- Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
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Charles William Ferdinand Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Reign 26 March 1780 – 16 October 1806 Predecessor Charles I Successor Frederick William Consort Princess Augusta of Great Britain Issue Augusta, Duchess of Württemberg
Charles George Augustus, Hereditary Prince
Duke George William Christian
Duke Augustus
Caroline, Queen of the United Kingdom
Frederick William
Duchess AmeliaFull name Charles William Ferdinand
German: Karl Wilhelm FerdinandHouse House of Brunswick-Bevern Father Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Mother Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia Born 9 October 1735
Wolfenbüttel, Brunswick-WolfenbüttelDied 16 October 1806 (aged 71)
OttensenCharles William Ferdinand (German: Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Fürst und Herzog von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel) (October 9, 1735 – October 16, 1806), Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, was a sovereign prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and a professional soldier who served as a Generalfeldmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia. Born in Wolfenbüttel, Germany, he was duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1780 until his death. He is a recognized master of the modern warfare of the mid-18th century, a cultured and benevolent despot in the model of Frederick the Great, and was married to Princess Augusta, a sister of George III of Great Britain.
Contents
History
Charles William Ferdinand (German: Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand) was the son of Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Philippine Charlotte, daughter of King Frederick William I of Prussia. Karl received an unusually wide and thorough education, and travelled in his youth in the Netherlands, France and various parts of Germany. His first military experience was in the North German campaign of 1757, under Prince William, Duke of Cumberland. At the Battle of Hastenbeck he won great renown by a gallant charge at the head of an infantry brigade; and upon the capitulation of Kloster Zeven he was easily persuaded by his uncle Ferdinand of Brunswick, who succeeded Cumberland in command, to continue in the war as a general officer. The exploits of the hereditary prince, as he was called, soon gained him further reputation, and he became an acknowledged master of irregular warfare. In pitched battles, and in particular at Minden and Warburg, he proved himself an excellent subordinate.
After the close of the Seven Years' War, the prince visited England with his bride, the daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and in 1766 he went to France, being received both by his allies and his late enemies with every token of respect. In Paris he made the acquaintance of Marmontel; in Switzerland, whither he continued his tour, that of Voltaire; and in Rome, where he remained for a long time, he explored the antiquities of the city under the guidance of Winckelmann. After a visit to Naples he returned to Paris, and thence, with his wife, to Brunswick. His services to the dukedom during the next few years were of the greatest value; with the assistance of the minister Feonçe von Rotenkreuz he rescued the state from the bankruptcy into which the war had brought it. His popularity was unbounded, and when he succeeded his father, Duke Karl I, in 1780, he soon became known as a model to sovereigns.
Reputation
The Duke was a typical "enlightened despot" of the 18th century, characterized by economy and prudence. His habitual caution often made him draw back from potential reforms. He brought Braunschweig into close alliance with the king of Prussia, for whom he had fought in the Seven Years' War; he was a Prussian field marshal, and was at pains to make the regiment of which he was colonel a model one, and he was frequently engaged in diplomatic and other state affairs. He resembled his uncle Frederick the Great in many ways, but he lacked the resolution of the king, and in civil as in military affairs was prone to excessive caution. As an enthusiastic adherent of the Germanic and anti-Austrian policy of Prussia he joined the Fürstenbund, in which, as he now had the reputation of being the best soldier of his time, he was the destined commander-in-chief of the federal army.
Military experience
First experience
His first military experience was during the Seven Years' War in the North German campaign of 1757, under the Duke of Cumberland. He gained great fame at the Battle of Hastenbeck with his gallant charge at the head of an infantry brigade.
French Revolutionary Wars
In the early summer of 1792, Ferdinand was poised with military forces at Coblenz. After the Girondins had arranged for France to declare war on Austria, voted on April 20, 1792, the Catholic Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and the Protestant King of Prussia Frederick William II had combined armies and put them under Brunswick's command.
The "Brunswick Proclamation" or "Brunswick Manifesto" that he now issued from Coblenz on July 25, 1792 threatened war and ruin to soldiers and civilians alike, should the Republicans injure Louis XVI and his family. His avowed aim was:
to put an end to the anarchy in the interior of France, to check the attacks upon the throne and the altar, to reestablish the legal power, to restore to the king the security and the liberty of which he is now deprived and to place him in a position to exercise once more the legitimate authority which belongs to him.
