Karl August von Zweybrücken

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Karl August von Zweybrücken (right) and his brother Christian von Zweybrücken (1782–1859) say goodbye, 1812. Painting by Albrecht Adam

Karl August von Zweibriicken (* 21st January 1784 in Forbach (Moselle) ; † 5. October 1812 in Mozhaysk , Russia ) was an out of the house Wittelsbach -derived Baron and Bavarian officer , who in the Russian campaign of 1812 perished.

Life

He was the grandson of Duke Christian IV of Pfalz-Zweibrücken and son of Baron Wilhelm von Zweybrücken (1754–1807), as well as his wife Martine-Adelaide de Polastron (1760–1795).

The boy grew up in Forbach in Lorraine and had to flee with his family after the outbreak of the French Revolution . Via Zweibrücken they came to Munich , where their father's cousin Maximilian Joseph ruled as elector and from 1806 as king.

Karl August von Zweybrücken joined the Bavarian Army in 1799 and became a lieutenant in the Chevaulegers regiment "Elector" . When uncle Christian von Zweybrücken became head of a subsidiary army fighting France on British pay in 1800 , he brought the 16-year-old nephew to his staff as an adjutant.

On December 3, 1806, Karl August von Zweybrücken distinguished himself as Rittmeister and leader of a cavalry troop in Namslau in Silesia . He and six other Chevaulegers were supposed to get horses there and they were attacked in a house by Prussian horsemen. Zweybrücken saw almost 40 enemy cuirassiers riding up out of a window early in the morning and immediately shot them. He barricaded himself with his few men, repulsed several attacks and offered such resistance that the intruders thought the house was heavily occupied. Finally, in the afternoon, the Prussians withdrew without having achieved anything. This episode became widely known and later published under the title “Determined and fearless to a high degree” as a Bavarian heroic deed in Volume 1 of the memorial “The Bavarian Soldier in the Field” (pp. 167–171). There is a painting of it and Gustav Freytag chose the event as a real model for his castle defense portrayal at the end of the novel “Debit and Credit” . On January 10, 1807, Karl August von Zweybrücken stood out again when he took up the fight at Grottkau with his 12 riders on his own against a far superior enemy, drove them to flight and captured 80 hussars and looted 69 horses with the help they had received . For this, the officer received the cross of the Legion of Honor and the deed was also published in the book "The Bavarian Soldier in the Field" (Volume 1, pages 187-188).

With the 1st Bavarian Chevaulegers Regiment , Zweybrücken took part in the Russian campaign in 1812. In the battle of Borodino fell on September 7, 1812, the regimental commander Colonel Count Gustav von Sayn-Wittgenstein (1773-1812), who entrusted him with the command. Shortly afterwards, the baron himself was shot in the stomach and seriously wounded. His childhood friend Carl von Mannlich was an eyewitness to the event and it is described in the memoirs of his father Johann Christian von Mannlich . The painter Albrecht Adam , who was present at the battle, also writes about it in his memoirs, mentioning that Zweybrücken was one of his earliest patrons. The brigade commander General Jean-Baptiste Dommanget (1769–1848) reported to the king in this connection: “In various attacks, Major von Zweybrücken led the regiment with the determination and force of a particularly outstanding senior officer, but is himself bullet-proof been hit. His wound is bad, but he is young and will recover. It would be a heavy loss for the 1st regiment, which worships him and would like to succeed Count von Wittgenstein. "

Karl August was spent from Zweybrücken to Moshaisk, where he struggled with death in severe agony for almost a month and finally died on October 5, 1812. From there, a M. Bourbon wrote to his brother-in-law Anton von Cetto that he had died at 1 a.m. and that he had had him buried with military honors. General Dommanget's news of his wounding and his death report arrived in Munich at the same time. Freiherr von Zweybrücken was unmarried and had no offspring. His uniform worn in the Battle of Borodino was later exhibited in the Bavarian Army Museum.

literature

  • Adalbert von Bayern : The Duke and the Dancer - The Strange Story of Christian IV. Of Palatinate-Zweibrücken and his family , Palatinate Publishing House , Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, 1966
  • Bavarian War Archives : The Bavarian Soldier in the Field , Volume 1, Munich, 1898, pp. 167–171 u. 187-188
  • Johann Christian von Mannlich : Rococo and Revolution (memoirs), Mittler Verlag, Berlin 1913, p. 545
  • Michael von Gradl: Historical diary for the illustrious House of Wittelsbach and the Bavarian country , Erlangen, 1856, p. 168; (Digital scan)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Adalbert von Bayern : The Duke and the Dancer - The Strange Story of Christian IV. Of Pfalz-Zweibrücken and his family , Palatinate Publishing House , Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, 1966, page 194
  2. ↑ Data page of the Palatinate State Library Speyer, on Gustav von Sayn-Wittgenstein ( Memento from April 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ^ Albrecht Adam : From the life of a battle painter , Stuttgart 1886, p. 202, reprint: Jazzybee Verlag, 2012, ISBN 3849603784 ; (Online view)
  4. ^ Hans Fahrmbacher: Guide through the K. Bayer. Army Museum , Munich 1905, p. 123; (Detail scan)
personal data
SURNAME Zweybrücken, Karl August von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zweybrücken, Karl August Gabriel von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Baron from the House of Wittelsbach, Bavarian officer
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1784
PLACE OF BIRTH Forbach (Moselle)
DATE OF DEATH October 5, 1812
Place of death Moshaisk , Russia