Karl Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Moritz von Hirschfeld (4 July 1790 in

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...

– 13 October 1859 in

Coblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its name ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n general, got his schooling in a military academy. In 1806, he entered into his father's regiment and participated in the unhappy campaign of that year. In 1809, he participated with his older brother Eugen in an uprising against the French occupation forces. This ended in their fleeing to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1809. Both joined the Spanish

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

s in their struggles against the French. His brother was killed in battle in 1811. Lieutenant Moritz received severe wounds two times in battle, and ended in French captivity. He escaped in 1813, under very dangerous circumstances. His 15 wounds made him barely recognizable when he received a medal for his actions. In 1814 he participated in the campaign in France as a lieutenant colonel in the Spanish army. Hirschfeld returned to the Prussian army in 1815, and in the succeeding peaceful years climbed the ranks in the military.

1849 Events January–March * January 1 – France begins issue of the Ceres series, the nation's first postage stamps. * January 5 – Hungarian Revolution of 1848: The Austrian army, led by Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, enters in th ...

found him commander of the 15th division of the Prussian army under the command of the

Prince of Prussia The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...

. He participated in the battles which drove the rebel army out of the Palatinate and into the arms of the

aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

forces under Mieroslawski. After relieving the

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

fortress, which was in the hands of the officers who had not gone over, he led two divisions against Mieroslawski. At

Waghäusel Waghäusel (, ; South Franconian: ''Woghaisl'') is a town located in the Rhine valley in the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Waghäusel consists of 3 townships which are the core town (1236 residents), Kirrlach (9347 resident ...

, he obligated that numerically far greater force to retreat. Then he participated in the battle at the

Murg Murg may refer to: Places * Murg (Aare), a river of Switzerland * Murg (Northern Black Forest), a river and right tributary of the Rhine in the districts of Freudenstadt and Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ** Murg Valley Railway * Murg (Sou ...

which obligated the rebel army to disperse and resulted in the collapse of the uprising.

References

*Leopold von Eltester, “Hirschfeld, Karl Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Moritz von” in ''

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...

'', Band 12 (Leipzig, 1880), S. 473–474. * Kurt von Priesdorff, ''Soldatisches Führertum'', vol. 5, Hanseatischen Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg o.J. (1937), p. 404–407 (Nr. 1619). *

Carl Schurz Carl Schurz (; March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German revolutionary and an American statesman, journalist, and reformer. He immigrated to the United States after the German revolutions of 1848–1849 and became a prominent member of the new ...

, ''Reminiscences'' (3 volumes), New York: The McClure Company, 1907. In Chapter VIII of Volume One, Schurz mentions a notice of 30 September 1849, signed by von Hirschfeld as commanding general, advising the public of the commutation of

Gottfried Kinkel Johann Gottfried Kinkel (11 August 1815 – 13 November 1882) was a German poet also noted for his revolutionary activities and his escape from a Prussian prison in Spandau with the help of his friend Carl Schurz. Early life He was born at Ober ...

's sentence to fortress imprisonment to that of imprisonment in a reformatory for common criminals. Kinkel had actively participated in the Baden revolt. 1791 births 1859 deaths Generals of Infantry (Prussia) People of the Revolutions of 1848 Prussian Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars People from Halberstadt Military personnel from Saxony-Anhalt {{Germany-mil-bio-stub