Henry de Hinuber
Henry de Hinuber 4th Division | |
---|---|
Battles/wars | |
Awards | Army Gold Medal |
Spouse(s) |
Sophie Marie Lucie Eleonore Fahle
(m. 1815) |
Hinuber was one of the first Hanoverian officers to offer his services to the British Army, being given command of the 3rd Line Battalion of the KGL. He fought in the
Hinuber commanded his brigade at the
Early life
Eduard Christoph Heinrich von Hinüber was born on 25 January 1767 in London.[1][2] Known to family and friends as Harry, he was the son of Hanoverians Carl Heinrich von Hinüber (1723–1792) and Margarethe Ludovica von Reiche (1736–1815). His older brother was Georg Charlotte von Hinüber , and he had four other siblings. His father was the German tutor to George II's children. Hinüber, who was fluent in English, lived with his parents in London until he reached the age of 10 or 12, at which point he was sent to live with his uncle in Hanover so that he could receive a German education.[1][3] There his family was part of the bureaucratic elite, with relatives such as Jobst Anton von Hinüber playing an important part in the moulding of the country's culture.[4]
Hanoverian Army
Home service
Hinüber joined the
India
Hinüber was part of a mixed group of 800 Hanoverians that joined with an Anglo-Indian army which on 13 July 1783 attacked the French-held city of
With his regiment having been renumbered as the 14th Infantry Regiment, Hinüber was promoted to
Army disbanded
The French Revolutionary Wars began in February 1793, and for the first two years of the conflict Hinüber and his regiment were stationed in the Netherlands.[7] The 14th was sent back to Hanover in 1795, and on 26 October 1798 Hinüber was promoted to major, joining the 6th Infantry Regiment, which by 1803 was stationed around Celle.[7][2][14] With the start of the Napoleonic Wars, in June France successfully invaded Hanover and the army was disbanded in the following month, ending Hinüber's service.[7]
British Army
Forming the KGL
Hinüber was one of the first Hanoverian officers to travel to Britain and offer their military services there, arriving at
The initial patent for the KGL required it to reach 400 men within three months.[17] Working closely with fellow Hanoverian Friedrich von der Decken, Hinuber initially expressed doubts to him that they would be able to meet the 400-man requirement, and as such he championed the recruitment from prison hulks to bolster their numbers.[18] The KGL expanded quickly as the month went on, and an officer of Hinuber's seniority was no longer needed to chivvy recruitment at Plymouth. On 13 October he was transferred to command the new regimental depot, situated on the Isle of Wight.[17][18] Initial expectation had been to form one light infantry battalion with the men at the depot, but with more recruits than expected the KGL expanded with artillery and cavalry as well. Soldiers who had previously served in either of these branches were taken away from Hinuber's main cadre, with the men remaining forming the 1st and 2nd Line Battalions.[18]
Hinuber joined the newly-formed 1st Battalion on 9 November, and was given the British rank of
Initial service
Continuing in command of his battalion, Hinuber was promoted to
In mid-1809 Hinuber was given command of a KGL Brigade as part of a diversionary attack on islands in the
With his brigade command over, Hinuber continued on in the Mediterranean and on 4 June 1811 was promoted to
Peninsular War
Hinuber served in Sicily until 30 October 1813 when he was instead appointed to join the army of
Investment of Bayonne
While respected as a competent commander, Hinuber's relationship with Wellington was difficult. As part of the Battle of Bayonne, attacking and besieging Bayonne, in the following year, on 27 February the suburb of St. Etienne was stormed by a force including Hinuber's brigade. It was one of three brigades that made the attack on the French defences, but the KGL on the right of the line received the brunt of the French response when the timings of the attack went awry.[25] The KGL stormed the St. Etienne village and fortified church with Hinuber leading them from the front.[25][27]
In the mid-afternoon Hinuber's force had stopped just short of the main French defences of Bayonne, they being too strong for his force to attack. The French sent a column of troops out to retake the position now held by Hinuber, who repulsed them twice with
