Count Hans Johann Moritz von Hauke (John Maurice Hauke, pl, Jan Maurycy Hauke; 26 October 1775 – 29 November 1830) was a Polish general and professional soldier of German extraction. He was a member of the Hauke-Bosak family.

Life

Hans Moritz was the son of Friedrich Karl Emanuel Hauke (1737–1810), a German professor at the Warsaw Lyceum (an exclusive

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 ...

n school in Warsaw), and served between 1790 and 1793 in the army of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

during the country's last years of independence. He was involved in the Kościuszko Uprising, fought in the Polish Legions in France and later in the army of the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Germany and the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

. After 1815 he joined the army of Congress Poland, reaching the rank of full

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

in 1826 and receiving a title of Polish nobility. Recognizing his abilities,

Tsar Nicholas I , house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp , father = Paul I of Russia , mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) , birth_date = , birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire , death_date = ...

appointed him Deputy Minister of War of Congress Poland and elevated him in 1829 to

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

In the uprising of 1830 led by revolutionary army cadets, the target was Grand Duke Constantine,

's Governor-General. Count Moritz Hauke was on his way to the Grand Duke who managed to escape, but Hauke was shot to death by the cadets on the street of Warsaw before the eyes of his wife, Sophie Lafontaine (daughter of

Franz Leopold Lafontaine Franz Anton Leopold Lafontaine ( pl, Franciszek Lafontaine; 14 January 1756 – 12 December 1812) was a German-born Polish military surgeon. He was known as the editor of the first Polish medical journal and for his work on catarrh. Early lif ...

), and his three younger children. He was riding on a horse beside the carriage of his wife and having met a group of rebels who shouted: "Be our leader, General!" Hauke reprimanded them and told them to go back to their quarters, whereupon they opened fire and killed him. His wife died shortly afterward, and their younger children were made wards of the Tsar, while three elder sons joined the uprising and one of them, Maurice Leopold, fell during the battle of Ostrołęka in 1831 only 27 years old. After his victory over the Poles, the Tsar raised in 1841 an enormous

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

in Warsaw, which was dedicated to the memory of Hauke and five other Polish generals who "preserved their fidelity to their Monarch". Detested by the inhabitants of the Polish capital, the obelisk was pulled down in 1917. On 28 October 1851, his youngest daughter, Countess

Julia von Hauke Julia, Princess of Battenberg (previously Countess Julia Therese Salomea von Hauke; – 19 September 1895) was the wife of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, the third son of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse. The daughter of a Polish general ...

, then lady-in-waiting to the Russian Empress, married

Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine Prince Alexander Ludwig Georg Friedrich Emil of Hesse and by Rhine, (15 July 1823 – 15 December 1888), was the third son and fourth child of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse, and Wilhelmine of Baden. He was a brother of Tsarina Maria Alexandr ...

(

Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...

), brother of the Empress. Elevated in 1851 by Alexander's brother, Grand Duke Ludwig III of Hesse-Darmstadt, to Countess of Battenberg and in December 1858 to Princess of Battenberg, she became an ancestress of the House of

Mountbatten The Mountbatten family is a British dynasty that originated as an English branch of the German princely Battenberg family. The name was adopted on 14 July 1917, three days before the British royal family changed its name to “Windsor”, by ...

, the British Royal

House of Windsor The House of Windsor is the reigning royal house of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. In 1901, a line of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (itself a cadet branch of the House of Wettin) succeeded the House of Hanover to th ...

, and the current Spanish King. His older daughter, Catarina, became the mistress of Paul Friedrich, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg.

Orders and decorations

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, 1807 *

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King St ...

(Knight's Cross, 3rd class, very rarely awarded) * Order of Saint Stanislaus, 1st class, 1814 *

Order of St. Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...

, 1st class, 1815 *

, 1st class with

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

s, 1818 *

Order of St. Alexander Nevsky The Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire first awarded on by Empress Catherine I of Russia. History The introduction of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was envisioned by Empero ...

, 1820 * Order of the White Eagle, 1829

Ancestry

Sources

*''Polski Słownik Biograficzny (Polish Dictionary of Biography)'', vol. 2, Cracow 1938 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hauke, Maurice 1775 births 1830 deaths Military personnel from Saxony Polish generals German emigrants to Poland Military personnel of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Kościuszko insurgents People of the Polish–Russian War of 1792 Counts of Poland Polish commanders of the Napoleonic Wars

Life

Orders and decorations

Ancestry

See also

Sources