Robert Scipio from Lentulus
Robert Scipio Freiherr von Lentulus (born April 18, 1714 in Vienna , † December 26, 1786 in Bern ) was an officer who was initially in Austrian , then Prussian and finally Bernese services.
Life
Service in the Austrian Army
Robert Scipio Freiherr von Lentulus came from an allegedly originally Roman family (more likely Linser ) who lived in Bern from 1592 . His father, Caesar Joseph von Lentulus († 1744), was in Austrian military service and Robert Scipio, after training at the Vienna Jesuit School , joined the Austrian army as an ensign in 1728 , namely in the dragoon regiment of Philippi .
In the Polish war of succession Lentulus took part in the campaign of 1734 in Italy in part as adjutant of Field Marshal Count Mercy , in the June 28 battle of Parma fell, and came in 1735 in the theater of war on the Rhine are used. He fought in the Russo-Austrian Turkish War from 1737–39 and from 1742–44 in the campaign in Bavaria and Bohemia during the War of the Austrian Succession . Lentulus was also involved in military-diplomatic negotiations, such as the order of the quarters between the warring parties after the armistice of 1735 and the regulation of the border between the Banat and Serbia after the Peace of Belgrade . Lentulus also continued his intellectual education and made major trips to Italy and the Orient.
Decisive for Lentulus' further career was his behavior towards the Prussian commander Einsiedel at the surrender of Prague during the Second Silesian War on September 16, 1744. Lentulus, a captain at the time , refused to sign the deed of surrender and broke his sword with him the angry reason that he had been ordered to fight in Prague, but not to surrender. This impressed the Prussian King Friedrich II so much that he wanted to include Lentulus in his service.
Service in the Prussian Army
Lentulus initially refused, but left the Austrian army to go to Bern for some time. After the peace treaty of 1745, Lentulus joined the Prussian army as a cavalry officer in the rank of major at the mediation of Prince Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau . Frederick showed him extraordinary favors by being appointed wing adjutant and backdating the officer's license to the date of the transfer from Prague.
Lentulus' marriage in 1748 to Maria Anna von Schwerin (1720–1754), a daughter of the Prussian State and War Minister Friedrich Bogislav von Schwerin (1674–1747) and sister of the Prussian major general, chief stable master and secret budget minister Count Friedrich Albert von Schwerin (1717–1747) 1789), to whom King Friedrich addressed an ode on this occasion, contributed to making him at home in Prussia. He played a major role in building up the Prussian cavalry.
During the Seven Years' War Lentulus first served in the royal headquarters and in diplomatic missions, so he brought the message of victory to London after the Battle of Lobositz . He then fought near Prague and the Battle of Kolin . He particularly distinguished himself as an equestrian leader in the Battle of Roßbach when he led the pursuit of the fleeing French and the Imperial Army. As a result, Lentulus was used in the troops and led a brigade formed from the Garde du Corps and a regiment Gensd'Armes . With this troop he distinguished himself again in the Battle of Leuthen under Zieten , for which Friedrich showed himself in gratitude by paying a thousand thalers. Lentulus was promoted to major general in 1757 .
In April 1758 Lentulus took part in the siege of Schweidnitz with 7 cuirassier regiments and then moved on to Moravia with the king . He was able to distinguish himself again in the battles of Zorndorf and Hochkirch . In 1759 he served in Silesia, in 1760 he fought at the head of two dragoon regiments in the battle of Liegnitz and in the following winter commanded the postings in Silesia. The end of his service in this war for Lentulus was the battle of Reichenbach on August 16, 1762, where he made a significant contribution to the victory of the Prussians.
In 1767 Friedrich appointed him lieutenant general and in 1768 governor of Neuchâtel in Switzerland, which was then under Prussian rule . Lentulus rarely stayed there, but did not officially give up the office until 1779.
As during his entire career in Prussia, Lentulus was often a part of the king's circle in the years after the war, who valued him for his education and intelligence. As early as 1752, Lentulus was present at the wedding of King Heinrich's brother with the Hessian Princess Wilhelmine . In 1769 Lentulus was present at the meeting of Frederick II with Emperor Joseph II in Neisse . Following the First Partition of Poland , Frederick sent him to West Prussia in 1773 to take possession of the newly acquired province and to establish Prussian rule.
In 1778/79 Lentulus took part in the War of the Bavarian Succession in the service of Prince Heinrich , but then retired because of his old age. In 1780 he sold the Redekin manor he had acquired with the rococo castle he had built.
Service as head of the Bern military system and end of life
In 1779 Lentulus returned to Bern and headed the military there. On Lentulus' recommendation, the city and republic of Bern had formed the first three hunter companies from good riflemen from the Oberland regiments as early as 1768 . In the same year Franz Rudolf Frisching was appointed captain of the 1st Bernese hunter company .
Lentulus died in 1786 on his Monrepos estate near Bern, where his grave is on the highest point of the Lentulus hill named after him. Nearby, a street was also named after Lentulus.
He was a Knight of the High Order of the Black Eagle .
literature
- Franz Ludwig von Haller : Life of Mr. Robert Scipio von Lentulus, former Lieutenant General in Königl. Prussian services and the Bernese peoples. 1787, digitized
- Anton Balthasar König : Robert Scipio of Lentulus . In: Biographical lexicon of all heroes and military figures who made themselves famous in the Prussian service . tape 2 . Arnold Wever, Berlin 1789, p. 391 ( Robert Scipio from Lentulus at Wikisource [PDF]).
- Constantin von Wurzbach : Lentulus, Robert Scipio Freiherr . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 14th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1865, p. 371 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Bernhard von Poten : Lentulus, Rupert Scipio von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 18, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1883, p. 267 f.
- Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 1, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1937], DNB 367632764 , pp. 456-457, no. 470.
- Edgar Bonjour : Lentulus, Rupert Scipio by. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-428-00195-8 , p. 220 ( digitized version ).
- Benninghoven, Börsch-Supan, Gundermann: Frederick the Great . Secret State Archive of Prussian Cultural Heritage , 1986, ISBN 3-87584-172-7 .
- Eric-André Klauser: Lentulus, Robert Scipio from. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Individual evidence
- ↑ year of death according to Klauser (lit.); Bonjour (lit.), König (lit.), Poten (lit.) and Priesdorff (lit.) name the year 1787.
- ↑ Roland Petitmermet: Berner uniforms 1700 - 1850. Historical Society of the Canton of Bern, 1977, ISBN 3-85731-002-2 , page 42
- ↑ Historical-topographical lexicon of the city of Bern by Berchtold Weber: Entries Lentulus-Grab and Lentulushubel ( Memento from June 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lentulus, Robert Scipio of |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lentulus, Robert Scipio Freiherr von (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss officer in the Prussian service |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 18, 1714 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vienna |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 26, 1786 |
| Place of death | Bern |