Heinrich Wilhelm von Zeschau

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Heinrich Wilhelm von Zeschau

Heinrich Wilhelm von Zeschau (born August 22, 1760 on the Garrenchen manor near Luckau , † November 14, 1832 in Dresden ) was a Saxon Real Privy Councilor , Lieutenant General , State Secretary and Governor of Dresden.

family

His father was the eldest of the Luckau district ( electoral Saxon. Mgft. Niederlausitz ) Karl Siegismund von Zeschau (1703–1762 / 82?), His mother Sophie Albertine, nee. von Stammer from Görlsdorf (1715–1795).

He married on October 29, 1781 in Weißenfels Karoline Christiane von Brause (born January 8, 1765 in Zeitz ; † February 1, 1811 in Dresden ), the daughter of his battalion commander at the time, Hans Karl von Brause (1718–1800) and Karoline , born van Specbötel (1737–1795), a sister of General Friedrich August Wilhelm von Brause . The marriage had seven children.

Life

Heinrich Wilhelm von Zeschau's godmother was Countess Marie zur Lippe-Biesterfeld, who married the ruling Count Wilhelm zu Schaumburg-Lippe and brought her godfather to the court of Bückeburg , where he was educated and confirmed by the court preacher Johann Gottfried Herder . At the age of fourteen he came to the military academy fortress Wilhelmstein in Steinhuder Meer , where he met Scharnhorst , with whom he had a lifelong friendship.

In 1776 he was appointed second lieutenant , but after the early death of the count couple in January 1778 he returned to Saxony, where he found employment as a sub-lieutenant in the Elector Regiment . In 1789 he moved from Weißenfels to Zeitz , where the regiment's staff garrison was located, as premier lieutenant and regimental adjutant. In 1793 he took part in the siege of Mainz in this position . In the same year the horse was shot from under his body in the battle of Kaiserslautern . In the battle of Kreuznach he received the function of a brigade major . At the mediation of Lieutenant General von Lindt, he was transferred in 1794 to the position of adjutant to the Inspector General of the Saxon Infantry in Dresden. In 1804 he was appointed major and chief of the general staff of General von Lindt.

In the Battle of Austerlitz he fought in the Saxon Elector Regiment under Prince Hohenlohe and in 1806 belonged to the avant-garde of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia , where he was in command of the 1st Elector Regiment Battalion in the battle near Saalfeld and also in the later Battle of Jena and Auerstedt fought.

After the Peace of Poznan , the Elector Regiment was renamed the König Regiment and received its garrison in Dresden.

On February 14, 1808, Zeschau received the Knight's Cross of the Military St. Henry the Order awarded and became a lieutenant colonel and adjutant general I. Frederick Augustus promoted.

Now under Napoleon's command, Zeschau marched with the Second Saxon Division to Linz in 1809 and took part in the Battle of Wagram on the French side and received the cross of the French Legion of Honor for his service .

In 1810 Zeschau was back in Dresden, where he was appointed Saxon lieutenant general and division commander. In the spring of 1812, Zeschau took part in the function of adjutant general to the King of Prussia at the meeting of all German monarchs with Emperor Napoleon in Dresden.

After the Russian campaign in 1812, in which Zeschau did not take part as commander of the remaining Saxon troops, he was in the battle of Großbeeren as commander of the Second Saxon Division .

On the orders of the Saxon King, all troops of the Saxon Army were formed into a division on September 21, 1813 and Zeschau was appointed as the commander of all mobile troops. They were:

  • a light cavalry brigade under Colonel von Lindenau
  • two infantry brigades under Colonel von Brause and Major General von Ryssel
  • two foot and two mounted batteries under Lieutenant Colonel von Raabe and Major von Cerrini

In this list, Zeschau went on the French side in the decisive battle of October 18, 1813 near Leipzig . Due to the numerous losses, the hopelessness of a victory and the unwillingness to continue fighting on the French side against their own compatriots, the light cavalry under von Lindenau and the mounted battery under Major von Cerrini joined the fighting in the Battle of Nations Allies over, later also the brigades under Colonel von Brause and von Ryssel.

Without troops, Zeschau went to his king on the evening of October 18, who ordered him to stay by his side and accompany him to Prussia.

After the Congress of Vienna , at which Saxony was saved from complete dissolution only because of the merit of the transfer of its officers to the allies, but suffered large losses of territory, Zeschau took on numerous high offices in Saxony . He was appointed Director of the Secret War Chancellery, Head of the Military Education Commission, Commander of the Saxon Artillery and Engineering Corps and the Main Armory, President of the War Administration Chamber and finally Secretary of State for Military Affairs with the rank of Minister with a seat and vote on the Secret Council.

In 1823 Zeschau also took over the office of governor of Dresden.

Grave of Zeschau in the Inner Neustädter Friedhof in Dresden

After Zeschau celebrated his 50th anniversary of service on June 25, 1828, he retired in 1830 and lived on his Tolkewitz estate , where he died on November 14, 1832 and was buried in Dresden.

The family grave is located in the Inner Neustädter Friedhof (2nd Land) in Dresden.

Awards

  • Commander of the Military-St. Henry's Order on February 10, 1813
  • Grand Cross of the Military St. Henry's Order on July 23, 1815
  • Knight of the Order of St. John

Memberships

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Royal Saxon Military St. Heinrichs-Orden 1736-1918, A Ehrenblatt of the Saxon Army , Wilhelm and Bertha von Baensch-Stiftung, Dresden 1937, p. 38.
  2. ↑ The Royal Saxon Military St. Heinrichs-Orden 1736-1918, A Ehrenblatt of the Saxon Army , Wilhelm and Bertha von Baensch-Stiftung, Dresden 1937, p. 38.
  3. ↑ The Royal Saxon Military St. Heinrichs-Orden 1736-1918, A Ehrenblatt of the Saxon Army , Wilhelm and Bertha von Baensch-Stiftung, Dresden 1937, p. 38.
  4. ↑ General Handbook of Freemasonry. Third edition of Lenning's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry , Association of German Freemasons, Leipzig , completely revised and brought in line with the new scientific research . Max Hesses's Verlag, 1900, volume 1, keyword Dresden, page 209
personal data
SURNAME Zeschau, Heinrich Wilhelm von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Saxon Lieutenant General and State Secretary
DATE OF BIRTH August 22, 1760
PLACE OF BIRTH Garrenchen
DATE OF DEATH November 14, 1832
Place of death Dresden