George Ernst von Klitzing

Last updated
George Ernst von Klitzing
Born 1698
Tornow, Prussia
Died 28 September 1759(1759-09-28) (aged 60–61)
Stettin
Allegiance Flag of Prussia (1892-1918).svg Prussia
Service/branch Army
Years of service 1714–1759
Rank Major General

George Ernst von Klitzing (1698 in Prussia – 29 October 1759 in Stettin) was a Prussian major general of infantry and commander of the Klitzing Infantry (after 1806, called the Infantry Regiment No. 31). He was also the hereditary heir of Tornow. [1]

Prussia state in Central Europe between 1525–1947

Prussia was a historically prominent German state that originated in 1525 with a duchy centred on the region of Prussia on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It was de facto dissolved by an emergency decree transferring powers of the Prussian government to German Chancellor Franz von Papen in 1932 and de jure by an Allied decree in 1947. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organised and effective army. Prussia, with its capital in Königsberg and from 1701 in Berlin, decisively shaped the history of Germany.

Major general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparently confusing phenomenon whereby a lieutenant general outranks a major general while a major outranks a lieutenant.

Contents

Origins

Klitzing was the son of Karl Magnus von Klitzing, Grand Warden, and his wife. Klitzing married on 15 March 1722 in Tornow to Wilhelmine Elisabeth von Mörner, from the House of Klössow (died 10 May 1769). [1] They had the following children: [2]

Charlotte Hedwig Maria ( 1723 in Zielenzig) ∞ von Rosenthal, Hauptmann
Luise Katharina Wilhelmine (1725) married first, Friedrich Ernst von Mörner, Danish Major; married second, von Glassey, Hauptmann
Hans Sigismund (14 October 1726 in Voigtsdorf).

Military career

Silesian wars

Klitzing entered military service in 1714 as a corporal at the infantry regiment "Markgraf Albrecht". From 1729 he changed to the newly-expanded Fusilier Regiment "von Dossow". He had the dubious distinction of being the oldest first lieutenant in his regiment, until his promotion to captain in September 1730. [3]

Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. Within NATO, each member nation's corresponding military rank of corporal is combined under the NATO-standard rank scale code OR-3 or OR-4. However, there are often differences in how each nation employs corporals. Some militaries don't have corporals, but may instead have a Junior Sergeant.

Fusilier infantry soldier armed with a rifled long gun

Fusilier is a name given to various kinds of soldiers; its meaning depends on the historical context. While fusilier is derived from the 17th-century French word fusil – meaning a type of flintlock musket – the term has been used in contrasting ways in different countries and at different times, including soldiers guarding artillery, various elite units, ordinary line infantry and other uses.

Captain is a title for the commander of a military unit, the commander of a ship, airplane, spacecraft, or other vessel, or the commander of a port, fire department or police department, election precinct, etc. Captain is a military rank in armies, navies, coast guards, etc., typically at the level of an officer commanding a company of infantry, a ship, or a battery of artillery, or similar distinct unit. The terms also may be used as an informal or honorary title for persons in similar commanding roles.

Klitzing participated in the Siege of Prague. [1] [4] He was promoted to major in 1743 by his commander, Friedrich Wilhelm von Varenne. [5]

The 1742 Siege of Prague was an extended blockade of the Bohemian capital during the War of the Austrian Succession.

Seven Years' War

Klitsing was promoted to the lieutenant colonel in June 1751. For most of 1758 he served in Prince Henry's corps, tasked with holding Saxony. With other elements of Henry's force, the Prussians managed to guard Leipzig and its environs long enough for the Prussian artillery to pull out of the region. [6]

Lieutenant colonel (pronounced Lef-ten-ent Kernel or Loo-ten-ent Kernel ) is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence. Sometimes, the term, 'half-colonel' is used in casual conversation in the British Army. A lieutenant colonel is typically in charge of a battalion or regiment in the army.

Prince Henry of Prussia (1726–1802) Prince of Prussia (1726-1802)

Frederick Henry Louis, commonly known as Henry, was a Prince of Prussia and the younger brother of Frederick the Great. He also served as a general and statesman, leading Prussian armies in the Silesian Wars and the Seven Years' War, having never lost a battle in the latter. In 1786, he was suggested as a candidate for a monarch for the United States.

Duchy of Saxony duchy

The Duchy of Saxony was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the Carolingian Empire (Francia) by 804. Upon the 843 Treaty of Verdun, Saxony was one of the five German stem duchies of East Francia; Duke Henry the Fowler was elected German king in 919.

In the action near Breslau, Klitzing led his troops against the enemy-occupied village of Kleinburg, he gave the individual fire orders as if he were in the parade ground. On 9 December 1758, he became Proprietor (Inhaber) of the regiment, the Klitzing Infantry (after 1806, called the Infantry Regiment No. 31). On the same day he was promoted to major general. [1] [7] [4]

He fought at the Battle of Kay. At the Battle of Kunersdorf on 12 August 1759, he was shot twice through the arm. He was moved to Stettin with many of the other injured, where he died on 29 October 1759. [8] He was buried three days later in the garrison church. [1] [9] [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Anton Balthasar König, Biographisches Lexikon aller Helden und Militärpersonen: T. G-L, A. Wever, 1789, vol. 2, pp. 296–296.
  2. ↑ Enthaltend die Buchstaben G, H, J, K, L, M: 1,2, Harmsen, 1776, p. 185.
  3. ↑ Geschichte und Nachrichten von dem königl. preuß. Infanterie Regimente Prinz Friedrich August von Braunschweig, Trampe, 1767 , p. 81.
  4. 1 2 3 Julius Mebes, Beiträge zur Geschichte des Brandenburgisch-Preussischen Staates, Lüderitz, 1861, v. 1, p. 491.
  5. ↑ Neue genealogisch-historische Nachrichten von den vornehmsten ..., Heinsius, 1753, Volume 4, 445.
  6. ↑ Redman, Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' War, 1756-1763, 194.
  7. ↑ Carl Friedrich Pauli, Leben grosser Helden des gegenwärtigen Krieges: Nebst Zusätzen und Verbesserungen aller fünf Theile, Volume 5. Francke, 1760, p.249.
  8. ↑ Neue genealogisch-historische Nachrichten, 1037.
  9. ↑ Gaston Bodart, Militär-historisches kreigs-lexikon, (1618–1905), Stern, 1908 p. 907.
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