Ludwig Wolff de la Marselle or Ludwig Dominik Joseph Regis Wolff de la Marselle (13 March 1747 – 14 October 1804) was a general in

Habsburg Austria The term Habsburg Austria may refer to the lands ruled by the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs, or the historical Austria. Depending on the context, it may be defined as: * The Duchy of Austria, after 1453 the Archduchy of Austria * The ''Erbland ...

n service in the French Revolutionary Wars. He was born and died in

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

, Austrian Netherlands (present-day Belgium).

Military service

At the age of 14 he joined the Infantry as a Cadet; by age 23, he was an officer, in the 38th Infantry Regiment (L'Aisne). At the beginning of Austria's wars with Turkey, 1788, he was a major in the Gemmingen Infantry. In 1790 he served in Habsburg military to suppress the

uprising Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

in the Austrian Netherlands, with particularly distinguished service at the

Battle of Falmagne The Battle of Falmagne (french: Bataille de Falmagne, nl, Slag bij Falmagne) was a battle which occurred between the Holy Roman Empire and the United Belgian States on 22 September 1790. A volunteer force of 5,000 Belgian revolutionaries with f ...

, after which he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the Clerfayt Infantry N. 9, a Walloon regiment. In 1794, he acquired command of the Grenadier Battalion Rousseau and fought with this regiment during the Rhine Campaign of 1795 in the Army of the Upper Rhine under command of

Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser Dagobert Sigismund, Count von Wurmser (7 May 1724 – 22 August 1797) was an Habsburg monarchy, Austrian field marshal during the French Revolutionary Wars. Although he fought in the Seven Years' War, the War of the Bavarian Succession, and mount ...

. At the 1795 Siege of Mannheim he led his

grenadier A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word '' grenade'') was originally a specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in battle. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when grenadiers were recruited fr ...

s in a special night foray on 10–11 November along the shore of the

Neckar River The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenn ...

, skirmishing with French troops; his regiment stormed both

Schwetzingen Schwetzingen (; pfl, Schwetzinge) is a German town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, around southwest of Heidelberg and southeast of Mannheim. Schwetzingen is one of the five biggest cities of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district and a medium-sized ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

by bayonet. Wurmser commended the outstanding bravery of the grenadier battalion commander and attached the Wolff's battalion to the main army. In April 1796, Wolff was attached to the column of Archduke Charles by the

Lahn The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km). It has its source in t ...

river.There is some confusion in the sources regarding when his promotion to Lt. Colonel occurred, some stating it occurred in 1793 and some in 1796. Wurzach cites both promotions, and it is probable that the second promotion to Lt. Colonel was actually a promotion to colonel and simply an error in the 19th century biographical documents. Certainly by the end of 1798, he was a full colonel, and in command of the regiment Clerfayt. On 19 June, he participated in the engagement by Uckerath, and defended the left wing of the retreat against the French army under Kléber. Constant Wurzach, ''Biographisches lexikon des kaiserthums Oesterreich,'' Vienna, K. K. Hof und staatscruckerei, 1889
pp. 5–6
p. 5. During the Coalition's withdrawal from the Upper Rhine, he led the smallest of the four Austrian columns (three battalions and four squadrons) along the length of

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

’s northern shore, via

Überlingen Überlingen is a German city on the northern shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Baden-Württemberg near the border with Switzerland. After the city of Friedrichshafen, it is the second largest city in the Bodenseekreis (district), and a cent ...

Meersburg Meersburg () is a town in Baden-Württemberg in the southwest of Germany. It is on Lake Constance. It is known for its medieval city. The lower town ("Unterstadt") and upper town ("Oberstadt") are reserved for pedestrians only, and connected by t ...

Buchhorn Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''Kre ...

, and the Austrian city of Bregenz.

Swiss and Italian campaigns of 1799

In the campaign of 1799, Wolff participated in the battles at

Ostrach Ostrach is a municipality in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Geography Ostrach lies between the Danube and Lake Constance, about halfway between Sigmaringen and Ravensburg. It lies on the brook of the same name, w ...

and Stockach as part of the advance guard of Archduke Charles' army. In late May, he held a group reserve of over 3,000 troops in the

Valtelline Valtellina or the Valtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English: Val Telline; rm, Vuclina (); lmo, Valtelina or ; german: Veltlin; it, Valtellina) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. To ...

, on the Lombard border with Switzerland, where he supported Gottfried Strauch's suppression of the Cisalpine revolutionaries.Gottfried von Strauch, Freiherr, Feldzeugmeister and Inhaber of Galician Infantry Regiment Nr. 24 (appointed 1808), died in Vienna 18 March 1836. ''Militär-Schematismus des österreichischen Kaiserthums''. Aus der k.k. Hof- und Staats-Druckerei., 1837 p.148, 513. By June he was in northern Italy, with

Konrad Valentin von Kaim Johann Konrad Valentin Ritter von Kaim (28 November 1737 (baptised) – 16 February 1801) was a French soldier and Austrian infantry commander during the French Revolutionary Wars. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Pozzolo on Christma ...

's Turin division, where he commanded a mixed brigade of infantry, dragoons and grenadiers at the

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandria ...

garrison. Later that year he commanded a corps of the grenadiers Bellegarde in Switzerland, participating in the Swiss counter-revolution against the French in the Engadin valley. In 1800, he also participated in the Battle of Marengo, commanding the Archduke Josef Infantry Regiment (No. 63), again as part of Kaim's division.Wurzach, p. 6. James R. Arnold, ''Marengo & Hohenlinden.'' Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword, 2005. , pp. 272–273, and Digby Smith, ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' London: Greenhill, 1998. , pp. 186–187. He was

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of the Clerfayt Regiment in 1798, although it is unclear when this promotion actually took place; in September 1799 he was promoted to major general and his promotion papers specifically referenced his leadership at Uckerrath. He received the

Military Order of Maria Theresa The Military Order of Maria Theresa (german: Militär-Maria-Theresien-Orden; hu, Katonai Mária Terézia-rend; cs, Vojenský řád Marie Terezie; pl, Wojskowy Order Marii Teresy; sl, Vojaški red Marije Terezije; hr, Vojni Red Marije Te ...

on 18 August 1801. He retired from military service after 41 years in May 1801, and returned to his hometown of Mons, where he died in 1804, at the age of 58.

Notes, citations and sources

Notes

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolff de la Marselle, Ludwig 1747 births 1804 deaths People from Mons Austrian military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars