Johann Elias Olfermann

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Olfermann monument
The Olfermann monument on the Nussberg

Johann Elias Olfermann ( Engl. And Ernest Olferman , * 2 September 1776 in Braunschweig ; † 18th October 1822 in Blankenburg in the Harz ) was a Braunschweigischer major general, in particular through its participation in the liberation wars and the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo Gained fame.

Early years in Braunschweig

Olfermann was born the son of a master tailor and only attended elementary school. After confirmation , he was sent to the town musician to apprentice to become a musician. At 18 he left Braunschweig and went to England to play the oboe in the military .

In British service

In 1795 Olfermann joined the British Army (probably the "Minorca Regiment"). He was initially music master in the 90th British Infantry Regiment. From 1798 he took part in military operations in the Mediterranean as a soldier in the 97th Regiment of Foot ( Queen's Own Germans ), as it was called from 1805 . In 1799 Olfermann was Sergeant Major and in 1800 Ensign and Adjutant in this regiment.

In Egypt

As Ensign he took part in an expedition to Egypt in 1801 to fight on the side of the Turks against Napoleon's troops . He was badly wounded at the Battle of Alexandria that same year. Because of his bravery was him by Sultan Selim III. the rarely awarded order of the Turkish Crescent . In 1804 he was promoted to lieutenant .

On the Iberian Peninsula

From 1808 Olfermann was involved in the campaign of the British Allied Army on the Iberian Peninsula in an infantry regiment under the Brunswick Lieutenant Colonel Georg Ludwig Korfes (1769-1810). In 1810 he became adjutant to the British brigadier Edward Michael Pakenham (1778-1815), whose brigade also included the Brunswick Light Infantry Regiment. After his promotion to captain in 1811, his decisive action during the battle of Fuentes de Oñoro saved the regiment from heavy losses.

In the service of the Black Duke

The Black Duke .

Returning to England in 1813 because of a serious illness, he met the "Black Duke", Friedrich Wilhelm von Braunschweig-Lüneburg , who had escaped with his Brunswick troops from Napoleon's army to Great Britain and the Olfermann as aide general adjutant in his troops recorded.

Back in Braunschweig

Olfermann became the Duke's confidante. After the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig, which was victorious for the Germans, in October 1813 and the resulting dissolution of the Kingdom of Westphalia , which also included the Oker and Braunschweig department , Olfermann took possession of the city and duchy of Braunschweig again on November 6, 1813 as governor of the duke . Only a few weeks later, on December 22nd, 1813, the Duke also entered the city at the head of his Black Corps to the cheering of the population.

By the spring of 1814, Olfermann succeeded in setting up a well-equipped and trained corps of 8,000 men in Braunschweig.

June 1815: The battles of Quatre-Bras and Waterloo

In 1814, Olfermann had resigned from the British Army and had served the Duke of Brunswick since August 9, 1814. As the highest staff officer, he took part in the campaign against Napoleon in Belgium in 1815 , during which Duke Friedrich Wilhelm was killed on June 16, 1815 in the battle of Quatre-Bras . The Duke's last words to Major von Wachholtz were:

Oh, my dear Wachholtz, where is Olfermann?

Olfermann, to whom the dying Duke had transferred command, continued to lead the Braunschweig troops from now on, but had to surrender his command to Colonel von Herzberg on June 18, 1815 due to an injury in the Battle of Waterloo . On August 5th, Olfermann took over the command again and was promoted to major general on November 2nd.

On January 29, 1816, Olfermann entered Braunschweig at the head of the victorious troops and shortly afterwards was appointed commander of the active troop corps. This corps in turn was subordinated to the newly created Military Administration Commission in 1816. Since Olfermann was more of a military practitioner and pragmatist and he lacked the military theoretical training, his superior authority accused him of often lacking the necessary sensitivity towards her, which was what the British Prince Regent and later King George IV , the guardian of the Braunschweig government, had who was responsible, prompted Olfermann to be removed from the Brunswick service on March 26, 1818. Thereupon Olfermann retired to Blankenburg in the Harz Mountains, where he died in 1822 and was also buried.

Further merits

In addition to his military merits in the wars of liberation and the establishment of an independent Braunschweig army , Olfermann also made a contribution to providing financial security for needy Braunschweig soldiers and their relatives by setting up the "private military benefit fund" in 1815.

Honors

The Olfermann monument

His community to the Führer in the Battle of Waterloo

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Olfermann's death, on October 18, 1832, former officers in the presence of Duke Wilhelm , a son of the Black Duke, inaugurated a simple monument on the Nussberg in Braunschweig in honor of Olfermann .

The monument created by an unknown artist, a stone column on a pyramid-shaped base, bears the inscription “To the Führer in the Battle of Waterloo his community” on the front and “Elias Olfermann, born on September 2nd, 1776, died on October 18th 1822 " .

medal

Olfermann was the recipient of various awards, in addition to the Order of the Turkish Crescent and the Commander's Cross of the Welf Order .

In addition, in 1888 a street and an adjoining square in the eastern ring area of Braunschweig were named after him.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 15726, HMSO, London, 7 August 1804, p. 954 ( PDF , English).
  2. ↑ Hofschröer p. 300

literature

personal data
SURNAME Olfermann, Johann Elias
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Braunschweig major general
DATE OF BIRTH September 2, 1776
PLACE OF BIRTH Braunschweig
DATE OF DEATH October 18, 1822
Place of death Blankenburg (Harz)