George Diederich Benthien

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George Diederich Benthien (born October 29, 1767 in Wittingen (Hanover), † August 1, 1836 in Herzogenbusch ) was a Dutch pontoon officer and one of the few survivors who built the bridges over the Beresina in 1812 and thus the remnants of the Grande Armée the crossing made possible ( 29th bulletin of the Grande Armée ).

origin

His father was the Hanoverian captain Joachim Friedrich Benthien and his wife Charlotta, nee Flotho.

Life

Pononiers build the bridges over the Berezina
painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Benthien took effect on 22 February 1787 as a cadet in Hanoverian services, but soon moved to Dutch services and came to the seventh demi-brigade of the Dutch infantry on 29 September 1795th There he was appointed Sergeant Major of the Pontoniers on December 13, 1795 and advanced to Second Lieutenant in September 1796 . In 1797 he belonged to a detachment pontoniers, which as part of the Daendels division lay in the roadstead off Texel to cross over to Ireland . But the Brick Ajax could not leave because of the unfavorable wind. In the end the troops returned to their garrisons in Dordrecht . In 1799 the English troops landed in North Holland, there was also a mobilization of the pontooners, but after a battle on October 2nd with a Franco-Dutch army, the English withdrew and so did the pontooners.

When the French wanted to translate in 1804, Benthien was there again and again the campaign did not take place. On October 29, 1804 he was promoted to staff captain. In the Fourth Coalition War he was part of the troops that invaded Germany. He crossed the Rhine near Wesel and found himself taking the fortresses of Hameln (November 21) and Nienburg . The pioneers then built bridges over the Weser and built batteries at the mouth of the Elbe . In 1807, on the orders of General Drouas, the pioneers built a ship bridge approx. 300 m long over the Elbe and in July 1807 the pioneers built a bridge at Demmin over the Peene . The men were quartered in Gützkow, where they stayed until September 1807. He became a captain in a French pontooner battalion on August 8, 1808. During the English Walcheren expedition in 1809, he fought again in Holland. In 1810 Holland was annexed by France and the Dutch army was integrated into the French. In 1811 the pioneers were relocated from Delft to Strasbourg, where they were further trained on the French model.

Benthien took part in the Russian campaign in 1812 and became commander of the 7th Company of the 1st Battalion of the French Pontoniers. These in turn were part of the II Army Corps under Oudinot . The pioneers built numerous bridges over rivers such as the Vistula , e.g. T. under the fire of the enemy. The corps came to Moscow, where he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor on September 25, 1812 . Then he came to retreat. on October 18, 1812 they erect a bridge over the Daugava near Polotsk and two more the following day. Since there was a lack of horses, on the orders of General Aubry, the pontoons were burned on the night of October 22nd to 23rd .

When the troops reached the Beresina, the bridges there were burned, but the river was not yet frozen. Because of the persecuting Russians, repairs were not possible, so they went a little upriver to the village of Studianka. The 7th Company under Benthien and the 11th Company under Busch built the famous bridges on the Beresina from everything that could be found in Studianka. The horses were now too tight to pull tree trunks. The 7th Company built the pedestrian bridge and the 11th Company the great bridge for the artillery and carts, supported by the few pioneers of the remnants of the Great Army. The bridges were built under unbelievable hardships in the ice-cold water with poor material and enemy fire. Every man who walked in water received 50 francs . It is estimated that around 400 pioneers built the bridges. The bridges were in place on November 26th at around 1 p.m. When, on November 29th, Benthien received the order to march on, he was only able to find 30 to 40 pioneers. Most died before Vilna. At the beginning of January 1813 he reached the East Prussian border and crossed the Vistula to Dirschau and from there to Küstrin on the Oder. He became seriously ill there, but was able to recover and arrived in Magdeburg on February 19. In addition to Benthien, only seven other pontooners of the company survived the exertions.

In April all of them were ordered to Mainz, where the troops were reorganized and equipped. Benthien was appointed commander of the ninth company there. He was ordered to Dresden, where he stayed until the Pläswitz armistice . Then a bridge was built at Pirna and then at Meißen.

The pioneers were sent to Leipzig via Magdeburg, but they never got there. After the defeat of the French in the Battle of Nations, the trek was diverted to the Torgau Fortress . Benthien served as an artillery officer there during the siege until the fortress surrendered on December 27, 1813. He then came to Glatz in Silesia as a prisoner of war . After Holland also turned away from France during the Wars of Liberation , he was released on June 12, 1814 and transferred to the newly established Dutch Army. He rose to major in 1823, but retired on March 21, 1826 due to blindness. He died on August 1st, 1836 in Herzogenbusch.

family

He married on April 8, 1800, Machtelina Antonia Alberthoma Chevallier (born April 22, 1781), a daughter of Robert Alberthoma Chevallier and Bartha Anna Rensselaar. The couple had their son Antonie (1804–1864), who married Katharina Jacoba Fraser (1804–1880) and two daughters.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Benthien, George Diederich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Benthien, Georg Diedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch pontoon officer
DATE OF BIRTH October 29, 1767
PLACE OF BIRTH Wittingen
DATE OF DEATH August 1, 1836
Place of death Herzogenbusch