Annoyed by Hope's conduct, Hinuber wrote to the colonel-in-chief of the KGL Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, to complain. Adolphus replied to Hinuber that he expressed "to all the officers and men, my public approbation of their conduct, and the satisfaction which I feel in being at the head of such a corps". Nonetheless, Hinuber did not leave his complaint there, but also wrote to Major-General Edward Pakenham, Wellington's adjutant general:
"...the silence of [Wellington] in this instance cannot be attributed to casual omission, but must be founded on some particular reason, and the only one which we can at all guess at – however painful to our feelings – is that from some circumstance unknown to us, we have incurred his lordship's displeasure, and that laboring under such, we must necessarily be precluded from the honours which a public notice of our services, would otherwise have bestowed upon us."[30]
Wellington sent a terse reply to Hinuber through Pakenham on the matter, with the latter reporting to Hinuber that:
"...am desired to observe that [Wellington] has ever had the pleasure in being satisfied with the conduct of the legion...I am in no way authorized to enter into further explanation on the subject to which your communication relates, but I should recommend you to subdue any anxiety that may have risen..."[31]
Battle of Bayonne
Early in the morning on 14 April a French
Hinuber sent two of his battalions to attack the St. Etienne church alongside the remainders of the piquets from the
Casualties were high for the brevity of the engagement; the KGL had 180 casualties including Hinuber, who received a severe
Peacetime occupation
The same month as the battle Napoleon abdicated, ending the Napoleonic Wars, and Bayonne surrendered on 27 April upon hearing the news.[7][36] A Subsidiary Army was afterwards formed to continue on in mainland Europe, and Hinuber was given command of the KGL Division within it, stationed mostly at Tournai and Mons.[7] This made him the commander of all KGL infantry in the Netherlands; six line battalions and two light battalions organised into three brigades.[31][38][39][40] The KGL was kept separate to the other British Army units serving in the Low Countries, in expectation that it would soon be disbanded and incorporated into a new Hanoverian Army.[38]
Hinuber was rewarded for his services during the war, being appointed an Honorary
Hundred Days
Napoleon escaped from his confinement on
Frustrated by the loss of his division, Hinuber continued his tense relationship with Wellington by arguing that as he had originally been given command of all the KGL infantry in the country by Adolphus he should be able to continue in that specific appointment. Wellington wrote to the Military Secretary, Major-General Sir Henry Torrens, on 2 May requesting clarification as to whether he was required to give Hinuber command of a new division made up of all the KGL in the army. Torrens wrote back on 5 May that:
"...though [Adolphus] puts a very high value on [Hinuber's] services, he could not consider himself justified in authorising that the Legion should be kept together in order that he should command them...[Wellington] will be pleased to accept the resignation of his Staff appointment."[31]
Hinuber did as suggested, refusing a subsequent offer to instead take command of a KGL brigade, and resigned his position in Wellington's army on 9 May.[7][41] He travelled initially into Hanover before returning to England. Hinuber thus missed the Hundred Days campaign which culminated in the Battle of Waterloo, but was still listed as one of the recipients of the thanks of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the victory.[7] The military historians Ron McGuigan and Robert Burnham note that if Hinuber had stayed with the army through the campaign, the high level of casualties amongst the generals would have made him a divisional commander anyway.[31]
Return to Hanoverian service
"May a time approach in which our nation, happily great and independently safe, will be able to develop every now restricted disposition and force, being an intimate State connection with the great German family, ruled by such Regents as those under whose century of government the British realm has been exalted to the most glorious and the happiest on earth."
