Joseph Antoine Ernest, Comte de Lipowski was a French general of Polish origin that served the Franco-Prussian War and was notable for being the main French commander of several battles of the war.

Biography

Early life and family

Ernest was born on 12 June 1843 in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

as the son of Pierre Nicolas Joseph Albert de Lipowski and Marguerite Sophie Laroche. He had two marriages with his first wife being Marie Eggerickx whom died in a few years and later remarried to Marianne Eastwood in 1876.

Military career

After graduating from the

École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the "Special Military School of Saint-Cyr") is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto is ...

, he became an officer but initially resigned this position due to several financial embarrassments but later came back but later came back when the Franco-Prussian War broke out and commanded the French forces at the battles of

Châteaudun Châteaudun () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It was the site of the Battle of Châteaudun during the Franco-Prussian War. Geography Châteaudun is located about 45& ...

and Varize. For his service at Châteaudun, he was awarded the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

, knight class. He was sidelined in the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

due to his friendship with Napoléon La Cécilia who was a communard and who had also served at Châteaudun. Lipowski also participated in the Siege of Paris on 8 October 1870 as the main commander of 130 ''

Francs-tireurs (, French for "free shooters") were irregular military formations deployed by France during the early stages of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). The term was revived and used by partisans to name two major French Resistance movements se ...

'' from

Denonville Denonville () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. Population See also * Denonville, Seigneur and Marquis de *Communes of the Eure-et-Loir department The following is a list of the 365 communes of the Eure-et-Loir ...

as they attacked the 4th Squadron of the 16th Cavalry Regiment from

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

and the 11th Cavalry Regiment from

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

that were stationed at

Albis The Albis is a chain of hills in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland, stretching for some 19 km from Sihlbrugg in the south to Waldegg near Zürich in the north. The chain forms, among others, the border between the Affoltern and Horgen di ...

. The snipers fell back, taking 70 prisoners and 200 horses. In retaliation for this attack, known as the Ablis surprise, the Germans burned 120 houses, shot 6 residents and took 22 hostages to their headquarters in

Le Mesnil-Saint-Denis Le Mesnil-Saint-Denis () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Demographics Schools The commune has two public preschools, Maternelle de Champmesnil and Maternelle du Bois du Fay, as w ...

who were finally released the next day.

Later Years

In his later years of military service, he would serve in the armies of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

simultaneously as in 1873, he was caught committing '' escroquerie'' as Lipowski had a large amount of unpaid bills but avoided prosecution in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

due to being a French citizen but was removed from the records of the Legion due to this. His service at Austria-Hungary isn't well known but it was documented that he briefly documented the 41st regiment of the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

and during his final years, served as a commander of the Russian Empire until his death on 23 February 1904 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

References

Bibliography

* Alphonse Halter, ''Joseph Antoine Ernest Lipowski'', in '' New Dictionary of Alsatian Biography'', vol. 24, {{DEFAULTSORT:Lipowski, Ernest de 1843 births 1904 deaths French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War French generals Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur People of the Paris Commune Military personnel from Strasbourg