Additionally, the manifesto threatened the French public with instant punishment should they resist the Imperial and Prussian armies, or the reinstatement of the monarchy. In large part, the manifesto had been written by Louis XVI's cousin, Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, who was the leader of a large corps of émigrés in the allied army.
It was asserted the manifesto was in fact issued against the advice of Brunswick himself; the duke, a model sovereign in his own principality, sympathized with the constitutional side of the French Revolution, while as a soldier he had no confidence in the success of the enterprise. However, having let bear his signature, he had to bear the full responsibly for its consequences.
The proclamation was intended to threaten the French public into submission; it had exactly the opposite effect.
In Paris, Louis XVI was generally believed to be in correspondence with the Austrians and Prussians already, and the republicans became more vocal in the early summer of 1792. It remained for the Duke of Brunswick's proclamation to assure the downfall of the monarchy by his proclamation, which was being rapidly distributed in Paris by July 28 apparently by the monarchists, who badly misjudged the effect it would have (See text in link). The "Brunswick Manifesto" seemed to furnish the agitators with a complete justification for the revolt that they were already planning. The first violent action was carried out on August 10, when the Palace of the Tuileries was stormed.
After the French Revolutionary Wars
The Duke of Brunswick had served in the Seven Years' War and was made a Prussian general in 1773. After he succeeded to his title in 1780, he was made field marshal in 1787, and commanded the Prussian army that rapidly and successfully invaded the United Provinces (The Dutch Republic) and restored the authority of the House of Orange. He was less successful against the highly motivated citizen's army that met him at Valmy. Having secured Longwy and Verdun without serious resistance, he unexpectedly found himself heavily outnumbered at Valmy, turned back with a mere skirmish, and evacuated France. When he counterattacked the Revolutionary French who had invaded Germany, in 1793, he recaptured Mainz after a long siege, but resigned in 1794 in protest at interference by Frederick William II of Prussia.
He returned to command the Prussian army in 1806 during the War of the Fourth Coalition but was routed by Napoleon's marshal Davout at Battle of Jena-Auerstedt (14 October 1806). During the battle he was struck by a musket shot and lost both of his eyes. Mortally wounded the Duke fled before the advancing French Forces and died in Ottensen two days later. His body was returned home for burial, which occurred on 10 November 1806.
Ancestry
Children
Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand's eldest son and designated heir, Karl Georg August (1766–1806), married Frederika Luise Wilhelmine, Princess of Orange-Nassau, daughter of William V, Prince of Orange and Wilhelmina of Prussia, in 1790. He died childless shortly before his father on 20 September 1806.
His successor, Friedrich Wilhelm (1771 – June 16, 1815), who was one of the bitterest opponents of Napoleonic domination in Germany, took part in the war of 1809 at the head of a corps of partisans; fled to England after the Battle of Wagram, and returned to Braunschweig in 1813, where he raised fresh troops. He was killed at the Battle of Quatre Bras.
The remaining two sons, Georg Wilhelm Christian (1769–1811) and August (1770–1822), were declared incapacitated and excluded from the line of succession; neither of them married. The eldest daughter, Auguste Caroline Friederike (1764–1788), married King Frederick I of Württemberg. The second daughter, Caroline (1768–1821), married, with very unhappy results, her first cousin King George IV of the United Kingdom.
