Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (german: Friedrich Ludwig Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen) (31 January 1746 – 15 February 1818) was a Prussian general.

Early life

Frederick Louis was the eldest son of Henry August, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (1715-1796) and his wife, Wilhelmine Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein-Öhringen (1717-1794). His grandfather, Christian Kraft, was a younger son of

Henry Frederick, Count of Hohenlohe-Langenburg Henry Frederick, Count of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (7 September 1625 in Langenburg – 2 June 1699 ibid) was the youngest child of Count Philip Ernest of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and his wife Countess Anna Maria of Solms-Sonnewalde. He was head of the h ...

Biography

He began his military career as a boy, serving against the Prussians in the last years of the Seven Years' War. Entering the

Prussian army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

after the peace, he was, as a result of his princely rank, at once made a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

; and in 1775 he was elevated to lieutenant-colonel. In 1778 Frederick Louis took part in the War of the Bavarian Succession and at about the same time was made a colonel. Shortly before the death of King Frederick the Great, he was promoted to the rank of major general and appointed Chief of a Regiment. For some years the prince did

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

duty at Breslau, until in 1791 he was made governor of Berlin. In 1794 he commanded a corps in the Prussian army on the Rhine and distinguished himself greatly in many engagements, particularly in the Battle of Kaiserslautern on 20 September. Frederick Louis was at this time the most popular soldier in the Prussian army. Blücher wrote of him that he was a leader of whom the Prussian army might well be proud. He succeeded his father in the principality, and acquired additional lands by his marriage with a daughter of Count von Hoym. In 1806 Frederick Louis, now a general of infantry, was appointed to command the left wing of the Prussian forces opposing

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, having under him Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia; but, feeling that his career had been that of a prince and not that of a professional soldier, he allowed his quartermaster-general, the incompetent Oberst (Colonel)

Christian Karl August Ludwig von Massenbach Christian Karl August Ludwig von Massenbach (16 April 1758 – 21 November 1827), Prussian soldier, was born at Schmalkalden, and educated at Heilbronn and Stuttgart, devoting himself chiefly to mathematics. He became an officer of the Würt ...

to influence him unduly. Disputes soon broke out between Hohenlohe and the commander-in-chief the

Duke of Brunswick Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

, the armies marched hither and thither without effective results, and finally Frederick Louis's army was almost destroyed by Napoleon at the

Battle of Jena A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

on 14 October 1806. The prince displayed his usual personal bravery in the battle, and managed to rally a portion of his corps near

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...

, whence he retreated into Prussia. But the pursuers followed him up closely and Marshal Joachim Murat intercepted his corps at Prenzlau. On the morning of 28 October, a fortnight after Jena and three weeks after the beginning of hostilities, Hohenlohe refused two French demands that he surrender. However, the initial fighting went against the Prussians in the Battle of Prenzlau. Massenbach, who had gone to negotiate with the French, suddenly turned up with the news that the French completely surrounded them, which was untrue. Influenced by his

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

and assured by Murat "on his honour" that 100,000 French had encircled his forces, Hohenlohe capitulated with 10,000 men (in fact, Murat had no more than 12,000 near Prenzlau, including only 3,000 infantry). Frederick Louis's former popularity and influence in the army had now the worst possible effect, for the commandants of garrisons everywhere lost heart and followed his example. The

capitulation of Pasewalk The Capitulation of Pasewalk on 29 October 1806 resulted in the surrender of Oberst (Colonel) von Hagen's 4,200 Prussian soldiers to an inferior force of two French light cavalry brigades led by Generals of Brigade Édouard Jean Baptiste M ...

occurred on 29 October, the

capitulation of Stettin In the Capitulation of Stettin on 29–30 October 1806, Lieutenant General Friedrich Gisbert Wilhelm von Romberg surrendered the garrison and fortress to a much smaller French light cavalry brigade led by General of Brigade Antoine Lasalle. T ...

on the night of 29–30 October, and Küstrin surrendered on 1 November. Before the month of November was over, the Siege of Magdeburg ended in a capitulation. West of the Elbe River, the Sieges of Hameln, Nienburg, and Plassenburg also ended badly for Prussia. After two years spent as a prisoner-of-war in France, Frederick Louis retired to his estates, living in self-imposed obscurity until his death. He had, in August 1806, just before the outbreak of the War of the Fourth Coalition, resigned the principality to his eldest son, not being willing to become a mediatized ruler under Württemberg suzerainty.

Marriage and issue

On 8 April 1782 in Gleina, he married Countess Marie Amalie Christiane Charlotte Luise Anna von Hoym (1763-1840), daughter Count Julius Gebhard von Hoym (d. 1769) and his wife, Christiane Charlotte von Dieskau, later Princess von der

Osten-Sacken The House von der Osten-Sacken is an old and distinguished noble family of Baltic Germans. The family members held the titles of ''Baron'', ''Graf'', ''Knyaz'' and ''Fürst''. History The origins of the family are traced to 14th century. In 16 ...

(1733-1811). They had: * Prince August of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen; he married Louise of House of Württemberg (1789-1851) and had issue * Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (1787-1858), she married Prince Georg Ludwig Moritz of Hohenlohe-Kirchberg (1786-1836), no issue * Princess Emilie of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (1788-1859), she married Count Albrech August Ludwig of Erbach-Fürstenau (1787-1851) and had issue * Prince Wilhelm Ludwig Eduard of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (1789-1790) * Princess Auguste of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (1793-1821), she married Charles, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld and had issue * Prince Ludwig Karl of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (1794-1794) * Prince Adolf of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, married Princess Luise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1799-1881) and had issue * Prince Alexander of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (1798-1829)

Death

Frederick Louis died in Slawentzitz in Upper Silesia in 1818. He was succeeded by his sons August, Prince of Hohenlohe-Öhringen and Prince Adolf zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen.

Notes

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen 1746 births 1818 deaths People from Ingelfingen German princes Prussian military personnel of the Seven Years' War Prussian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Generals of Infantry (Prussia) House of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen Prussian princes German military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa