Wilhelm von der Horst

Wilhelm von der Horst around 1818

Wilhelm Johann Heinrich Ludwig Freiherr von der Horst (born October 19, 1786 in Köslin , † January 26, 1874 in Bückeburg ) was a Prussian lieutenant general .

Life

origin

Wilhelm came from the Westphalian noble family Horst . He was the son of Georg Wilhelm Peter Alfred von der Horst (1759–1805) and his wife Anna Helene Dorothea, born von Liebenau (1766–1831). His two brothers Ulrich Angelbert and August Bernhard also embarked on a military career in the Prussian Army and both made it to lieutenant general .

Military career

He joined a Prussian military police regiment in 1800, but received his resignation in 1801. On March 24, 1804 he was reinstated. He came as a cornet in the hussar regiment of Duke Eugene of Württemberg . After the battle of Jena and Auerstedt he was immediately sent to Prince Hohenlohe as an orderly officer . On January 30, 1807 he was promoted to Second Lieutenant and came to Kolberg , where he submitted to Ferdinand von Schill . He took part in his unauthorized and unsuccessful procession from Berlin to Stralsund in 1809 and fought near Todtendorf, Damgarten and Stralsund.

On October 10, 1809 he was transferred to the Pomeranian Hussar Regiment and on November 4, 1809, he was aggregated to the 2nd Leib-Hussar Regiment . On October 7, 1810, he joined the Silesian Cuirassier Regiment . There he took his leave on May 8, 1812 , so as not to have to fight for France. Instead he went to the Russian-German Legion on May 7, 1813 as a cavalry master of a hussar regiment .

He fought in the wars of liberation in 1813/14 in northern Germany and the Netherlands. In the battle of the Göhrde he managed to blow up an infantry square with his squadron . For this he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir IV Class. He also fought in the battles near Kögel, Sehestedt and the sieges of Hamburg and Rendsburg. After the end of the war, on March 29, 1815, he was taken back into Prussian service with the Legion and appointed squadron chief in the 8th Uhlan Regiment . With this he was involved in the campaign of 1815. He fought in the battles at Ligny and Waterloo and the battles at Wavre and Limale. For Namur he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class. In addition, Horst received the Russian medal for 1812/13 and the medal for entering Paris .

After the war he became major on September 19, 1818 . On March 30, 1832 he was initially commissioned to lead the 3rd Hussar Regiment and on September 2, 1832 he was appointed regimental commander. In this capacity he was promoted to colonel by the end of March 1836 and received the Cross of the Guelph Order on May 26 , 1838 and the Order of St. Anne with diamonds on June 8, 1838 . On March 24, 1841 he was transferred to the 16th Cavalry Brigade as commander and on April 7, 1842 promoted to major general. Horst received permission to wear the uniform of the 3rd Hussar Regiment on April 8, 1841 and was aggregated into the regiment. In 1848, political events prompted him to submit his departure. On April 4, 1848, he received his resignation with the character of Lieutenant General, on May 21, 1858 he was then put on disposition with a pension . After his departure, he was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle First Class on June 20, 1862 . Horst, the Knight of Honor of the Order of St. John , died on January 16, 1874 in Bückeburg.

family

He married Klothilde von Bernstorff (1811–1874) on December 14, 1837. The couple had no children of their own, so they adopted their niece Anna Henriette Adelgunde Thekla von der Horst-Rantzau (* 1851). This was the daughter of the magistrate Friedrich Ludwig von Rantzau and the Countess Emma von Bernstorff.

literature

• Bernhard von Poten :  Horst, Wilhelm Freiherr von der . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 13, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, p. 162.
• Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Freiherrlichen houses . Justus Perthes, Gotha 1902, p. 336.
• Bogislav v. Kleist: The royal Prussian generals from 1840–1894. No. 211.
• [August] v. Mackensen: Black Hussars. History of the 1st Leib-Hussar Regiment No. 1 and the 2nd Leib-Hussar Regiment No. 2.
• Hans Heinrich Fritz Cäcil von Förster: History of the Royal Prussian Uhlan Regiment Graf zu Dohna East Prussian No. 8 from 1815 to 1890. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the regiment. Appendix p. 79.
• Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Freiherrlichen Häuser to the year 1910. P. 253.
• E. von Schaumburg: Lieutenant General ZD Freiherr Wilhelm von der Horst. A military image.