Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq
Anton Wilhelm von L’Estocq | |
---|---|
First Coalition War of the Fourth Coalition | |
Awards | Pour le Mérite Order of the Black Eagle |
Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq (16 August 1738 – 5 January 1815) was a
Biography
L'Estocq was born in
In 1768 L'Estocq became first lieutenant and served in the hussar regiment of General Hans Joachim von Zieten. Initially Zieten's adjutant, he was promoted successively to cavalry captain, major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel. In 1779, L'Estocq was stationed near Fehrbellin, where he assisted General Zieten with the regimental business in that area.[1] In 1790 King Frederick William II of Prussia named L'Estocq battalion commander of the Regiment von Eben (2nd Hussar Regiment).
During the
Major-general
Promoted to major-general, L'Estocq was stationed in New East Prussia in 1803, commanding all troops in the province as head of the 9th Hussar Regiment. In 1805 he was promoted to lieutenant-general.
During the War of the Fourth Coalition, L'Estocq and his chief of staff, Gerhard von Scharnhorst, commanded some 15,000 troops based at Thorn in December 1806 and at Freystadt in January 1807. Harassed by Marshal Ney, L'Estocq marched his troops from February 2 – February 8 through snowy and forested East Prussia; it has been described as "a model of the way in which a flank march in the face of a near and powerful adversary should be conducted".[2]
The
Honours
For their leadership in the battle, L'Estocq received the
After the coalition defeat in the Battle of Friedland and the humiliating Treaties of Tilsit, L'Estocq was part of an investigatory commission into the causes of Prussia's defeat in the Fourth Coalition. Because of his successful cooperation with L'Estocq, Scharnhorst successfully lobbied for attaching a chief of staff to each field commander in 1813.[5]
L'Estocq became Governor of Berlin on 12 November 1808, and of Breslau in 1814. After his death in Berlin on 5 January 1815, L'Estocq was buried in the cemetery of the city's garrison church three days later.
Footnotes
- ^ Peter, Paret (1972). Frederick the Great: A Profile. New York: Hill and Wang. p. 83.
- ^ Eduard Höpfner, Der Krieg von 1806 und 1807 (1855), in Citino, p. 125
- ^ Citino, p. 124
- ^ Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz, Jena to Weimar: The Disgrace and the Redemption of the Old-Prussian Army (1913), in Citino, p. 127
- ^ Citino, p. 131
References
- ISBN 0-7006-1410-9.
See also
- Jean Armand de L'Estocq(1692–1767)
- Johann Ludwig von L’Estocq(1712–1779)