Gustav von Boetticher

Gustav Ernst von Boetticher (born February 19 ^July / March 2,  1782 ^greg. In Tuckum ; † December 20, 1847 ^July / January 1,  1848 ^greg. In Saint Petersburg ) was a Russian lieutenant general of Baltic German descent and knight of the order Pour le Mérite .

Early years and military career

He was the fifth son of the instance secretary Johann Christoph von Boetticher (1734-1807) and his wife Catharina Elisabeth, née Hannisch (1747-1821). Boetticher studied from 1801 to 1804 at the University of Jena Law , where he was co-founder of the Corps Curonia . From 1804 to 1807 he worked as an intern (Auskulant) at the Reich Judicial College in Saint Petersburg. After Napoleon took Jena and later Berlin in 1806 , the Bartenstein Treaty came about in 1807 , in which Prussia and Russia undertook to fight together against France . Gustav then reported to the engineer corps as a flag boy . He succeeded his older brothers Karl Christoph (1772-184?) And Moritz Ernst (1777-1848), who had already fought against Napoleon as officers in the Second Coalition War. As a lieutenant he first took part in the fighting in the Russian-Swedish war for Finland in 1808/09 with the 1st Pioneer Regiment . After the siege of the island fortress Svartholm , the conquest of Helsinki on March 2nd, 1808 and the Sveaborg fortress on May 2nd, 1808, he was awarded the Order of St. Anne, 4th class, for special bravery . 1810 Boetticher was adjutant of the Cavalry General Duke Alexander of Württemberg , the uncle of the Russian Tsar Alexander I . In 1812 he was transferred to the Tauride Grenadier Regiment as a staff captain , but he nevertheless remained in the position of trust with the Duke. With him he went against Napoleon during his Russian campaign in 1812 . At the Battle of Vitebsk from July 25 to 27, 1812, the commanding General Ostermann-Tolstoy used it as a personal reporter and during the Battle of Smolensk from August 17 to 18, he performed similarly dangerous services for the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, Barclay de Tolly . After his achievements in the battles of Vyasma on August 29 and at Borodino on September 7, Boetticher received the Order of St. Vladimir IV class. Successful in the Battle of Tarutino on October 18, Boetticher suffered a severe bruise on the left side of the chest near Plozk on October 20 . Nevertheless, he fought under the Cossack general Count Platov , to whom he had been assigned, in the battle of Maloyaroslavets on October 24th. Two days later Boetticher and 6000 Cossacks fell in the rear of the enemy, dispersed the enemy cavalry and captured 17 artillery pieces, whereupon he was promoted to captain . He only collapsed when the enemy was in pursuit of Vilna and had to go to the hospital for several months.

Siege of Gdańsk and awarded the Pour le Mérite order

In January 1813 Boetticher returned to the Tauride Grenadier Regiment and moved with them in April to Danzig , where the French troops had established themselves and took part in its siege . There he met his older brother Moritz, who had succeeded him as a major in his position as adjutant to the Duke of Württemberg in 1812, had fought in the same battles against Napoleon and had been with the siege army before Danzig since January 1813. When the French fell out on June 9, 1813, both brothers were involved in bloody fighting all day long, which resulted in 210 dead and 427 wounded on the French side. A detailed description of this day can be found in the diary of the siege of the city of Danzig in 1813 . The failure could be thrown back with great losses and the brothers Moritz and Gustav von Boetticher received the Russian Golden Saber for bravery and the Prussian Order Pour le Mérite with a handwritten letter of thanks from the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III for their special achievements . - Moritz on June 17, 1813 and Gustav on September 13, 1813. After Danzig's surrender on November 17, 1813, Gustav was sent with the news of victory to Tsar Alexander I in Basel , after he had previously been with the Order of St. Anne, 2nd class Had received diamonds. His brother Moritz traveled on the same mission to the mother of Tsar Maria Feodorovna in Saint Petersburg. Gustav was then promoted from the tsar to colonel .

Further war missions and farewells

In 1817 Gustav was promoted to commander of the 14th Jägercorps and in 1822 to major general and commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division. In 1826 he changed first as commander of the 3rd brigade of the 7th Infantry Division, and then in 1828 as commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 18th Infantry Division in the corps of Duke Eugene of Württemberg in the Russo-Turkish War . Boetticher led various operations during the siege of the eastern Bulgarian fortresses of Varna and Shumla , which housed a 40,000-strong Turkish garrison . Here he acted as a “mentor and protection bar against youthful hastiness” of the young dukes Alexander (1804–1881) and Ernst Konstantin von Württemberg (1807–1868), the cousins ​​of the Russian tsar. Duke Eugen commemorates Boetticher several times in his memoirs, in particular his heroic efforts to protect the young dukes from Schumla. However, due to shortages and illness, the Russian army was finally forced to retreat to the siege army at Silistra , but Varna was captured on October 10, 1828. Boetticher was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir III for his services. Class and the Georgskreuz awarded. In February 1831 he was appointed inspector of the engineering school for road communication in Saint Petersburg, received the Order of Saint Stanislaus 1st class and finally retired as lieutenant general in 1839. In 1840 he received the title of a Russian privy councilor .

He died on January 1, 1848 and was buried in the Volkovo Cemetery in Saint Petersburg.

family and friends

Since 1821 he was married to Johanna "Jenny" von Rosenschild-Paulyn (1801–1880). Her daughter Elisabeth (1822–1905) married the engineer general and chief of the Russian mountain corps Alexander Peretz and daughter Leontine (1823–1893) married the Russian division commander and lieutenant general Woldemar von Nabell. Son Adolf (1827–1849) died as the captain of the Moscow Guard Regiment at the age of just 22 on the march to suppress the Hungarian Revolution of an epidemic .

After 1831 Gustav von Boetticher made the acquaintance of the Russian national poet Alexander Pushkin , who had also participated in the Turkish wars, in Saint Petersburg . He was a frequent guest in Boetticher's house and played cards with his daughters.

literature

• Walter von Boetticher : News about the von Boetticher family. Courland Line. 1st year, Monse, Bautzen 1891, pp. 75–80.
• Helmut von Boetticher: News about the von Boetticher family. Courland Line. 11th episode, Langenhagen 1995, p. 53f.

Web links

• Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Gustav von Boetticher. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital

Individual evidence

1. ^ Georg Wilhelm von Duering: Diary about the siege of the city of Danzig in 1813. Verlag Enslin Berlin 1817, pp. 55–58. Google Books
2. ↑ List of Members Inducted in 1813. (No longer available online.) Pourlemerite.org, archived from the original on September 24, 2015 ; accessed on September 10, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ JM von Helldorff: From the life of the imperial Russian general of the infantry Prince Eugene of Württemberg. Hempel 1862, p. 86. Google Books
4. ↑ Major General von Helldorff (Ed.): From the life of the Imperial Russian General of the Infantry Prince Eugene of Württemberg. From his handwritten awards as well as from the written estate of his adjutants. Hempel. Berlin 1862, pp. 86, 88, 110.
5. ^ Helmut von Boetticher: News about the Boetticher family. Courland Line. 11th episode, Langenhagen 1995, p. 54.