range of the German rifles. Wedell himself was wounded and his horse had been shot from under him.

After the battle, Wedell remained in reserve with the rest of his brigade at the Battle of Gravelotte and then remained in reserve until the end of October 1870 as part of the Siege of Metz . Here he took part in the battle of Noisseville . After the fall of Metz on October 27, 1870 Wedell went with the 2nd Army under Friedrich Karl Nikolaus of Prussia to the area south of Paris on the Loire . Here the new French government had set up the Loire Army . This army was numerically far superior to the German troops, but consisted to a large extent of volunteers and reservists, a few soldiers and scattered people. In order to intercept this army and thus secure the siege of Paris , the German troops marched in forced marches of around 25 km per day towards the Loire.

On November 28, 1870, the battle of Beaune-la-Rolande took place here . Two French corps with a total of 60,000 soldiers attacked three German brigades one after the other. Wedell's 38th Brigade was to hold Beaune-la-Rolande. At that time there were only 13 companies in the village with a total of around 1200 men. During the fighting, the men of the 57th Infantry Regiment even set fire to the makeshift barricades to repel the attack. During the battle, the German soldiers used up almost all of their ammunition by early afternoon and were only saved by reinforcements from the 5th Division . At Mars-la-Tour Wedell had come to the aid of the 5th Division under Stülpnagel , at Beaune-la-Rolande it was the other way around. The battle had thrown back the right wing of the Loire Army. For the successful defense of Beaune-la-Rolande, Wedell received the two classes of the Iron Cross and the Oak Leaves for the Order Pour le Mérite .

He took part in the Battle of Orléans in December 1870 , but fell ill in January 1871, so that he could not lead his troops in the Battle of Le Mans .

After the armistice, Wedell was still part of the occupation force in France. In November 1873 he took over the 4th Division in Bromberg . In this role, he was promoted to lieutenant general in December 1873. On April 4, 1874 Wedell retired from active service, he was transferred to the officers of the army and to be on January 2, 1875 resignation out under award of the star to the Red Eagle . II Class with oak leaves with board for disposition made.

In 1879 he was accepted into the Frankfurt Freemason Lodge "Socrates for steadfastness". He later took up residence in Leer (East Friesland), where he died on March 27, 1894.

family

Wedell married Maria Lohse on September 27, 1877 in Iserlohn († March 18, 1903).

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The previous regimental commander died suddenly when the war broke out.
  2. ↑ Geoffrey Wawro: The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870-1871. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-052161743-7 , pp. 157f.
  3. ↑ Loss figures according to ADB. Geoffrey Wawro: The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870–1871. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-052161743-7 , pp. 157f. gives 2600 men.
  4. ^ According to Geoffrey Wawro: The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870–1871. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-052161743-7 , pp. 157f. was also the leading general (i.e. Wedell) among the fallen.
  5. ↑ The German needle gun had a maximum range of 600 m, the French Chassepot rifle was used from 1200 m.
  6. ^ Troop strength according to Geoffrey Wawro: The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870–1871. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-052161743-7 , p. 272.
personal data
SURNAME Wedell, Georg von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wedell, Richard Georg von (full name); Wedel, Richard Georg von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian lieutenant general
DATE OF BIRTH May 17, 1820
PLACE OF BIRTH Augustwalde , Naugard district
DATE OF DEATH March 27, 1894
Place of death Leer (East Frisia)