Ferdinand von Wintzingerode
Ferdinand Karl Friedrich Freiherr[1] von Wintzingerode (Russian: Ferdinand Fyodorovich Wintzingerode; 15 February 1770, in Allendorf – 16 June 1818, in Wiesbaden) was a German nobleman and officer in several different armies of the Napoleonic Wars, finally ending up as a general in the Imperial Russian Army and fighting in the War of the Sixth Coalition against the French invasion of Russia and the subsequent campaigns in Germany and France. He appears in Tolstoy's War and Peace.
Early life
Ferdinand von Wintzingerode was born into a noble family of Thuringia. His father, baron Wilhelm Levin Ernst von Wintzingerode (1738–1781), owned the Unterhof seigneurial domain near Kirchohmfeld.
Military career
Ferdinand's first military service was in the Hessian Army, then as a volunteer in the
Napoleonic Wars
He became a major general and general
He returned to the Russian army in 1812 to face the French invasion of Russia. In it he was made lieutenant general and grand cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. On 21 October 1812 he led a unit of Cossacks trying to reach the Kremlin by challenging several French posts at the head of a Cossack unit, but he and his aide de camp Narichzin[2] were captured by lieutenant Leleu de Maupertuis of the 5th Imperial Guard Chasseurs Regiment. He was freed by general Alexander Chernyshyov and led the Russian Advance Guard Corps under Kutuzov fighting at the Battle of Kalisz in February 1813.[3] He fought at the battle of Lützen before being promoted to General of the cavalry at the battle of Leipzig in 1813. He followed the army of the North into Holland then rejoined the Prussian army under Blücher and fought in the Six Days' Campaign in 1814.
Family
On 19 September 1801 he married the Polish countess Hélène Rostworowska (1783–1829), with whom he had one son.
Bibliography
- Hans Demme / Karl-Heinz Kabisch, Ferdinand Freiherr von Wintzingerode, russischer General und deutscher Patriot (Sonderausgabe der Eichsfelder Heimathefte), Worbis 1986.
- Walter Prochaska, Ferdinand, Freiherr von Wintzingerode. Ein General der Befreiungskriege, ISBN 3-929413-35-3.
- Wilhelm Clothar Freiherr von Wintzingerode, General der Kavallerie Ferdinand Freiherr v. Wintzingerode, Ein Lebensbild aus den napoleonischen Kriegen, Arolsen 1902.
- Eberhard v. Wintzingerode, Stammbaum der Familie von Wintzingerode mit biographischen Erläuterungen, Göttingen 1848.
- Heinrich Jobst Graf v. Wintzingerode, Recht tun behält sein Preis allzeit. Die Geschichte der Familie Wintzingerode und der Burg Bodenstein (Bodunger Beiträge 8), Großbodungen 2004, ISBN 3-00-013996-6.
Sources
- ^ Regarding personal names: Freiherr is a former title (translated as Baron). In Germany since 1919, it forms part of family names. The feminine forms are Freifrau and Freiin.
- ^ Victoires conquêtes désastres revers et guerres civiles des français de 1789 à 1815, Panckouke et Lecointe, Paris, 1836, tome 11-page 431
- ^ Article in the Polish Wikipedia
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