Maximilian Seyssel d'Aix

Maximilian Graf von Seyssel d'Aix (born November 20, 1776 in Munich , † September 10, 1855 in Regensburg ) was a Bavarian lieutenant general .

Life

origin

Maximilian comes from a family who came to Bavaria from Savoy with their grandfather Johann Claudius (Jean Claude) Seyssel d'Aix (1695–1761) at the beginning of the 18th century. His parents were the electoral Bavarian treasurer and general Sigmund Friedrich Graf von Seyssel d'Aix and his wife Friederike Auguste Albertine, née Baroness von Reitzenstein (1743-1816). His brother Carl Theodor (1780–1863) became a Prussian officer and later an administrative officer.

Military career

As a child, Seyssel was appointed cornet in the cavalry regiment "Friedrich von Loe called Winckelhausen" on November 9, 1785 , and on November 10, 1786 he took up service there. On October 1, 1788, he was made redundant lieutenant . On November 1, 1790, it was classified as the 2nd Cuirassier Regiment and rose to first lieutenant by mid-June 1792 . As such, took part in the First Coalition War in 1794/95 . After the French crossed the Rhine in 1795 and Düsseldorf surrendered on September 7, 1795, he became an adjutant to Lieutenant General von Zedtwitz. On March 10, 1796, Seyssel bought a position as staff captain in the 13th fusilier regiment "Prince Moritz von Ysenburg". On October 31, 1794 he was Rittmeister and transferred to his previous regiment. On January 1, 1799, the troops were transferred from the Jülich and Berg area to Munich. There, on February 6, 1799, the regiment was combined with the Chevaulegier bodyguard Zweibrücken to form the 4th Chevaulegier regiment "Hereditary Prince Ludwig". On February 27th he was transferred to the 1st Chevaulegier Regiment "Elector Max Josef".

In the spring of 1800 two infantry brigades and a combined Chevaulegierregiment were given in British pay under Lieutenant General von Zweibrücken . Seyssel received its own squadron . Up until the armistice of Parsdorf on July 15, 1800, he fought in a number of outpost battles: Meßkirch (May 5), Biberach (May 9), Memmingen (May 10) and Neuburg an der Donau (June 27). After the end of the armistice on November 25, 1800, he fought on December 3 in the Battle of Hohenlinden .

With France

At the beginning of 1802 Seyssel was transferred to the "Electress" dragoon regiment in Düsseldorf . The following year he joined the 1st Cuirassier Regiment "Minucci" and at the beginning of December 1804 was promoted to major . When the Bavarians fought against Austria in 1805, he and two squadrons formed the vanguard of Bernadotte's corps on the way to Munich. On October 12, 1805, he entered the city. At Parsdorf he was able to free several hundred prisoners and captured numerous horses. He made forays to Tyrol and was on November 21 and 22 before Salzburg, Hallstein and Golling.

In the Fourth Coalition War , Seyssel fought against Prussia and was in 1806 in the general staff of the Cavalry Brigade "Count Mazanelli". On January 10, 1807, the brigade captured around 100 hussars and on January 7, Brieg was attacked. He fought on June 4, 1807 near Roth-Waltersdorf near Glatz, for which he believed he was entitled to the Military Max Joseph Order . Lieutenant General von Deroy declined the award. He wrote, among other things, "that according to the general mood that prevailed against Major Count S., it would cause a lot of unpleasant sensation if he were to receive the medal". The award of the order did not take place. In the short war of 1809 against Austria, he was unable to distinguish himself further.

On December 22, 1808 he was made a lieutenant colonel in the 2nd Chevaulegier regiment "King". When war broke out again with Austria in 1809 , he was assigned to the Oudinot Corps in Stuttgart. The war ended quickly, however, without Seyssel seeing any further fighting. On October 27, 1809 he was then promoted to colonel in the 2nd Chevaulegier regiment "King". The regiment was then renamed the 4th Chevaulegier Regiment on April 29, 1811 .

