Johann von Kalb
Johann (von) Kalb , French Jean de Kalb , in America mainly De Kalb and Baron de Kalb (born June 29, 1721 in Hüttendorf (now part of Erlangen ), † August 19, 1780 in Camden , South Carolina after being wounded) a German-American general during the American Revolution .
family
Kalb was born as the son of the farmer Johann Leonhard Kalb , his mother was Margarethe Seiz widowed Putz from Eschenbach. His brothers Georg and Andreas also became farmers. He married Anna Elisabeth Emilie van Robais (October 30, 1748 - November 20, 1785) in Paris in 1764 , daughter of the cloth manufacturer Pierre van Robais and Suzanne Gastebois . The couple had a daughter and two sons who became French officers.
- Frédéric (Salm-Salm Regiment) (1765–1793)
- Anne Marie Caroline (1767–?) ∞ Jean-Luc Geymuller (1751–1799)
- Elie (1769–1835) ( Régiment de Royal Deux-Ponts ) ∞ Marie Elisabeth Charlotte "Elise" Signard d'Ouffieres (1768–?)
Life
Kalb went abroad as a waiter in 1737 . In 1743 he became a lieutenant in the French German Régiment de Lowendahl, advanced to Capitaine in 1747 , major in 1756 and took part in the Seven Years' War . Here he stayed in the corps of the Duke of Broglie . Among other things, he helped cover the retreat at Roßbach and distinguished himself in the battle of Bergen . In 1761 he became General Quartermaster Adjutant in the Army of the Upper Rhine.
On the recommendation of Choiseul , he went to North America in 1767 and 1768 to research the mood of the colonial population there towards motherland Great Britain . In 1777, shortly after the outbreak of the revolution, he went back to North America with Lafayette . In December 1779, George Washington placed him in command of the divisions of Maryland and Delaware to cover the city of Charleston . However, the city had already fallen before his arrival on May 12, 1780, so Kalb withdrew to the south and took part under Gates on August 16 in the battle of Camden , which he rejected and which was also unfortunate . Kalb was fatally wounded in this battle and died in Camden on August 19, 1780.
Johann Kalb was a member of the Freemasons Association in a so-called field box . Masonic officers carried him from the battlefield. His military opponent, General Charles Cornwallis , had him buried with masonry honors.
Honors
- A memorial was dedicated in 1825 in the presence of the Marquis de La Fayette and the Masons of Camden .
- Several cities , counties , squares, and streets have been named after him in the United States .
- In 1955, Johann-Kalb-Strasse in Erlangen was named after him.
- In Munich, the "General-Kalb-Weg" is named after him in the former housing complex of the American armed forces at Perlacher Forst, 17th district of Obergiesing.
- In Annapolis, a memorial was erected in his honor in the garden of the Maryland State House
- In Fürth, an American housing estate with 1,234 apartments and a school center was named after him ("Kalb-Siedlung").
Memorial plaque in Johann von Kalb's birthplace Hüttendorf
De-Kalb bust in Decatur, Georgia
_Geburtshaus_Johann_von_Kalb_002.JPG)
literature
- Horst Dippel : Kalb, Johann. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 11, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1977, ISBN 3-428-00192-3 , p. 46 ( digitized version ).
- Ludovic de Colleville , Fritz de Zepelin: Les missions secrètes du général-major baron de Kalb: Et son rôle dans la guerre de l'indépendance américaine (1885, new edition 2010)
- Friedrich Kapp, Life of the American General Johann Kalb , digitized
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kalb, Johann von |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kalb, Johann Baron von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German-American general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 29, 1721 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hut village |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 19, 1780 |
| Place of death | Camden, South Carolina |