Justus Philipp Adolf Wilhelm Ludwig Freiherr von Wolzogen (4 February 1773 – 4 July 1845) was a Württembergian military officer, who served during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Biography

Early life

Wolzogen's father, Ernst Ludwig

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

von Wolzogen (1723–1774), was a diplomat who served the Duke of

Saxe-Hildburghausen Saxe-Hildburghausen () was an Ernestine duchy in the southern side of the present State of Thuringia in Germany. It existed from 1680 to 1826 but its name and borders are currently used by the District of Hildburghausen. History After the Duk ...

. Both his parents died when he was an infant, and he entered the

Karlsschule Stuttgart Hohe Karlsschule (''Karl's High School'') was the strict military academy founded by Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg in Stuttgart, Germany. It was first founded in 1770 as a military orphanage, but then converted into a military academy in 1773 ...

military school in 1781, at the age of eight. He joined the 1st Battalion of the Guards at the

Army of Württemberg The army of the German state of Württemberg was until 1918 known in Germany as the ''Württembergische Armee''. Its troops were maintained by Württemberg for its national defence and as a unit of the Swabian Circle (district) of Holy Roman Empi ...

in 1792. In 1794, after being commissioned as a second lieutenant, he was transferred to the Hügel Infantry Regiment. Shortly afterwards, he entered the Prussian Army's Hohenlohe Regiment as an ensign, hoping to participate in the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that suc ...

against

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 ...

; before he had a chance to be sent to the field, the

Peace of Basel The Peace of Basel of 1795 consists of three peace treaties involving France during the French Revolution (represented by François de Barthélemy). *The first was with Prussia (represented by Karl August von Hardenberg) on 5 April; *The sec ...

ended hostilities between the states. While in Prussia, he met

Gerhard von Scharnhorst Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst (12 November 1755 – 28 June 1813) was a Hanoverian-born general in Prussian service from 1801. As the first Chief of the Prussian General Staff, he was noted for his military theories, his reforms of the Pr ...

and became a member of his Military Society, a club of like-minded officers who discussed military affairs.
Ludwig von Wolzogen
'. deutsche-biographie.de. Wolzogen was also entrusted with the education of young Duke Eugen of Württemberg in 1801. In 1804, he returned to Württemberg and was promoted to major. In November 1805, he was the deputy quartermaster general of the Württembergian detachment, commanded by

Honoré Charles Reille Honoré Charles Michel Joseph Reille (; 1 September 1775 – 4 March 1860) was a Marshal of France, born in Antibes. Reille served in the early campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars under Dumouriez and Masséna, whose daughter Victoire he m ...

, which took part in the

War of the Third Coalition The War of the Third Coalition) * In French historiography, it is known as the Austrian campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Autriche de 1805) or the German campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Allemagne de 1805) was a European conflict spanni ...

. In 1806, he attended the wedding of

Catharina of Württemberg Princess Katharina Friederike of Württemberg (21 February 1783 – 29 November 1835) was Queen consort of Westphalia by marriage to Jérôme Bonaparte, who reigned as King of Westphalia between 1807 and 1813. Life Katharina was born in Saint P ...

and Jérôme Bonaparte. On 6 October, he was given the rank of lieutenant colonel, and appointed commander of the Foot Guards.

Kurt von Priesdorff Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and i ...

. ''Soldatisches Führertum: Band 4''. Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg (1937). OCLC 634647883. pp. 180-184.

In Russia

Wolzogen attempted to rejoin the Prussian Army. His resignation from his post in Württemberg was accepted on 16 May 1807, but the Prussians refused his offer. Instead, he used his connections with Duke Eugen and was given the office of a staff officer in the Imperial Russian Army, which he entered on 23 September. During the following years, he compiled several scholarly works. On 14 June 1812 he was promoted to colonel, and assigned to the headquarters of

Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly Prince Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly (german: Fürst Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly; baptised – ) was an Imperial Russian soldier of Baltic German and Scottish origin, who was commander-in-chief and Minister of War of the Russian Empir ...

. As such, he served during the French invasion of Russia. In early 1813,

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son o ...

appointed him as one of his adjutants in the

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition (March 1813 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation, a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, and a number of German States defeated F ...

. During the Battle of Leipzig, he noted the precarious disposition of the reserves of

Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg Karl Philipp, Fürst zu Schwarzenberg (or Charles Philip, Prince of Schwarzenberg; 18/19 April 1771 – 15 October 1820) was an Austrian Generalissimo. He fought in the Battle of Wagram (1809) but the Austrians lost decisively against Napole ...

, and hastened to warn his superiors. In recognition of this, he was promoted to major-general. He was later appointed chief of staff in the III Corps under

Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Karl August, sometimes anglicised as Charles Augustus (3 September 1757 – 14 June 1828), was the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-Eisenach (in personal union) from 1758, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach from its creation (as a political un ...

Post-war years

On 5 May 1814 he resigned from the Russian Army, and after attending the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

, was given the rank of a major-general in the Prussian Army on 24 May. He was a member of the commission which reorganized the Prussian Cadet Corps, and was responsible for the military education of the future

Wilhelm I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the ...

. He also joined the reformatory

Gesetzlose Gesellschaft zu Berlin The Gesetzlose Gesellschaft zu Berlin (literally, the 'Berlin Lawless Society' because it had no internal rules) is a social society founded in Berlin in 1809 in the aftermath of the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt to press for the reform of Prussian gover ...

. In 1818, he was sent by Frederick William III of Prussia to serve as his country's plenipotentiary in the Military Commission of the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

, which directed the union's armed forces. He remained in this position until his retirement, at the rank of general, on 12 March 1836. In 1820, he married Dorothea Therese Emilie von Lilienberg (1797–1872), with whom he fathered three sons and two daughters. Wolzogen is remembered today mainly for his wartime memoirs,Ludwig von Wolzogen. ''Memoiren des Königlich Preussischen Generals der Infanterie Ludwig Freiherrn von Wolzogen''. O. Wigand (1851). OCLC 5034988. as well as for his brief appearance in

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

's ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...

''.

References

External links

*
Ludwig von Wolzogen
' on napoleon-series.org. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolzogen, Ludwig von 1773 births 1845 deaths People from Meiningen Barons of Germany Military personnel of Württemberg Russian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Prussian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Burials at the Invalids' Cemetery Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery Recipients of the Order of the Sword Generals of Infantry (Prussia) Military personnel from Thuringia