Henry VI. (Reuss upper stimulus)

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Count Heinrich VI. Reuss to overburden

Henry VI. Reuss (* 7 August July / 17 August  1649 greg. In Greiz ; † 11 October July / 21 October  1697 greg. In Szeged ) was Count Reuss zu Obergreiz and field marshal of the Electorate of Saxony . As a military leader he took part in numerous battles and achieved special services during the Great Turkish War .

Life

Childhood and youth

Henry VI. was the eldest son of Count Heinrich I. Reuss zu Obergreiz (1627–1681) and his first wife, Burggräfin Sibylle Magdalene von Kirchberg (1624–1667). He followed his father in 1681 as ruling Count Reuss zu Obergreiz.

The father, Heinrich the Elder, was designated Commander-in- Chief of the Order of St. John , Imperial Councilor, General Field Sergeant and Colonel, and in 1673 was elevated to the rank of count as a member of the older line of the House of Reuss . The mother mainly directed the upbringing of her eleven children, as the father could not be at home much. Henry VI. enjoyed his lessons at home until he was 15 and then went to the court of Altenburg for further training , where he was brought up at the same time as the Hereditary Prince. His mental and physical development was extremely favorable. After two years, following a decision by his father, he moved to the University of Geneva . Here he devoted himself zealously to the sciences and at the same time to chivalric exercises with fondness and skill. From Geneva he went to Lyon to receive further training in the knightly arts, with the decision to devote himself entirely to military service. He then toured parts of France and returned to Obergreiz in 1668.

Beginning of military career and first wounding

Siege of Groningen 1672

A year later, Heinrich VI. in electoral Brandenburg military service. He was appointed Rittmeister in the regiment of Major General von Ellers. On this occasion he became better known to Elector Friedrich Wilhelm , who personally trusted him and made him his chamberlain . In 1672 the French war against the Republic of Holland , conjured up by King Louis XIV , began, in which the Bishop of Munster was also involved. A close relative of Heinrich VI, the Braunschweig-Lüneburg general sergeant Heinrich IV. Reuss zu Untergreiz (1638–1675), was in the service of the Munster at that time. Henry VI. thereupon asked the elector for a leave of absence to take service in his cousin's regiment. Soon after his entry he was given a company and the post of Rittmeister. During the siege of the fortress of Groningen , the horse was killed under his body by a cannonball. Furthermore, his cousin handed him a company of infantry and appointed him major . Such a double command was nothing unusual at the time.

In 1674 Heinrich VI returned. returned to Greiz and married the widow of the last Baron von Biberstein , Amalie Juliane (1636–1688), a sister of Heinrich IV Reuss zu Untergreiz on July 29th . Soon afterwards he went to Brussels and entered service in Spain. Here he was entrusted with a regiment, which he commanded for a year and a half, then resigned the Spanish services and entered the Dutch service through the mediation of Prince William of Orange , then governor of the United Netherlands and later King of England. Here he was transferred to the Lüzau infantry regiment, which he led into the field in 1676 and with which he attended the siege of Maastricht . On this occasion he had to command an attack in which the battalion he personally led was totally crushed and he himself escaped death with difficulty. A bullet wounded his head so badly that after the storm was over he was found unconscious among the dead. As a result, he was forced to renounce military service and return home. Towards the end of the year he started his journey home, but became seriously ill on the way and did not reach Greiz until the spring of 1677.

First Turkish War and the relief of Vienna

Second Turkish siege and relief from Vienna in September 1683
The Battle of Kahlenberg 1683

Margrave Christian Ernst of Brandenburg-Bayreuth appointed him to his Privy Councilor in 1679 and made him head of the state governor at court , which he successfully managed until 1681. In this year, Elector Johann Georg III moved him . of Saxony to leave the Brandenburg services and appointed him chamberlain and colonel of a cavalry regiment . Later Count Heinrich VI. himself a dragoon regiment and presented it to the elector in 1682. In 1683, Emperor Leopold I was involved in a war with the Turks . The Turks advanced so quickly that they reached Vienna unhindered and locked it in. The city was bravely defended, but after two months it could hardly be held. During this time around 50,000 Turks had fallen off Vienna. Vienna's relief was resolved by several European powers and therefore Poland, Brandenburg, Saxony, Bavaria and imperial troops with a total of 81,000 men rushed to the beleaguered city. The warlords concerned were all in the army. Henry VI. had been appointed major general and led his dragoon regiment. He received the order for the first attack on the Turkish camp and carried it off brilliantly. During this fight he sat on horseback for sixteen hours. The Turks' camp fell on September 12, 1683 . The Christian armies lost around 2,000 men in the relief, the Turks over 30,000.

Siege of Mainz and further wounds

Several years of calm followed. Count Heinrich VI. on the other hand suffered a heavy loss through the death of his wife at Christmas 1688. The next spring he moved with the electoral Saxon army to the Rhine to siege the fortress of Mainz, which was occupied by the French . When the crew failed on July 13th, in which 70 men from Heinrich's regiment died, he himself received a grazing shot in the head, while his left arm was shot to death on August 18th when a new battery was put on. The heavy loss of blood made him unable to fight for some time. After the reconquest of Mainz, Heinrich left the army and spent the winter alternately in Dresden and Greiz, but again took part in the campaigns on the Rhine in spring 1690 and 1691.

On May 3, 1691, he married for the second time, with Baron Henriette Amalie von Friesen , a lady who was richly gifted with beauty and all intellectual virtues. After the death of Johann Georg III. of Saxony he wanted to retire from military service, but his son and successor, Johann Georg IV , dissuaded him and sent him as an ambassador to King Wilhelm III. of England and the Elector of Bavaria, who at that time commanded the allied armies in the Netherlands. Elector Johann Georg IV died after just three years. Friedrich August I, the Strong , followed him in 1694 and appointed Count Heinrich VI when he took office. to General Feldzeugmeister . As the commanding officer of the Saxon army, he led it back to the Rhine in 1694. This campaign did not result in any outstanding battles, but for his services August the Strong appointed him a secret council of war .

Second Turkish war and hero's death

In 1695 the elector sent a large number of auxiliary troops to Hungary to join the imperial army against the Turks. As commander in chief , August the Strong commanded the entire allied army and Henry VI, under him, the Saxon army. The war continued until 1696. Heinrich suffered from gout during the bloody battle of Timisoara . When the danger for the allied army increased, however, he got up and at the head of his army prevented the near victory of the Turks at the right time.

The Battle of Zenta 1697

August the Strong ascended the Polish throne as King in 1697 . He sent the emperor again auxiliary troops to Hungary under the command of Heinrich. This time Prince Eugene of Savoy was in command of the entire army . On the morning of September 1st, Jul. / 11th September  1697 greg. the decisive battle began at Zenta and in the evening one of the most terrible battles was over and at the same time one of the most glorious victories in history was achieved. The Christian army had triumphed and thereby saved all of Central Europe from grave danger. The Turks were totally defeated and unable to advance any further. The victory of the Christians was fought with heavy sacrifices. Heinrich VI. Reuss was one of these. He commanded the first meeting in the attack. The enemy bullets wounded his horse twice, then a rifle bullet hit him in the outstretched right forearm, which bore down to the shoulder. Minor wounds followed; the horse also received a third shot. Despite the pain and loss of blood, he remained at the head of his army because its ranks were beginning to falter. He called out to those around him: “It is now a matter of fighting honestly and dying gloriously. I will win or die with you. Nobody should do the slightest thing more than I do! ”- After a long slaughter, the Turkish army got into disorder and sought its salvation by fleeing. Hidden behind a wagon castle, a swarm of janissaries fired at those who pursued them. Heinrich received one of these bullets in the left thigh with such force that he was stunned by the severity of the blow. His horse also got a fourth shot and fell.

The wounded general was brought to the Szeged fortress . Later the hero's wife hurried up too. After receiving the message, she immediately set out on the long journey. Count Heinrich VI died after various operations. Reuss on October 11th at midnight at the age of 48. Before his death he received the emperor's highest recognition; Prince Eugene had made a report there about his comrade in arms. The news, however, that August the Strong had appointed him Royal Polish Field Marshal General, did not reach him, although the patent had already been issued in Krakow on September 20th . The dissection showed that the thighbone was totally shattered from knee to hip. The ball itself was found, squeezed wide, in the hip muscle. The corpse, accompanied by the hero's widow and under heavy military cover, was brought from Szeged via Ofen and Pressburg , through Bohemia and Saxony to Greiz, where it arrived on December 22, 1697.

progeny

Henry VI. married in his first marriage on July 29, 1674 in Forst Amalie Juliane (1636–1688), daughter of Heinrich V. Reuss zu Untergreiz, widowed Baroness von Biberstein, with whom he had only one daughter:

  • Countess Ferdinande Charlotte (born June 13, 1675 - † July 20, 1723)

The following children come from his second marriage to Freiin Henriette Amalie von Friesen (1668–1732), whom he married on May 3, 1691 in Leipzig :

  • Count Heinrich I. Reuss zu Obergreiz (born December 29, 1693; † September 7, 1714)
  • Countess Johanna Margarete (February 18, 1695 - March 20, 1766)
  • Count Heinrich II. Reuss zu Obergreiz (February 4, 1696 - November 17, 1722)

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Heinrich VI (Reuss-Obergreiz)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Henry VI.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count Reuss to Obergreiz
DATE OF BIRTH 17th August 1649
PLACE OF BIRTH Greiz
DATE OF DEATH October 21, 1697
Place of death Szeged