Wilhelm von Schwerin (General)

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Wilhelm Friedrich Karl Graf von Schwerin (born December 11, 1739 in Berlin , † August 17, 1802 in Doberan ) was a Prussian lieutenant general , head of the regiment and governor of Thorn .

Life

origin

His father was the Landjägermeister and secret councilor Hans Bogislav von Schwerin (1683–1747) from the Schwerinsburg line , his mother Karoline Ernestine, née von Arnim (1710–1779) from the Boitzenburg family . Field Marshal General Kurt Christoph von Schwerin was his uncle.

Military career

Schwerin joined in 1753 as a corporal corporal in the infantry regiment "Schwerin" the Prussian army one whose chief was his uncle. With the beginning of the Seven Years War he became an adjutant to General Hans Karl von Winterfeldt . On September 7, 1757, the general died of his injuries sustained in the Battle of Moys . Schwerin had to deliver the news of death to King Friedrich II and he kept him as a wing adjutant until the battle of Zorndorf , when he was injured and taken prisoner by Russia. The Russians brought him to Saint Petersburg , where he met the Grand Duke and later Tsar Peter . In 1760 it was exchanged. Then he was employed diplomatically. Schwerin presented Landgrave Friedrich von Hessen-Kassel with the patent as Field Marshal General and received a golden box from him in return. As a major he was sent to Saint Petersburg on March 20, 1762 to meet Tsar Peter III. to deliver the Order of the Black Eagle . He then became the Prussian ambassador to Russia and was involved in Russia's change of front in the Seven Years' War.

After the Peace of Hubertusburg , Schwerin returned to the military and was transferred to the “von Sobeck” infantry regiment . In 1772 he became lieutenant colonel and commander of the newly established infantry regiment "von Laxdehnen" . By the end of May 1784 he advanced to major general , became chief of the "von der Goltz" infantry regiment and in 1785 received the "von Lengefeld" infantry regiment . He later worked as Inspector General of the Infantry in West Prussia and Governor von Thorn.

When the Kościuszko uprising broke out in Poland in 1794 , Schwerin became part of the Prussian intervention forces. When the Prussians began the siege of Warsaw on July 27, 1794 after a few setbacks, they were to command Schwerin. He had to give up the siege on September 6th as he never got the area under control. The army withdrew to a fortified camp. King Friedrich Wilhelm II. Left his troops on September 18th and left Schwerin in command of the left bank of the Vistula. On November 2nd he was ordered back to Thorn - officially because of his health. Schwerin was offended and applied for a court martial against himself. He ignored the king's request to refrain from this.

In Königsberg, for example, Lieutenant General Wilhelm Magnus von Brünneck was commissioned with the investigation. The court martial met on May 9, 1795 in Berlin under the chairmanship of General Friedrich Wilhelm von Rohdich . The court found him guilty and so he lost his regiment and his governorate, and he was sentenced to one year in the fortress and reimbursement of all investigation costs. The grounds for punishment were merely military errors and sins of omission. He had to serve his sentence in Graudenz , where he was allowed to live in the city. After the king's death, he turned to his successor, King Friedrich Wilhelm III. with a request for re-employment. That was refused, but Schwerin was given permission to enter into foreign services. He died on August 17, 1802 in Doberan on the way to Hamburg.

family

Wilhelmine Johanna von Schwerin, oil on canvas around 1770/80

Schwerin married on December 17, 1783 in Königsberg Wilhelmine Freiin von Rehbinder (1766-1829), daughter of the Russian admiralty councilor Hans Wilhelm von Rehbinder (1728-1779). The couple had the following children:

Fonts

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogical Pocket Book of the Count's Houses. Volume 37, p. 796.
personal data
SURNAME Schwerin, Wilhelm von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schwerin, Wilhelm Friedrich Carl Graf von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian lieutenant general, head of regiment and governor von Thorn
DATE OF BIRTH December 11, 1739
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH 17th August 1802
Place of death Doberan