Karl Ernst Ludwig von Lettow

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Karl Ernst Ludwig von Lettow (also Carl Ernst von Lettow ; * 1746 in Kolberg ; † March 27, 1826 in Groß-Reetz , Rummelsburg district ) was a Prussian general .

Life

Lettow was born the son of the Prussian officer Klaus Sigismund von Lettow (1715–1787), who commanded a garrison battalion in the Kolberg fortress. His mother was his wife Hyppolita Elisabeth von Petersdorff .

In 1761 he joined the Saxon army as a cadet , where he served until he joined the Prussian army in 1773. In the same year he went to the "Hanstein Infantry Regiment" as a prime lieutenant, and in 1802 he became its commander.

Lettow took part in the campaigns of 1778/79 and rose to 1804 to major general and chief of the "Lettow Infantry Regiment" in Minden, named after him . In the Fourth Coalition War he fought in the Battle of Auerstedt in 1806 and took part in the retreat under Blücher to Lübeck , where he defended the Mühlentor . Together with Blücher he went into French captivity after Ratekau's surrender .

Released after the Peace of Tilsit , he was placed on half his salary and was not given a new command. In February 1808 the commission of inquiry, which had to evaluate the behavior of all Prussian commanders in the lost war , absolved him of any rebuke . He was one of the few Prussian generals that King Friedrich Wilhelm III. kept in the army and did not say goodbye , dismiss or even cash in . Only after the end of the war was he retired in 1814. When he died, he owned the Karlshof, Fort and Groß-Reetz estates, to which he retired, in Pomerania .

family

On January 2, 1789 Lettow had married the widowed Anna Amalia von der Recke , born von Rehbinder (* May 5, 1770, † February 17, 1857). The couple had four sons and three daughters, including:

  • Ludwig Wilhelm Karl (* 1790; † September 15, 1840), retired lieutenant D.
  • Karl Alexander Dagobert († October 16, 1806), ensign
  • Georg Leopold Konstantin (August 3, 1794 - December 3, 1882), Major a. D. ⚭ April 29, 1830 Emma Fredrike Wilhelmine von Ehrenberg (* October 4, 1802)
  • Boguslaw Adolf Arnd Karl (* 1796 - 10 August 1847)
  • Amalie Wilhelmine Lisette ⚭ NN von Woedtke († February 9, 1859)
  • Philippine Charlotte Ernestine (* 1803; † August 6, 1830)

literature
personal data
SURNAME Lettow, Karl Ernst Ludwig von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lettow, Carl Ernst von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian general
DATE OF BIRTH 1746
PLACE OF BIRTH Kolberg
DATE OF DEATH March 27, 1826
Place of death Groß-Reetz