Name Birth Death Notes Auguste Caroline Friederike Luise 3 December 1764 27 September 1788 married 1780, Friedrich III, Duke of Württemberg; had issue Karl Georg August 8 February 1766 20 September 1806 married 1790, Frederika Luise Wilhelmine, Princess of Orange-Nassau; no issue Caroline Amalie Elisabeth 17 May 1768 7 August 1821 married 1795, George IV of the United Kingdom; had issue Georg Wilhelm Christian 27 June 1769 16 September 1811 Declared an invalid; Excluded from line of succession August 18 August 1770 18 December 1822 Declared an invalid; Excluded from line of succession Friedrich Wilhelm 9 October 1771 16 June 1815 married 1802, Maria Elisabeth Wilhelmine, Princess of Baden; had issue Amelie Karoline Dorothea Luise 22 November 1772 2 April 1773 External links
- Text of the Proclamation of the Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, 1792
- Encyclopædia Britannica 1911: Brunswick, Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of
- Prussian Army during the Napoleonic Wars
References
- Lord Fitzmaurice, Charles W. F., duke of Brunswick (London, 1901)
- Memoir in Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, vol. ii. (Leipzig, 1882)
- Arthur Chuquet, Les Guerres de la Révolution: La Première Invasion prussienne (Paris)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-WolfenbüttelHouse of Brunswick-BevernCadet branch of the House of WelfBorn: 9 October 1735 Died: 10 November 1806Regnal titles Preceded by
Charles IDuke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
1780–1806Succeeded by
Frederick WilliamFrench Revolution Timeline · Pre-Revolution · Causes of the Revolution · National Constituent Assembly · Constitutional Monarchy · Convention · Directoire (Council of Five Hundred and Council of Ancients) · succeeded by Consulate Significant civil and political events by year 1788 1789 Reveillon riot (28 Apr 1789) Convocation of the Estates-General (5 May 1789) · National Assembly (17 Jun to 9 Jul 1790) · Tennis Court Oath (20 Jun 1789) · Storming of the Bastille (14 Jul 1789) · Great Fear (20 Jul to 5 Aug 1789) · Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (27 Aug 1789) · Women's March on Versailles (5 Oct 1789)1790 Abolition of the Parlements (3 Feb 1790) · Abolition of the Nobility (19 Jun 1790) · Civil Constitution of the Clergy (12 Jul 1790) · Abolition of the Parlements (12 Jul 1790)1791 Flight to Varennes (20 and 21 Jun 1791) · Champ de Mars Massacre (17 Jul 1791) · Declaration of Pillnitz (27 Aug 1791) · The Constitution of 1791 (3 Sep 1791) · Legislative Assembly (1 Oct 1791 to Sep 1792) · Self-denying ordinance (30 Sep 1791)1792 Brunswick Manifesto (25 Jul 1792) · Paris Commune becomes insurrectionary (Jun 1792) · 10th of August (10 Aug 1792) · September Massacres (Sep 1792) · National Convention (20 Sep 1792 to 26 Oct 1795) · First republic declared (22 Sep 1792)1793 Louis Capet is guillotined (21 Jan 1793) · Revolutionary Tribunals (9 Mar 1793 to 31 May 1795) · Reign of Terror (27 Jun 1793 to 27 July 1794) · (Committee of Public Safety · Committee of General Security) · Fall of the Girondists (2 Jun 1793) · Assassination of Marat (13 Jul 1793) · Levée en masse (23 Aug 1793) · Law of Suspects (17 Sep 1793) · Marie Antoinette is guillotined (16 Oct 1793) · Anti-clerical laws (throughout the year)1794 Danton & Desmoulins guillotined (5 Apr 1794) · Law of 22 Prairial (10 Jun 1794) · Thermidorian Reaction (27 Jul 1794) · White Terror (Fall 1794) · Closing of the Jacobin Club (11 Nov 1794)1795 1797 1799 Coup of 30 Prairial Year VII (18 Jun 1799) · The coup of 18 Brumaire (9 Nov 1799) · Constitution of the Year VIII (24 Dec 1799) · ConsulateRevolutionary wars 1792 Battle of Valmy · Royalist Revolts (Chouannerie · Vendée · Dauphiné) · Battle of Verdun · Siege of Thionville · Siege of Lille · Siege of Mayence · Battle of Jemappes · Siege of Namur1793 First Coalition · Siege of Toulon (18 Sep to 18 Dec 1793) · War in the Vendée · Battle of Neerwinden) · Battle of Famars (23 May 1793) · Capture of San Pietro and Sant'Antioco (25 May 