Theodor Philipp von Pfau

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Memorial stone for Theodor Philipp von Pfau (1727–1794) on the Steigerkopf

Theodor Philipp von Pfau (* 1727 in Frankfurt am Main ; † July 13, 1794 at Steigerkopf ) was a Prussian major general , chief of infantry regiment No. 33 and governor of Glatz .

Life

origin

His parents were the Legation Councilor in Regensburg Albert Heinrich von Pfau and his wife Agnes Philippine, née Tilemann.

Military career

Pfau went into Prussian service in 1742 and was employed as a private corporal in the "von Kleist" No. 12 infantry regiment . In the Second Silesian War he took part in the siege of Prague and was wounded in the battle of Kesselsdorf . In 1745 he became an ensign and in 1746 was on advertising in the empire. In 1754 he became second lieutenant and in 1757 premier lieutenant in addition adjutant general to Lieutenant General von Finck . During the Seven Years' War he fought near Prague , Kolin and Zorndorf . When the Prussians surrendered in the Battle of Maxen , he was taken prisoner by Austria. In 1760 he became staff captain and in 1761 he was exchanged from captivity. In 1762 he became captain and company commander and, in 1763, quartermaster lieutenant in the entourage of King Frederick II. Nevertheless, it was not until September 13, 1770 that he was promoted to major . From January 27 to November 12, 1769 he was still a volunteer in the Russian Army in the Turkish War of 1768/74.

With the outbreak of the War of the Bavarian Succession he was appointed quartermaster general in Prince Heinrich's army, and in 1779 he also became a wing adjutant of the infantry . On May 27, 1781 he became lieutenant colonel and on June 9, 1782 colonel . In 1787, under King Friedrich Wilhelm II , he was assigned to Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Braunschweig as adjutant. With him he was posted to Holland. He wrote a treatise on the campaign entitled "History of the Prussian Campaign in the Province of Holland in 1787". The work was then translated into various languages. On May 20, 1789, he was appointed major general.

In the same year he received the Pour le Mérite . In 1792 he became a liaison officer to the Austrian army in Breisgau. In 1793 he was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle and in 1794 he was appointed Chief of Infantry Regiment No. 33 and Governor of Glatz .

During the First Coalition War against France, he took part in the Rhine campaign with the Hohenlohe Corps. On July 12, 1794, he was with the Prussian troops - eight battalions with 4,500 men with eight guns - on the Steigerkopf mountain (also called Schänzel ) southwest of Neustadt an der Hardt . This strategically important position in the Haardt was attacked by 7,000 French. On July 13th he was fatally wounded and the Prussians lost the fight.

After the war , a memorial was erected there in 1796 by his friend, the Austrian field marshal Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser , which is now maintained by the Palatinate Forest Association as Knight Stone No. 68 .

family

Pfau was married to Leopoldine Marianne von Reinhardt (born August 22, 1748, † December 23, 1815 in Berlin ) since 1772 . She was the daughter of the secret finance councilor Karl Franz von Reinhardt (1687–1765), after whom Reinhardtplatz in Berlin is named.

Works

Pfau wrote another work, but it did not spread his description of the Holland campaign; from the year 1757: "The skilful attack and the happy holding back of the enemy during sieges."

He also published a map of Poland in 1772 and a map of Silesia in 1775. The library of the Great General Staff in Berlin had Pfau's manuscript on "Maneuvers which were made by the Imperial Austrian troops near Prague, 1777."

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Theodor Philipp von Pfau: History of the Prussian campaign in the province of Holland in 1787. Berlin 1790
personal data
SURNAME Pfau, Theodor Philipp von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian Major General, Chief of Infantry Regiment No. 33, Governor von Glatz
DATE OF BIRTH 1727
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH July 13, 1794
Place of death at the riser head