Wilhelm Dietrich von Wakenitz

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Dietrich Wilhelm von Wakenitz , also Wackenitz or Wacknitz , (born August 2, 1728 on Gut Neu Boltenhagen , † January 9, 1805 in Kassel ) was a Prussian cavalry officer , Hesse-Kassel general and finance minister. His father was the heir to the Boltenhagen estate and the Swedish lieutenant colonel Karl Philipp von Wakenitz (1697–1739). His mother was Charlotte Louise von Örtzen (* 1699) from Blümenow.

Life

In Prussian service

As early as 1741 he joined the corps of the unranked - part of the footguard . On July 9, 1744, he became a Cornet in the Garde du Corps . During the Second Silesian War in the Battle of Hohenfriedberg , he and other officers received the Pour le Mérite . When the Seven Years' War broke out , he was a lieutenant. When the corps was supplemented by two squadrons with Saxon soldiers , he was given command of it. On October 1, 1756 in the Battle of Lobositz he was able to distinguish himself again and was Rittmeister on February 24, 1757. The corps fought Prague, Roßbach and Leuthen. Lieutenant Colonel von Blumenthal, who was seriously wounded in Lobositz, died and his planned successor von Grotthusen had resigned from the army due to differences of opinion. Rittmeister Dietrich Wilhelm von Wakenitz was commandant of the Garde du Corps from 1758 to 1760. Through his service in the battle of Zorndorf he was able to turn the tide and was immediately promoted to lieutenant colonel. Among the leaders of the Garde du Corps he is undoubtedly the most deserving, and in the judgment of the Great Seydlitz he was a man worthy of one day being placed at the head of the Prussian cavalry.

But he must have had enemies; It was rumored that in Zorndorf he had taken a Russian officer under his protection - contrary to the prevailing orders - and shot a Garde du Corps who dealt him a fatal blow. On May 6, 1760 he was appointed Colonel and Commander of the Cuirassier Regiment No. 5 (Margrave Friedrich). He then went to Berlin, but became a prisoner of war there on October 7, 1760, on the occasion of the Russian-Austrian occupation. Only changed again in 1762, on his return he asked the king to dismiss it, which he unfortunately received in a very cold cabinet letter from Leipzig on December 11, 1762.

In Hessian service

Landgrave Friedrich II of Hesse Kassel was looking for Prussian officers to improve his army and so Wakenitz entered Hessian service as major general on June 14, 1763. May 1764 he got the command of the cavalry regiment Gens d'armes. On January 17, 1765 he was appointed chief. He rose to lieutenant general on October 27, 1772 and became secret minister of state (finance minister) on August 19, 1774. Together with Martin Ernst von Schlieffen and Friedrich Christian von Jungkenn (called Müntzer vom Mohrenstamm), they were known as the Prussian junta . According to some contemporaries, he must have put his finances back in order.

The landgrave died on October 31, 1785 and the Prussians had to quit their service. Wakenitz stayed in Kassel, von Schlieffen went back to Prussia and became governor of Wesel , von Jungkenn retired in 1789.

For his work he was immortalized in 1851 as one of the few non-generals on the plaques on the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great . In addition, he was knight of the Hessian Order of the Golden Lion from August 25, 1773 and from March 5, 1769, holder of the Pour la Vertu Militaire .

family

He was married and had children. His daughter Louise Charlotte (* December 21, 1756 - June 10, 1831) was married to Count August Heinrich von Wartensleben on Saatzke, (* June 6, 1745 - May 5, 1803).

literature

comment

  1. What exactly happened is not known. Wacknitz was disappointed that he had been transferred to a cuirassier regiment by the guard as a colonel (he never took command, but called in sick). In addition, he had been promised compensation for the damage to the Boltenhagen and Kiesow goods, but he did not receive them.

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