1793) · Battle of Kaiserslautern · Siege of Mainz · Battle of Wattignies · Battle of Hondshoote · Siege of Bellegarde · Battle of Peyrestortes (Pyrenees) · First Battle of Wissembourg (13 Oct 1793) · Battle of Truillas (Pyrenees) Second Battle of Wissembourg (26 and 27 Dec 1793)1794 Battle of Villers-en-Cauchies (24 Apr 1794) · Battle of Boulou (Pyrenees) (30 Apr and 1 May 1794) · Battle of Tournay (22 May 1794) · Battle of Fleurus (26 Jun 1794) · Chouannerie · Battle of Tourcoing (18 May 1794) · Battle of Aldenhoven (2 Oct 1794)1795 1796 Battle of Lonato (3 and 4 Aug 1796) · Battle of Castiglione (5 Aug 1796) · Battle of Theiningen · Battle of Neresheim (11 Aug 1796) · Battle of Amberg (24 Aug 1796) · Battle of Würzburg (3 Sep 1796) · Battle of Rovereto (4 Sep 1796) · First Battle of Bassano (8 Sep 1796) · Battle of Emmendingen (19 Oct 1796) · Battle of Schliengen (26 Oct 1796) · Second Battle of Bassano (6 Nov 1796) · Battle of Calliano (6 and 7 Nov 1796) · Battle of the Bridge of Arcole (15 to 17 Nov 1796) · The Ireland Expedition (Dec 1796)1797 Naval Engagement off Brittany (13 Jan 1797) · Battle of Rivoli (14 and 15 Jan 1797) · Battle of the Bay of Cádiz (25 Jan 1797) · Treaty of Leoben (17 Apr 1797) · Battle of Neuwied (18 Apr 1797) · Treaty of Campo Formio (17 Oct 1797)1798 French Invasion of Egypt (1798–1801) · Irish Rebellion of 1798 (23 May – 23 Sep 1798) · Quasi-War (1798 to 1800) · Peasants' War (12 Oct to 5 Dec 1798)1799 Second Coalition (1798-1802) · Siege of Acre (20 Mar to 21 May 1799) · Battle of Ostrach (20 and 21 Mar 1799) · Battle of Stockach (25 Mar 1799) · Battle of Magnano (5 Apr 1799) · Battle of Cassano (27 Apr 1799) · First Battle of Zürich (4-7 Jun 1799) · Battle of Trebbia (19 Jun 1799) · Battle of Novi (15 Aug 1799) · Second Battle of Zürich (25 and 26 Sep 1799)1800 Battle of Marengo (14 Jun 1800) · Battle of Hohenlinden (3 Dec 1800) · League of Armed Neutrality (1800-1802)1801 Treaty of Lunéville (9 Feb 1801) · Treaty of Florence (18 Mar 1801) · Battle of Algeciras (8 Jul 1801)1802 Treaty of Amiens (25 Mar 1802)Military leaders French
army officersEustache Charles d'Aoust · Pierre Augereau · Alexandre de Beauharnais · Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte · Louis Alexandre Berthier · Jean-Baptiste Bessières · Guillaume Marie Anne Brune · Jean François Carteaux · Jean Étienne Championnet · Chapuis de Tourville · Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine · Louis-Nicolas Davout · Louis Charles Antoine Desaix · Jacques François Dugommier · Charles François Dumouriez · Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino · Louis-Charles de Flers · Paul Grenier · Emmanuel de Grouchy · Jacques Maurice Hatry · Lazare Hoche · Jean-Baptiste Jourdan · François Christophe Kellermann · Jean-Baptiste Kléber · Pierre Choderlos de Laclos · Jean Lannes · Charles Leclerc · Claude Lecourbe · François Joseph Lefebvre · Jacques MacDonald · Jean-Antoine Marbot · Jean Baptiste de Marbot · François-Séverin Marceau · Auguste de Marmont · André Masséna · Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey · Jean Victor Marie Moreau · Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier · Joachim Murat · Michel Ney · fr:Pierre-Jacques Osten · Nicolas Oudinot · Catherine-Dominique de Pérignon · Charles Pichegru · Józef Antoni Poniatowski · Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr · Barthélemy Louis Joseph Schérer · Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier · Joseph Souham · Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult · Louis Gabriel Suchet · Belgrand de Vaubois · Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de BellunoFrench
naval officersOpposition
