Philippe Guillaume aka Philipp Wilhelm Graf von Forbach, then Vicomte de Deux-Ponts and later Freiherr von Zweibrücken (1754–1807) was an officer of the French and later general''Colonel Christian von Forbach and Lt.Col. Wilhelm von Forbach''
/ref> of the

Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army was the army of the Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom (1806–1919) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty (''Wehrhoheit'') of Bavaria into that of ...

Early life and ancestry

Wilhelm von Zweibrücken was the second of six children of Christian IV Herzog von Pfalz-Zweibrücken and Maria Johanna Camasse,

Gräfin (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "cou ...

von Forbach (1734-1807). The children were unable to succeed to their father's Duchy due to the

morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

nature of their parents' marriage at first, but were allowed to wear the name ''Freiherr von Zweibrücken'' in 1792.''Zweibrücken''
(German), Pierer's Universal-Lexikon.

Biography

Due to a former business agreement of

Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

and his father from March 1751, who promised to the French king to raise a German battalion of infantry for France when and if needed, the Infantry Regiment "Royal Deux-Ponts" (raised on 19, 1757) of two battalions to the French crown after the outbreak 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 (175 ...

, when it was at first deployed in the

Battle of Rossbach The Battle of Rossbach took place on 5November 1757 during the Third Silesian War (1756–1763, part of the Seven Years' War) near the village of Rossbach (Roßbach), in the Electorate of Saxony. It is sometimes called the Battle of, or at, Re ...

. The commander of the regiment at this time was his older brother Christian, and Wilhelm was deputy commander. In 1780 he married Martine-Adelaide de Polastron (1760-1795). The couple had four children, named Christian (1782–1859, a later general), Karl (1784-1812), Maria Anna, Gräfin von Forbach (1785-1857) and Henriette. As part of De Rochambeau's expedition corps the "Royal Deux-Ponts" during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, where the regiment served in the Battle of Yorktown, also called the "German Battle", on October 4, 1781. Especially the assault of Redoubt 9 by 400 French Regular under his command, that opened the British defenses was mentioned. After the

French revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

he served as a general in the Bavarian army, and died in Munich, where he and his brother Christian are buried in the Old Southern Cemetery. In the European Rosegarden in

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; french: Deux-Ponts, ; Palatinate German: ''Zweebrigge'', ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; olde ...

there is a memorial of him and his brother.''Preliminary Survey of Sites Associated with the Lives and Deeds of Foreign-born Heroes of the American Revolution''
p. 42.

Awards

* Order of Saint Louis

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilhelm of the Palatinate Zweibrucken Bavarian generals French Army officers House of Wittelsbach French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War 1754 births 1807 deaths Counts Palatine of Zweibrücken Order of Saint Louis recipients