Leopold von Lützow

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Leopold Wichard Heinrich von Lützow (born March 26, 1786 in Berlin, † August 27, 1844 in Gotha ) was a Prussian lieutenant general . He was probably the only German officer who served in four armies to fight Napoleon Bonaparte .

Life

origin

His father was the Prussian major general Johann Adolph von Lützow (1748-1819), his mother Wilhelmine, née von Zastrow (1754-1815).

Military career

In 1803 Leopold von Lützow joined the Prussian Army and fought against Napoléon in the Fourth Coalition War in 1806/07. In 1809 he was second lieutenant in the quartermaster staff. Together with his brother Adolf , he joined the 2nd Brandenburg Hussar Regiment on April 30, 1809 under Major Ferdinand von Schill . The news of the uprising in Hesse under Wilhelm von Dörnberg had prompted Schill to revolt against the French occupation. Adolf von Lützow was seriously wounded in the battle of Dodendorf . He was found by his brother Leopold and taken to safety.

In the further course there were differences between Schill and Lützow because they had different views on the military strategy . In Stralsund , Lützow left the Schill hunters because Schill insisted on defending Stralsund instead of crossing his troops to Rügen in order to later fight against Napoleon again. Schill was defeated by Danish and Dutch troops in French service and fell in battle.

Lützow joined the Austrian army. After the defeat of Austria in 1809, he went to Spain and fought there against the French army from 1810 until the beginning of 1812. With the surrender of Valencia on January 13, 1812, he fell into French captivity, from which he was able to escape. He traveled to Russia via Switzerland, Germany and Poland, through the middle of the marching troops of the Grande Armée . In July 1812 he reached the Russian army at Drissa and was taken on as a lieutenant colonel . He served in Napoleon's Russian campaign and the subsequent wars of liberation in the Russian army. He distinguished himself in the first battles and skirmishes of 1813 so that he (and 160 other Russian officers) the Russian General Wittgenstein gave the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. with a report of September 30, 1813 proposed for the award. With the highest cabinet order of December 8, 1813, the king replied "... I am sending you attached the list of those 161 Imperial Russian officers who I have awarded the medals named for distinction in the first battles and battles in Saxony and Silesia ...". Lützow was also on the list of 67 awards with the order Pour le Mérite .

In 1815 he rejoined the Prussian Army and took part in the Blücher General Staff at the Battle of Ligny and the Battle of Waterloo . In 1817 he became a member of the lawless society in Berlin . This society was founded in 1809 and got its name because it had no statutes. Its members included Wilhelm von Humboldt , Carl von La Roche , Friedrich Carl von Savigny and August Neidhardt von Gneisenau . Lützow became major general in 1829 and head of the General War School in 1834 . In 1836 he was given command of the 9th Infantry Brigade . Two years later he became commander of the 9th Division and commander of the Glogau fortress . In 1839 he became lieutenant general, in 1843 governor of Berlin and chief of the regional gendarmerie . He received several awards, including the Military Order of Merit for his participation in the Battle of Leipzig and the Iron Cross . He was also awarded honorary citizenship of Glogau. He died on August 27, 1844 in Gotha.

family

On April 9, 1815, he married Bertha von La Roche (1793-1830), the daughter of Carl Georg von La Roche . With her he had seven children, three of whom died in childhood:

  • Sophie (1816–1855) ⚭ 1840 Karl von Richthofen (1811–1888)
  • Leo Adolf Marquardt (1817–1891), Prussian district judge ⚭ 1847 Maria von Orville (Marie d'Orville, singer) (1819–1890)
  • Otto (* 1818)
  • Mathilde (* 1822)
  • Agnes (1825-1826)
  • Editha (1828-1830)
  • Max (1829-1830)

On February 6, 1835, he married Therese von Richthofen (1816–1839), with whom he had a son.

⚭ Margarethe von Werder (1840–1872)
⚭ Gertrud von Hoverbeck , called von Schoenaich (* 1856)

His wife was the sister of the Germanist Karl von Richthofen (1811–1888).

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gustav Lehmann: The knights of the order pour le merite. Volume 2, awards under King Friedrich Wilhelm III., ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1913, pp. 145 ff.
  2. ^ Genealogical handbook of the nobility. Volume F XVI, p. 175, CA Starke-Verlag, Limburg 1992.
personal data
SURNAME Lützow, Leopold von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lützow, Leo von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian lieutenant general
DATE OF BIRTH March 26, 1786
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH August 27, 1844
Place of death Gotha