military figuresRalph Abercromby (British) · József Alvinczi (Austrian) · Archduke Charles of Austria · Duke of Brunswick (Prussian) · Count of Clerfayt (Walloon fighting for Austria) · Luis Firmin de Carvajal (Spanish) · Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg (Russian) · Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (Prussian) · Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze (Swiss in Austrian service) Count of Kalckreuth (Austrian) · Alexander Korsakov (Russian) · Pál Kray (Hungarian serving Austria) · Charles Eugene, Prince of Lambesc (French in the service of Austria) · Maximilian Baillet de Latour (Walloon in the service of Austria) · Karl Mack von Leiberich (Austrian) · Rudolf Ritter von Otto (Saxon fighting for Austria) · Antonio Ricardos (Spanish) · James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez (British admiral) · Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Austrian) · William V, Prince of Orange (Dutch) · Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth (British admiral) · Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich (Austrian) · Prince Heinrich XV Reuss of Plauen (Austrian) · Alexander Suvorov (Russian) · Johann Mészáros von Szoboszló (Hungarian in Austrian service) · Karl Philipp Sebottendorf (Austrian) · Dagobert von Wurmser (Austrian) · Duke of York (British)Other important figures and factions Royals and
RoyalistsCharles X of France · Louis XVI · Louis XVII · Louis XVIII · Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien · Louis Henri, Prince of Condé · Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé · Louis Philippe of France · Marie Antoinette · Madame de Lamballe · Madame du Barry · Louis de Breteuil · Loménie de Brienne · Charles Alexandre de Calonne · Chateaubriand · Jean Chouan · Grace Elliott · Arnaud de Laporte · Jean-Sifrein Maury · Mirabeau · Jacques NeckerFeuillants Girondists Montagnards Paul Nicolas, vicomte de Barras · Georges Couthon · Georges Danton · Jacques Louis David · Camille Desmoulins · Roger Ducos · Jean Marie Collot d'Herbois · Jean-Paul Marat · Prieur de la Côte-d'Or · Prieur de la Marne · Maximilien Robespierre · Gilbert Romme · Jean Bon Saint-André · Louis de Saint-Just · Jean-Lambert Tallien · Bertrand Barère de VieuzacHébertists Bonapartists Napoléon Bonaparte · de Cambacérès · Jacques-Louis David · Jean Debry · Joseph Fesch · Charles François Lebrun · Philippe-Antoine Merlin de DouaiOthers: Jean-Pierre-André Amar · François-Noël Babeuf · Jean Sylvain Bailly · François-Marie, marquis de Barthélemy · Jacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne · Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot · André Chénier · Jean-Jacques Duval d'Eprémesnil · Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville · Olympe de Gouges · Father Henri Grégoire · Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas · Jacques-Donatien Le Ray · Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet · Guillaume-Chrétien de Malesherbes · Antoine Christophe Merlin de Thionville · Jean Joseph Mounier · Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours · François de Neufchâteau · Louis Michel le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau · Pierre Louis Prieur · Jean-François Rewbell · Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux · Marquis de Sade · Antoine Christophe Saliceti · Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès · Madame de Staël · Talleyrand · Thérésa Tallien · Gui-Jean-Baptiste Target · Catherine Théot · Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier · Jean-Henri Voulland · EnragésInfluential thinkers The Bonapartes Cultural impact La Marseillaise · Fabre d'Églantine · French Tricolour · Liberté, égalité, fraternité · Bastille Day · Panthéon · French Republican Calendar · Cult of the Supreme Being · Cult of Reason · Sans-culottes · Metric system
Quatrevingt-treize · A Tale of Two Cities · The Scarlet Pimpernel · Scaramouche · La Révolution française · Orphans of the Storm · DantonCategories:- 1735 births
- 1806 deaths
- People from the District of Wolfenbüttel
- Field Marshals of Prussia
- Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg
- Princes of Wolfenbüttel
- House of Brunswick-Bevern
- Walhalla enshrinees
- Protestant monarchs
- German Lutherans
- Knights of the Garter
- Fellows of the Royal Society
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