Excerpt from Hinuber's response to a letter of admiration from Hanoverian politicians, 15 January 1815.[42]
With Napoleon defeated for a final time the KGL was disbanded on 24 February 1816 and Hinuber placed on British Army
Hinuber was also appointed colonel of the regiment to the 5th Hanoverian Infantry Regiment, based at Lüneburg, a position he would hold until his death.[1][44] His first command in the new Hanoverian Army was the 3rd Hanoverian Infantry Brigade. While in this position, serving in France, he was promoted to lieutenant-general on 17 April 1818.[19][44]
Hanover was part of the German Confederation, centrally organised by the Federal Convention. In the same month as his promotion Hinuber was appointed to serve on the new Militärcomité, or Military Committee, set up by the Convention. The committee comprised twelve military attachés from different German states, all general officers with considerable military experience.[45] It was expected to assist the Federal Convention on technical military matters relating to the creation of the German Federal Army, but had no direct power itself.[45][46] The historian Hellmut Seier describes Hinuber as one of the committee's most influential generals.[47] The Militärcomité was tasked with creating the Federal War Constitution to codify the new army; this it completed on 12 October, after which the committee was dissolved.[45]
The Federal Convention took some of the members of the committee to form a permanent Bundesmilitärkommission , or Military Commission, on 15 March 1819. Hinuber was one of six kept on in the new entity.[Note 1] The commission was tasked with providing military advice to the Federal Convention, and also supervised the functioning, upkeep, and equipping of federal military fortifications.[45] The representatives mostly used their positions to instead champion their own nation's military interests within the Confederation.[48] Hinuber continued in command of the 3rd alongside this until 1 April 1820 when he was transferred to the command of the 2nd Hanoverian Infantry Brigade.[7][2]
While on British half pay Hinuber was also promoted to lieutenant-general on 12 August 1819. He continued to be listed in the
Personal life
Hinuber married Sophie Marie Lucie Eleonore Fahle (1787–1868) in St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, on 7 August 1815. Fahle was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Georg Wilhelm Fahle, a corporal in the KGL, and the sister of Wilhelm Fahle, a KGL sergeant. Together the couple had five children, the first of which was pre-marital.[7][3] Their children included:
- Harriet von Hinüber (13 April 1813 – 9 October 1875), married Major Friedrich von Oeynhausen in 1839.[3]
- Major Heinrich William Hinüber (30 May 1816 – 5 April 1849), Imperial Austrian Army hussar officer.[7][3]
- Lieutenant Eduard Hinüber (24 December 1817 – 28 December 1880), Hanoverian Army officer, married Sophie Elizabeth Stieger in 1821.[3]
Notes and citations
Notes
- ^ The other five initial members of the Bundesmilitärkommission were Major-Generals Friedrich Karl Gustav, Baron von Langenau (Austria), Ludwig von Wolzogen (Prussia), Nikolaus von Maillot de la Treille (Bavaria), Johann Adolf von Zezschwitz (Saxony), and Ferdinand Varnbüler von und zu Hemmingen (Wurttemberg).[45]
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h McGuigan & Burnham (2017), p. 136.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Poten (1903), p. 292.
- ^ a b c d e Gotha (1909), p. 350.
- ^ Tzoref-Ashkenazi (2016), pp. 42–43.
- ^ Tzoref-Ashkenazi (2016), p. 39.
- ^ Tzoref-Ashkenazi (2016), p. 43.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y McGuigan & Burnham (2017), p. 137.
- ^ a b Linsingen-Gersdorff (1880), p. 380.
- ^ Tzoref-Ashkenazi (2016), p. 44.
- ^ Tzoref-Ashkenazi (2012), p. 40.
- ^ Tzoref-Ashkenazi (2016), pp. 44–45.
- ^ Tzoref-Ashkenazi (2012), pp. 39–40.
- ^ Tzoref-Ashkenazi (2016), p. 46.
- ^ Schwertfeger (1907), p. 7.
- ^ a b Mastnak (2001), p. 123.
- ^ Ward (2017), p. 174.
- ^ a b Warner (1977), p. 160.
- ^ a b c Mastnak (2001), p. 124.
- ^ a b c McGuigan & Burnham (2017), pp. 136–137.
- ^ a b Mastnak (2001), p. 126.
- ^ Philippart (1820), p. 33.
- ^ Philippart (1820), pp. 33–34.
- ^ a b Burnham & McGuigan (2010), p. 41.
- ^ Fortescue (1912), p. 295.
- ^ a b c d Philippart (1820), p. 34.
- ^ Batty (1823), p. xvi.
- ^ Ompteda & Ompteda (1894), p. 282.
- ^ Philippart (1820), p. 35.
- ^ McGuigan & Burnham (2017), p. 138.
- ^ McGuigan & Burnham (2017), pp. 138–139.
- ^ a b c d McGuigan & Burnham (2017), p. 139.
- ^ Beamish (1847), p. 301.
