Karl Christian von Elsner

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Karl Christian von Elsner (born September 13, 1755 in Riemberg, Steinau district , † September 15, 1815 in Dessau ) was a Prussian lieutenant general and commandant of Wittenberg .

Life

origin

Karl Christian was a son of Melchor Joachim von Elsner (1716–1787) and his wife Johanna Dorothea, née von Kölichen. His father was the controller of the Breslauer Sparkasse and general tenant of the Niemberger property.

Military career

Elsner attended the Berlin Cadet House and the Academie Militaire . On March 22, 1772 he was employed as an ensign in the infantry regiment "von Saldern" of the Prussian Army . At the beginning of July 1776 he was promoted to secondary lieutenant and from the end of June 1777 was adjutant general to his head of the regiment . As such, he took part in the War of the Bavarian Succession . After the death of Lieutenant General von Saldern on April 4, 1785, he became adjutant in the suite of the Prussian King Friedrich II. Elsner rose to captain and company commander in the grenadier battalion "von Drost" until the beginning of February 1787 . From there he came on June 29, 1788 to the infantry regiment “von Braunschweig” and in December 1792 advanced to major . During the First Coalition War , Elsner fought in the siege of Verdun , the battles near Kaiserslautern and Pirmasens and the battles at LaLune and Kettrich. On September 17, 1793 he received the order Pour le Mérite .

After the war he was appointed regimental commander on January 19, 1798 and promoted to colonel on June 3, 1803 in this position . In the Fourth Coalition War he fought in the Battle of Auerstedt . After the war in 1807 he was ordered to take over the prisoners of war.

On October 23, 1809 Elsner received the order to inspect and report to the troops of the Brandenburg, Pomeranian, Neumärk and Lower Silesian Brigades. The background was the actions of Major Ferdinand von Schill and the king wanted to know from which troops further arbitrary actions could be expected. On May 9, 1809, he was promoted to major general , but only with half pay . On October 23, 1809, he and an auditor were sent to Brandenburg an der Havel to investigate the unrest there. Subsequently, on November 15, 1809, he was appointed commandant of Brandenburg an der Havel. He stayed there until 1812, when he had to surrender his command to the French in the run-up to the Wars of Liberation .

On January 20, 1813 he received his departure , but on May 5, 1813 he was appointed divisional officer of the Landwehr between Elbe and Oder. Because of his illness, he was replaced on June 26, 1813. He went to Teplitz to take a cure. After his recovery he was appointed commander of Leipzig on October 21, 1813 after the Battle of Leipzig. But on December 14, 1813, he was appointed as the future commandant of Wittenberg. But it was not until May 31, 1815 that he was transferred to Wittenberg as a real commander and promoted to lieutenant general. Here he was given leave on September 8, 1815 to recover from an illness in Dessau. But he died there on September 15, 1815.

family

Elsner married on August 2, 1783 in Kehnert near Magdeburg Karoline von Arnstedt (1762-1832), a daughter of Christoph Dietrich von Arnstedt (1709-1769). The couple had several children:

  • Adolf Ferdinand (1784–1786)
  • Lisette Karoline (1789–1871) ⚭ August Ludwig von Ledebur (1776–1852), Prussian general of the cavalry
  • Adolf Ferdinand (1791–1813), killed as a second lieutenant in the battle near Königswartha
  • Adelheid (1794–1867) ⚭ August Wilhelm von Stosch (1783–1860), Privy Senior Medical Officer, personal physician to the Queen
  • Ida (1797-1804)
  • Cecilia (1800–1876)
⚭ Freiherr Wilhelm von Meyern († 1826), Baden major
⚭ 1835 Johannes Zeller (1807–1839), pastor in Stäsa near Zurich
  • Gustav (1804-1809)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of noble houses. 1904. Fifth year, Justus Perthes , Gotha 1903, p. 23.
  2. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the baronial houses for the year 1869. Volume 19, p. 504.
personal data
SURNAME Elsner, Karl Christian von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian lieutenant general and commandant of Wittenberg
DATE OF BIRTH September 13, 1755
PLACE OF BIRTH Niemberg, Steinau district
DATE OF DEATH September 15, 1815
Place of death Dessau