Heinrich von Porbeck

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Heinrich Philipp Reinhard von Porbeck (born October 15, 1771 in Cassel , † July 28, 1809 near Talavera ) was a major general from Baden and a military writer .

Life

Porbeck's father (née Bödicker) was of middle-class origin. He had been adopted by an uncle and has been called von Porbeck ever since . On his father's estate in Kalbsburg near Fritzlar (today part of the city of Borken ), Heinrich was taught science by private tutors. At his father's request, he first studied camera science , but when he turned 18 his father gave up his wishes to be allowed to join the military and entered (like his father) into the service of the Landgrave of Hessen-Kassel . In 1787 he became a cadet in the Guards Regiment, 1790 Ensign and finally in 1792 adjutant of General Wurmb. In this position he went into the First Coalition War against revolutionary France until 1795 .

After the war he wrote a book entitled Critical History of Operations in Defense of Holland 1794-95 (Braunschweig 1802-04), which remained highly controversial in the following years. He had been a writer since 1798 and published articles in the new military journal of the later Prussian army reformer Scharnhorst . He then worked as editor of the magazine Neue Bellona .

In the meantime he had been appointed quartermaster lieutenant in the Hessian general staff and had attained the rank of prime lieutenant. But since 1801, when he was transferred to Marburg in the position he had already held before the war, he contemplated entering the service of another prince. Through the mediation of his war comrade Colonel von Baumbach , he transferred to Baden services in 1803 . Here he became captain and wing adjutant . At this time, his father and brother also switched to Baden.

In Baden he became a member of the War Ministry and a commission for reforming the Baden army in September 1803 . He quickly rose to lieutenant colonel and commander of the new Leib Grenadier Regiment. With this he took part in the siege of Stralsund in 1807 in the war of Emperor Napoleon I against Prussia . Then in 1808 he was briefly chief of the Baden General Staff. In August 1808, Porbeck was appointed major general in command of the Baden contingent, which went to war against Spain as part of General François-Joseph Lefebvre's IV Corps . There he took command of the 1st Brigade of the Lewal Division . He led this in the battles of Zornossa (October 31, 1808) and Valmaseda (November 18, 1808). In December the brigade entered Madrid . Porbeck was able to distinguish himself again in March 1809 in the battles at Val de Cannas (March 19) and Medellin (March 28). On July 28, 1809, he was killed in the Battle of Talavera while leading a bayonet attack on the English center.

family

He married Amalie Bornemann (1778-1813) on August 29, 1798. The couple had several children:

  • Friedrich Ernst Heinrich (1802–1867), Lieutenant General
⚭ 1835 Hannah Colman (1803–1844), daughter of Arthur Colman
⚭ 1846 Sophie Steinwachs (1824–1885)
  • Ludwig Viktor (1805–1851), Chargé d'affaires of the Baden legation in Prussia
  • Mathilde Caroline Amalie (* 1807), lady-in-waiting to Margravine Elisabeth ⚭ Freiherr Friedrich von Reck (1792–1845), Chamberlain and Government Director

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.wolfgang-steinwachs.de/nk/pafg11.htm
personal data
SURNAME Porbeck, Heinrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Porbeck, Heinrich Philipp Reinhard von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Baden major general and military writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 15, 1771
PLACE OF BIRTH Cassel
DATE OF DEATH July 28, 1809
Place of death at Talavera