Wilhelm Sebastian von Belling

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Wilhelm Sebastian von Belling

Wilhelm Sebastian von Belling (born February 15, 1719 in Paulsdorf , East Prussia , † November 28, 1779 in Stolp ) was a Prussian hussar general and one of the most important equestrian generals of Frederick the Great .

Life

origin

He was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Johann Abraham von Belling († 1755) and Katharina von Kospoth . Wilhelm Sebastian was a grandson of Brandenburg Major General Johann Georg von Belling, who died in the storm of Bonn in 1689 .

Military career

Belling came from an old Pomeranian family, which was first mentioned in a document in 1277 and had its headquarters in the village of Bellin near Ueckermünde . A Christoph von Belling was appointed Rittmeister in 1595 by Elector Johann Georg von Brandenburg . A Brandenburg colonel Johann Georg von Belling was killed in front of an oven in 1685 . Of the 23 Bellings who served in the Prussian Army during the Seven Years' War , twenty fell.

He was born in 1719 on the estate Paul village in East Prussia and entered 1737 as a cadet  - because of its small size, only in a garrison battalion - in Kolberg one, but was in 1739 by King Friedrich Wilhelm I as a cornet for doubling the time in East Prussia Husarenschwadronen selected . In 1741 he owed a further increase in the number of hussars for the transfer as prime lieutenant to the Zieten Hussar Regiment and fought near Mollwitz , Hohenfriedberg and Kesselsdorf .

Wilhelm Sebastian von Belling

Major since 1749 , Belling participated in the battles near Prague and Kolin and in 1757 received the order Pour le Mérite . When Friedrich approved the formation of a new hussar battalion for his brother Heinrich to reinforce the troops in Saxony in 1758 , he also transferred Belling, who was promoted to lieutenant colonel, to him as commander. These newly established hussars wore a black uniform with green lacing and, on their Hungarian felt hats, a lying skeleton with an hourglass and a hip and the motto “ vincere, aut mori ”. (Aut vincere aut mori “Either win or die.”) They quickly gained a great reputation as “black hussars”.

Although he only took part in two open field battles, those at Kunersdorf and Freiberg , he showed his bravery and agility more often in small wars .

At the so-called Passberg he captured two imperial regiments with three cannons and four flags in 1759 and was appointed colonel by the king . In the years from 1759 to 1761 Belling in Pomerania and Mecklenburg with his hussar regiment and some battalions of infantry, altogether about 5,000 men, resisted the whole Swedish army and inhibited all its operations. On a foray, Blücher , then a hussar in the Swedish service, was captured (1760). Since he was related by marriage to the young Mecklenburg Junker, he did not send him into captivity, but convinced him to join his own regiment.

In 1762 Belling became major general and in 1776 lieutenant general . In the Bavarian War of Succession , the so-called "Potato War " (1778), he distinguished himself so much during the invasion of Bohemia via Tollenstein and Gabel , where two Austrian battalions were captured, that Frederick II received the Order of the Black Eagle and a salary bonus of 1000 thalers awarded.

Belling died soon after returning to the Stolp Peace Garrison.

family

He was married to Katharina Elisabeth von Grabow from the Woosten family († 1774) since 1747 . The couple had the following children:

  • Karl (1748–1846)
  • Anna Dorothea (1747–1818) ⚭ Friedrich von Goeckingk (1738–1813), Prussian hussar general
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Ludwig (legitimized 1777)

Honor

The sculptor Ferdinand Hartzer created the general's bronze bust, which was placed in the western Feldherrnhalle of the Hall of Fame in the Berlin armory . It was lost in the turmoil of World War II.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Belling, Wilhelm Sebastian von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian lieutenant general of the hussars
DATE OF BIRTH February 15, 1719
PLACE OF BIRTH Paulsdorf , East Prussia
DATE OF DEATH November 28, 1779
Place of death Stumble