Russian campaign

With the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Chevaulegier Regiment, the Preyssing Equestrian Division of the Grande Armée was formed, which marched to Russia in 1812. Seyssel was the commander of the 22nd Light Cavalry Brigade. The division was then able to distinguish itself on July 24, 1812 at Vitebsk . In the Battle of Borodino he was able to distinguish himself again and was proposed by the Viceroy of Italy Prince Eugene for the French Legion of Honor. On September 14, 1812, he reached Moscow. During the retreat there was the battle of Vyazma . Seyssel's brigade had shrunk to three squadrons; the 5th regiment no longer existed. Nevertheless, a general, several officers and dragoons were captured in the battle. However, all of the horses died the following night. The remnants of the regiment withdrew via the Berezina to Germany, where Seyssel arrived at the beginning of February 1813 unwounded and without frozen limbs. 39 of the 521 men in the 4th regiment returned to Augsburg. Seyssel was appointed commander of the combined Chevaulegier regiments of the "Raglovich" division on his return. In 1813 he went to Saxony with it. On May 13, 1813 he received the Legion of Honor for Borodino from Napoleon near Dresden.

He distinguished himself in the battle of Bautzen and in the battle near Luckau he was able to save the Pacthod division with a skillful cavalry attack. That got him the Max-Joseph-Order. During the armistice of 1813 he moved to an outpost position in the village of Dornwald near Baruth . As soon as the armistice was over, the outpost was raided at night by troops from the Borstell Brigade, and Seyssel d'Aix was captured. He remained in captivity in Swinoujscie until the Bavarians turned away from the French and joined the coalition against Napoleon.

Against France

After his release he returned to his regiment and now took part in the fighting against France, so he was in Alsace in 1815 . On November 27, 1816 he was promoted to major general and brigadier of the cavalry. He was also given command of the cavalry brigade of the occupation army, which was formed from the 1st and 3rd Chevaulegier Regiment. When the brigade withdrew, he received the Officer's Cross of the Legion of Honor. At the end of 1819 there were changes within the Bavarian army and so it came about that he came to the Grenadier Guard Regiment, on February 11, 1824 he was then transferred to the Cavalry Brigade of the 1st Division.

On December 4, 1827 he received the Cross of Honor of the Order of Ludwig and on January 31, 1829 he was transferred to the War Ministry. There he was promoted to lieutenant general on June 15, 1830 and then appointed commander of the 2nd Army Division and on October 28, 1835 he became the owner of the 13th Infantry Regiment. On December 30, 1836, he was briefly transferred to the 3rd Army Division , but on January 13, 1837, he was appointed Capitaine des Gardes of the Hartschiere's life guards . He asked several times for his farewell , which was granted to him in 1845 and died on September 10, 1855 in Regensburg.

In his honor, the most important defense barracks of the fortress Germersheim was named "Seysselkaserne" in 1842.

family

On April 24, 1823, he married Sophie Amalie Countess von Yrsch (1805–1872), a daughter of Colonel Karl August von Yrsch (* 1769) and Caroline von Pinzenau (* 1783). The couple had three sons and two daughters:

• Edwin (1824–1912), he buys the Palais Seyssel d'Aix ⚭ Amalie von Hohenfels (1845–1903)
• Ludwig (1825–1895) ⚭ Ferdinanda Franziska Johanna von Butler-Clonebough called Haimhausen (1837–1870)
• Klothilde (1826–1891) ⚭ Karl Eduard Marcell, Count du Moulin-Eckart (1808–1891)
• Emma (1827–1854) ⚭ Theodor Graf von Hundt von Lauterbach (1810–1897)
• Camill (1836–1895) ⚭ Katharina Amalie Henriette Maria von Poschinger (1854–1887)

literature

• Bernhard von Poten:  Seyssel d'Aix, Max Graf . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 34, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1892, p. 119 f.
• The Counts of Seyssel d'Aix. In: Ernst Heinrich Kneschke : German count houses of the present. P. 465.
• The Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order and its members. P. 790f.
• Seyssel d'Aix. In: Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the count's houses. 1874, p. 807.
• Ernst Heinrich Kneschke: New general German nobility lexicon. Volume 8, p. 482.

Individual evidence

1. ^ The epitaph of Johann Claudius Seyssel d'Aix is ​​in the Munich Frauenkirche , Die Epitaphien an der Frauenkirche zu München , p. 110.
2. ↑ Historical and genealogical book of the nobility of the Grand Duchy of Baden. Volume 2, p. 218. August von Yrsch
3. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the count's houses. Volume 47, 1874, pp. 229f.
4. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the count's houses. 45, 1872 p. 385.