- ^ Beamish (1847), pp. 301–302.
- ^ Beamish (1847), p. 302.
- ^ Beamish (1847), p. 303.
- ^ a b Beamish (1847), p. 304.
- ^ Napier (1882), p. 448.
- ^ a b Bamford (2015), p. 104.
- ^ a b Bamford (2015), p. 106.
- ^ Schwertfeger (1907), p. 296.
- ^ Gurwood (2010), p. 75.
- ^ Ompteda & Ompteda (1894), p. 294.
- ^ McGuigan & Burnham (2017), pp. 137–138.
- ^ a b Schwertfeger (1907), p. 429.
- ^ a b c d e Angelow (1996), p. 51.
- ^ Seier (1977), p. 12.
- ^ Seier (1977), p. 30.
- ^ Angelow (1996), p. 52.
- ^ a b c d McGuigan & Burnham (2017), pp. 136–138.
- ^ Townsend (1828), p. 216.
- ^ Schwertfeger (1907), p. 63.
References
- Angelow, Jürgen (1996). Von Wien nach Königgrätz: Die Sicherheitspolitik des Deutschen Bundes im europäischen Gleichgewicht 1815–1866 [From Vienna to Königgrätz: The Security Policy of the German Confederation in the European Balance 1815–1866] (in German). Munich: R. Oldenbourg. ISBN 3-486-56143-X.
- Bamford, Andrew (Summer 2015). ""Infamous", or Incomplete? The Origins and Structure of Wellington's 1815 Field Army". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 93 (374): 102–119. ISSN 0037-9700.
- OCLC 762566367.
- Beamish, North Ludlow (1847). History of the King's German Legion. Vol. 2. London: Thomas and William Boone. OCLC 174235354.
- Burnham, Robert; McGuigan, Ron (2010). The British Army against Napoleon. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Frontline Books. ISBN 978-1-84832-562-3.
- OCLC 963664154.
- Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Briefadeligen Häuser [Gotha Genealogical Handbook of Houses Ennobled by Letters Patent] (in German). Gotha: Julius Berthes. 1909. OCLC 503835245.
- Gurwood, John (2010) [1844]. The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington. Vol. 8. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-02522-5.
- Linsingen-Gersdorff, B. von (1880). Aus Hannovers militärischer Vergangenheit [From Hanover's Military Past] (in German). Hanover: Arnold Weichelt. OCLC 794325832.
- Mastnak, Jens (2001). "Werbung und Ersatzwesen der Königlich Deutschen Legion 1803 bis 1813" [Recruiting and Replacement of the King's German Legion 1803 to 1813]. Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift (in German). 60: 119–142. ISSN 2193-2336.
- McGuigan, Ron; Burnham, Robert (2017). Wellington's Brigade Commanders. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-47385-079-8.
- OCLC 1337805809.
- OCLC 847256367.
- Philippart, John (1820). The Royal Military Calendar. Vol. 3. London: A. J. Valpy. OCLC 34346148.
- OCLC 174549601.
- Schwertfeger, Bernhard (1907). Geschichte der Königlich Deutschen Legion 1803–1816 [History of the King's German Legion 1803–1816] (in German). Hanover and Leipzig: Hahnsche Buchhandlung. OCLC 11854175.
- Seier, Hellmut (1977). "Der Oberbefehl im Bundesheer" [The Supreme Command in the Armed Forces]. Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift (in German). 21 (1): 7–34. ISSN 0026-3826.
- Townsend, Francis (1828). Calendar of Knights. London: William Pickering. OCLC 3809016.
- Tzoref-Ashkenazi, Chen (2012). "German Auxiliary Troops in the British and Dutch East India Companies". In Arielli, Nir; Collins, Bruce (eds.). Transnational Soldiers: Foreign Military Enlistment in the Modern Era. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-31968-4.
- Tzoref-Ashkenazi, Chen (2016). German Soldiers in Colonial India. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-84893-367-5.
- Ward, S. G. P. (2017) [1957]. Wellington's Headquarters. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-47389-682-6.
- Warner, Richard (1977). Napoleon's Enemies. London: Osprey. ISBN 0-85045-172-8.