Karl Gottlieb Guichard (1724–1775) also known as Quintus Icilius, was a
soldier
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer.
Etymology
The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...
and
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...
.
Life
He was born at
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...
,
Duchy of Magdeburg
The Duchy of Magdeburg (german: Herzogtum Magdeburg) was a province of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1680 to 1701 and a province of the German Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1807. It replaced the Archbishopric of Magdeburg after its secula ...
, to a family of
French refugees.
He was educated for the Church, and at
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
actually preached a sermon as a candidate for the pastorate. But he abandoned
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
for more secular studies, especially that of ancient history, in which his learning attracted the notice of the
Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands.
The title ...
, who promised him a vacant professorship at
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...
. On his arrival, however, he found that another scholar had been elected by the local authorities, and he thereupon sought and obtained a commission in the Dutch army.
He made the campaigns of 1747-48 in the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
. In the peace which followed, his combined military and classical training turned his thoughts in the direction of ancient
military history. His notes on this subject grew into a treatise, and in 1754 he went over to England in order to consult various libraries.
In 1757 his ''Mémoires militaires sur les Grecs et les Romains'' appeared at the Hague, and when
Carlyle wrote his ''
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...
'' it had reached its fifth edition. Coming back, with English introductions, to the Continent, he sought service with
Ferdinand of Brunswick
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
, who sent him on to Frederick the Great, whom he joined in January 1758 at
Breslau. The king was very favourably impressed with Guichard and his works, and he remained for nearly 18 months in the royal suite.
His Prussian official name of Quintus Icilius was the outcome of a friendly dispute with the king (see Nikolai, ''Anekdoten'', vi. 129-145; Carlyle, ''Frederick the Great'', viii. 113-114). Frederick in discussing the battle of Pharsalia spoke of a centurion Quintus Caecilius as Q. Icilius. Guichard ventured to correct him, whereupon the king said, "You shall be Quintus Icilius," and as Major Quintus Icilius he was forthwith gazetted to the command of a
free battalion.
This corps he commanded throughout the later stages of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754†...
, his battalion, as time went on, becoming a regiment of three battalions, and Quintus himself recruited seven more battalions of the same kind of troops. His command was almost always with the king's own army in these campaigns, but for a short time it fought in the western theatre under
Prince Henry Prince Henry (or Prince Harry) may refer to:
People
*Henry the Young King (1155–1183), son of Henry II of England, who was crowned king but predeceased his father
*Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal (1394–1460)
*Henry, Duke of Cornwall (Ja ...
. When not on the march he was always at the royal headquarters, and it was he who brought about the famous interview between the king and
Gellert (see Carlyle, ''Frederick the Great'', ix. log; Gellert, ''Briefwechsel mit Demoiselle Lucius'', ed.
Ebert, Leipzig, 1823, pp. 629–631) on the subject of national German literature.
On January 22, 1761 Quintus was ordered to sack the castle of Hubertusburg (a task which Major-General
Saldern
Saldern (up to the 17th century, Salder) or von Saldern, is the name of an old German aristocratic family from the areas of Hildesheim and Brunswick Land. The family seat of the same name is an Salder Castle, eponymous castle on the River Fuhse in ...
had point-blank refused to undertake, from motives of conscience), and carried out his task, it is said, to his own very considerable profit. The place cannot have been seriously injured, as it was soon afterwards the meeting-place of the diplomats whose work ended in the
Treaty of Hubertusburg
The Treaty of Hubertusburg (german: Frieden von Hubertusburg) was signed on 15 February 1763 at Hubertusburg Castle by Prussia, Austria and Saxony to end the Third Silesian War. Together with the Treaty of Paris, signed five days earlier, it marke ...
, but the king never ceased to banter Quintus on his supposed depredations.
The very day of Frederick's triumphant return from the war saw the disbanding of most of the free battalions, including that of Quintus, but the major to the end of his life remained with the king. He was made lieutenant-colonel in 1765, and in 1773, in recognition of his work ''Mémoires critiques et historiques sur plusieurs points d'antiquités militaires'', dealing mainly with
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
's campaigns in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
(Berlin, 1773), was promoted colonel. He died at Potsdam in 1775.
References
Attribution:
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guichard, Karl
1724 births
1775 deaths
German Calvinist and Reformed Christians
German military personnel of the Seven Years' War
Huguenots
Prussian Army personnel
Military personnel from Magdeburg
German male writers
German people of French descent