Heinrich Wilhelm von Lettow
Heinrich Wilhelm von Lettow (born December 22, 1714 in Klein-Karzenburg , Bublitz district , † November 30, 1793 in Berlin ) was a Prussian officer , most recently major general .
Life
origin
Heinrich Wilhelm came from the noble family von Lettow and was the son of Adam Christoph von Lettow († 1761), Lord of Klein-Karzenburg and his wife Dorothea Christine, born from the Borne († 1770).
Military career
Lettow was educated in Thorn in the Jesuit college, then entered the Crown Guard in Warsaw in 1728 and served three Polish kings in the following years.
Frederick the Great called him back to the service of Prussia in 1741 and Lettow was employed as a second lieutenant in the "Margrave Heinrich" No. 42 infantry regiment. There he served - with the exception of a brief interruption as a wing adjutant - until 1776. He took part in the three Silesian Wars and was seriously wounded in 1758 near Olomouc . As a major he distinguished himself in the battle of Reichenbach on August 16, 1762, for which he received the order Pour le Mérite . In 1764 he took over the regiment.
In 1776 he became chief of the "von Bülow" fusilier regiment No. 46 in Berlin and on January 14, 1777 promoted to major general. As a result of the severe wound, he asked to leave in 1779. Frederick the Great thereupon ordered his personal physician Christian Andreas Cothenius to “restore the general” and only allowed his departure when his efforts were unsuccessful. As an award given for the first time in the Prussian Army , Lettow was allowed to wear the uniform of his regiment after his retirement.
He belonged to Frederick the Great's inner circle and was a member of his round table in Sanssouci. The king enfeoffed him with several estates in the Naugard area and also gave him the Wangeritz estate, located in the same circle, as free possession.
family
Lettow was married to Friederike, née von Podewils. The marriage resulted in a son, Georg Wilhelm , who also entered the military career and rose to lieutenant general .
literature
- Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 2, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1937], DNB 367632772 , pp. 101-102, no. 623.
- Hermann von Lettow : Contributions to the history of the family Lettow-Vorbeck. 2 volumes. Stolp 1877-1882. ( online excerpts )
- Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck : My life. Koehler, Biberach an der Riss 1957. ( online excerpts )
- Anton Balthasar King : Heinrich Wilhelm von Lettow . In: Biographical lexicon of all heroes and military figures who made themselves famous in the Prussian service . tape 2 . Arnold Wever, Berlin 1789, p. 409 ( Heinrich Wilhelm von Lettow at Wikisource [PDF]).
- Ernst Heinrich Kneschke , New General German Adels Lexicon , Volume 5, S.486F Family Lettow
- Leopold von Zedlitz-Neukirch , New Prussian Adelslexicon , Volume 3, S.224 Family Lettow
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Horst founder: Lettow-Vorbeck, von (noble family). In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-428-00195-8 , p. 358 f. ( Digitized version ).
- ^ New Prussian Nobility Lexicon Online
- ^ Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck: My life. Koehler, Biberach an der Riss 1957. ( online excerpts )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lettow, Heinrich Wilhelm von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Prussian major general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 22, 1714 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Klein-Karzenburg , Bublitz district |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 30, 1793 |
| Place of death | Berlin |