William Friedrich von Hammerstein

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The coat of arms of the barons of Hammerstein
Wilhelm Friedrich Hammerstein-Equord, lithograph by Alexander Kaiser, around 1850

William Friedrich von Hammerstein from the House of Equord (born March 3, 1785 in Hildesheim , † February 13, 1861 in Brno ) was an Austrian general of the cavalry . William was the brother of Hans Georg von Hammerstein-Equord . From the family of the Barons von Hammerstein came high-ranking generals and regiment owners in Prussian and electoral Hanoverian services (see Reiter-Regiment von Hammerstein, 1759 ).

Career until 1806

William von Hammerstein-Equord first joined the Electorate of Hanover as an ensign in the Guard Infantry Regiment . After its dissolution as a result of the Artlenburg Convention in July 1803, he joined the Prussian cavalry and took part in the battle of Jena and Auerstedt with the Dragoon Regiment No. 14 under Karl Georg Friedrich von Wobeser . Blücher noticed him when he knocked the enemy colonel off his horse during an attack on French dragoons .

Career in the Westphalian Army until 1813

1st Westphalian hussar regiment, officer and hussar in green uniform around 1812 (after Knoetel). The regiment was led by General William von Hammerstein.

When Prenzlau surrendered , he became a prisoner of war. After his homeland was ceded to the newly created Kingdom of Westphalia , he was employed there as prime lieutenant and was quickly promoted. On July 3, 1808, he was made Rittmeister in the 1st Chevaulegers Regiment. From 23 May 1809 he was in the Garde du Corps, and from 6 September 1810 honorary rider. He accompanied the Westphalian Minister of War, Count Morio , to Naples as an adjutant .

He fought in Spain in the 1808-09 campaign and received the Legion of Honor from Napoleon . From September 24, 1810 he was a major in the 2nd Westphalian hussar regiment . On February 28, 1812, he joined the 1st Hussar Regiment as a major . In 1812 he also acted as commander of the Westphalian light cavalry brigade, which had been formed from the 1st and 2nd hussar regiments . Hammerstein accompanied King Jérôme Bonaparte to Russia as an honorary stable master and took an active part in fighting himself, such as on August 19, 1812 in the battle of Walutina Gora / Lubino:

“The brave general v. Hammerstein had joined in all the attacks and even now, when we were advancing again and were very close to the enemy, he caracoled around in front of the brigade to challenge some enemy daring. One of them came, an officer on a splendid horse: he carried a Cossack pike like the one in the first member of all Russian hussar regiments with him, rode a few volts around the general and fired his pistol at him, but what remained ineffective. Hammerstein, on a large Turkish white horse, his broad battle sword in hand, had quietly waited for this shot; but now he rushed on his opponent and split his shako and head down to his shoulder, so that while Hammerstein was taking possession of his horse, he fell to the ground like a sack. "

In October 1812 Hammerstein was a major in the remnants (20 surviving riders) of the 1st Westphalian Cuirassier Regiment . Back from Russia , he was appointed Colonel of the 1st Westphalian Hussar Regiment on March 3, 1813.

Transfer to the Austrian Army

After the armistice concluded at Plässwitz on June 4, 1813, on August 10, 1813, and Austria's declaration of war on France on August 12, 1813, Hammerstein in Görlitz received the order to march to Reichenberg . He used this opportunity to join the anti-Napoleonic uprising and, with his first regiment of hussars, and the second of Major von Penz, passed over from Reichenberg to the Austrians in Liebenau on the night of 23 August . With this former Westphalian light cavalry brigade, he was integrated into the Austrian-German Legion of Major General Friedrich von Bentheim and, after crossing the Rhine between Basel and Schaffhausen through neutral Switzerland, directed via Baden territory to France. March 1814 when attacking Lyon against French cuirassiers . When the Legion was dissolved after the peace agreement, he became the commander of the Galician Uhlan Regiment "Graf Merveldt" , which he led to France again in 1815. In 1819 Hammerstein was regimental commander of this Uhlan unit and held the rank of colonel .

In 1833 he retired for a while as a field marshal lieutenant and division general of Großwardein and made extensive trips.

In 1837 he was hired again as a division general. From 1840 to 1861, as a general of the cavalry, he was regiment owner of the Galician Uhlan Regiment No. 2 and was given command of the second army corps in Padua in the winter of 1841/42 .

His appointment as commanding general in Galicia in 1846 put him in difficult circumstances. When the Poles tried to take advantage of the turmoil of the revolution of 1848 for themselves, Hammerstein resolutely opposed their efforts to overthrow and even bombed the city of Lemberg in November 1848 .

After he quit the service, he lived in Vienna or on his estate in Albrechtsberg an der Donau. He died in Brno on February 13, 1861.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://home.foni.net/~adelsforschung1/dbar35.htm
  2. ^ Bernhard von Poten:  Hammerstein-Equord, William Freiherr von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1879, p. 493 f.
  3. ↑ Interesting facts about German-language memoirs from the Napoleonic era ( Memento from June 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ http://www.kuk-wehrmacht.de/regiment/ulanen.html
  5. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 1, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kuk-wehrmacht.de
personal data
SURNAME Hammerstein, William Friedrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian general
DATE OF BIRTH March 3, 1785
PLACE OF BIRTH Hildesheim
DATE OF DEATH February 13, 1861
Place of death Brno