Hans Sigismund von Lestwitz

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Portrait of Hans Sigismund von Lestwitz at the grave in Bliesdorf by Johann Gottfried Schadow
Catharina Charlotte von Tresckow (1734–1789), his wife

Hans Sigismund von Lestwitz (born June 19, 1718 in Kontopp in the Principality of Glogau ; † February 16, 1788 in Berlin ) was a Prussian major general of the infantry and was particularly honored by Friedrich II for his services in the battle of Torgau .

His father was Lieutenant General Johann Georg von Lestwitz , his mother Helene was born Freiin von Kottwitz . The von Lestwitz family, who died out in the male line with Hans Sigismund, belonged to the old Silesian families.

Life

He began his military career in 1734 as a flag junior in the infantry regiment of General Field Marshal Kurt Christoph von Schwerin in Frankfurt an der Oder . In the First and Second Silesian War he excelled in battles and skirmishes near Mollwitz , Czaslau , Hohenfriedberg and Soor . After the Battle of Lobositz he was awarded the order Pour le Mérite , in 1760 he became a major in the "Alt-Braunschweig" infantry regiment.

In the extremely costly Battle of Torgau on November 3, 1760, he was able to make a decisive contribution to the Prussian victory by collecting scattered troops and leading them into a new attack. Friedrich II. Had left the battlefield after a failed attack on the position of the Austrians, injured by a grape ball , and left the command to Lieutenant General Johann Dietrich von Hülsen . He watched Lestwitz in his efforts to reorganize the fleeing troops and had them explained to him. He then assured him of his eternal thanks, which was of particular importance since Lestwitz's father, Johann Georg von Lestwitz, had fallen out of favor with him in 1757 because of the abandonment of the fortress of Breslau and had been severely punished.

Lestwitz was able to collect three battalions and deliver them to the battlefield again, thus providing decisive support for the attack of Hans Joachim von Zieten's hussar regiment on the Süptitzer Heights .

With the death of Margrave Karl Friedrich Albrecht von Brandenburg-Schwedt in 1762, his goods at Frankfurt (Oder) fell back to the crown. After Hubertusburg Frederick II shared this Begüterungen to the two by him with special thanks thoughtful officers. Hans Sigismund von Lestwitz got the Good Friedland , Joachim Bernhard von Prittwitz , the king of the Battle of Kunersdorf had led from the battlefield, got Quillitz . In the walking tour through Mark Brandenburg by Theodor Fontane This circumstance finds a special mention: Fontane cites the contemporary adage "Lestwitz a sauvé l'etat, Prittwitz a sauvé le roi." (Lestwitz has saved the state, Prittwitz the king.) Furthermore, the staff officers of the von Lestwitz regiment received a gold medal.

In 1765 Lestwitz was appointed colonel and in 1766 chief of the Leib Grenadier Regiment. After participating in the War of the Bavarian Succession , he took his leave in 1779. He died in Berlin in 1788.

His daughter Helene Charlotte became known as Friedland's wife .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Lestwitz, Hans Sigismund from
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian major general
DATE OF BIRTH June 19, 1718
PLACE OF BIRTH Kontopp , Duchy of Glogau
DATE OF DEATH February 16, 1788
Place of death Berlin