Leopold Alexander von Wartensleben (1745–1822)

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Leopold Alexander von Wartensleben (1745–1822)

Leopold Alexander von Wartensleben (born October 29, 1745 in Berlin , † October 24, 1822 in Breslau ) was a Prussian lieutenant general , chief of infantry regiment No. 59 and governor of Erfurt .

Life

origin

His parents were the Prussian Lieutenant General Leopold Alexander von Wartensleben and his wife Anne Friederike, born von Kameke († October 22, 1788).

Military career

Wartensleben was employed on November 17, 1758 as a private corporal in the infantry regiment "Margrave Carl" of the Prussian Army . As ensign and adjutant to Karl von Brandenburg-Schwedt , he took part in the last battles of the Seven Years' War in 1761/62 . He rose on November 25, 1762 with a patent from February 22, 1762 to secondary lieutenant in the 1st Guard Battalion and after the war belonged to the circle of friends of the later King Friedrich Wilhelm II. On October 1, 1764 he was made a Knight of the Order of St. John. However, King Friedrich II was not satisfied with the development of the Count and on August 3, 1769, sent him to his old regiment in Prussia as Prime Lieutenant . On April 3, 1773 he appointed him captain and company commander in the newly established infantry regiment "von Krockow" in Marienburg . With this, Wartensleben took part in the War of the Bavarian Succession and was promoted to major on December 1, 1779 .

After the accession by Friedrich Wilhelm II. He was given command of the infantry regiment "of spaceship" and the Amtshauptmannschaft Ziesar . On June 30, 1788 he became lieutenant colonel and on September 15, 1790 colonel . On September 15, 1790, he moved to the "Prince Heinrich" infantry regiment in Spandau .

When the First Coalition War against revolutionary France began, he too advanced with the regiment. He led an attack by the regiment on the night of November 16-17, 1793 against the mountain fortress Bitsch . Although this failed, he received the order Pour le Mérite for the courage he showed . He also received an annual pension of 450 thalers from his head of the regiment for the good attitude and performance of the troops as well as his personal commitment.

Wartensleben was then initially charged with securing the demarcation line in Westphalia, but on May 19, 1794 he was given command of the Graf Anhalt infantry regiment in Liegnitz . After the peace treaty, he was promoted to major general on January 14, 1795, as well as his own grenadier brigade. Friedrich Wilhelm II awarded him the Order of the Red Eagle .

In 1802, Wartensleben wanted to say goodbye and retire to his estates, but he was not allowed to do so. Instead, he was transferred to Erfurt on February 10, 1803, which had fallen to Prussia on August 21, 1802, and became chief of the newly established Infantry Regiment No. 59 . Here he was also a member of the Masonic Lodge " Carl to the Three Eagles " and from 1803 to 1806 its master of the chair . In the war against France under Napoleon , his regiment was assigned to the army of the Duke of Braunschweig, and on October 14, 1806, Wartensleben was given command of the division at the center of the battle of Jena and Auerstedt . The battle was catastrophically lost, Wartensleben was injured and his horse was shot.

He withdrew to Magdeburg with the remnants of the demoralized troops . When the commander-in-chief left the city, he had to stay behind as the oldest officer with the governor von Kleist . The relationship between the two was very strained, and Kleist forbade bringing the fortress into a state of defense. At a meeting the governor announced that he wanted to hand over the fortress, and none of the assembled generals objected, because the fortress had not been repaired for decades. Magdeburg capitulated on November 7, 1806 with full magazines to the French army under Marshal Michel Ney . Waiting life was not interned as he promised not to fight against France until his release. So he stayed until the conclusion of peace on his rule Schurgast at Brieg.

The surrender of the Prussian fortresses to the French was to have further consequences: The king's cabinet decided on September 16, 1808, that a court martial was initiated. So Wartensleben was arrested on January 19, 1809. He was interrogated by General Julius von Grawert and sentenced on September 25, 1809 in Koenigsberg by a court martial under General Christian Ludwig von Winning - given his previous conduct as a soldier, however, only to lifelong arrest. The verdict was confirmed by the king and also included the withdrawal of his rank, all medals and decorations as well as life imprisonment in Fort Prussia near Neisse . The first relief came on January 6, 1810, when he was given permission to stay in the city instead of the fortress. With the end of Napoleon on May 30, 1814 there was also an amnesty. On June 15, Wartensleben was released, but he was financially ruined: his goods, which in 1806 were worth 290,000 thalers, had been sold as reparation for the damage caused by the surrender. He was only left with the pension of 450 thalers, on which he had to live until his death on October 22nd, 1822 in Breslau.

family

Wartensleben married on October 29, 1771 in Danzig with Karoline Luise Dorothea von der Recke (born August 8, 1753 in Prussian Holland ; † April 3, 1825 in Breslau). She was the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Jakob von der Recke (1721-1758) and Louise Gottliebe von Kalnein (* July 17, 1739; † January 14, 1806). The following children were born from the marriage:

⚭I May 24, 1797 in Potsdam Charlotte Wilhelmine Friederike von Pinto (* July 15, 1776 in Potsdam; † August 26, 1839 in Wolde ). After the marriage was divorced on December 6, 1803, she married General Eugen Maximilian von Roeder .
⚭II September 24, 1804 in Gotha Philippine Wilhelmine Freiin Teutscher von Lisfeld (* 1771; † January 22, 1849 in Strehlen)
  • Anna Albertine Cäcilie (* May 13, 1777 in Marienburg; † March 5, 1813) ⚭ Count Karl Alexander Nikolaus von Vitzthum von Eckstedt (* July 3, 1767; † October 12, 1834)
  • Leopold Ludwig Ferdinand (born May 26, 1778 Marienburg; † December 15, 1840), Prussian colonel a. D.
⚭I 1808 by Stöffel († 1824)
⚭II 1828 Countess Bacziska widowed Countess Seherr-Thoß
  • Konstantin Moritz Gneomar (born March 14, 1780 in Marienburg; † May 23, 1851 in Josephstadt), in Prussian service until 1803, in Austrian service from 1808, lastly kuk chamberlain ⚭ 1801 (divorced 1809) Luise von Reichenbach-Goschütz (* 11. April 1780; † November 17, 1856)
  • Isabella Amalie Margarethe Luise (born October 2, 1781)
  • Luise Isabella (October 8, 1782 - December 12, 1830)
  • Caesar Scipio Alexander (born April 8, 1785 in Marienburg; † December 29, 1851), Prussian lieutenant colonel and knight of the Order of St. John
⚭I June 20, 1808 Friederike von Gfug (March 3, 1789 - February 9, 1831)
⚭II Adolfine Pauline Antonie von Reppert (* August 2, 1808, † June 15, 1887)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ So consistent in Oettinger (FN), GHdA (Lit.), Poten (Lit.) and in the FG (Lit.); with Priesdorff, however, the year 1744 is shown as the year of birth.
  2. ↑ Eduard Maria Oettinger : Moniteur des dates: contenant un million de renseignements biographiques, généalogiques et historiques. S - Wiebeking. Digitized
personal data
SURNAME Waiting life, Leopold Alexander von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Waiting life, Alexander von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian Lieutenant General, Chief of Regiment No. 59, Governor of the Erfurt Fortress
DATE OF BIRTH October 29, 1745
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH October 24, 1822
Place of death Wroclaw