Johann Friedrich von Salm-Grumbach

Last updated
Likely Johann Friedrich of Salm-Grumbach, drawing by Johannes Cornelis Mertens (1752-1823). HUA-39185-Portret van Rijngraaf Frederik III van Salm Salm Grumbach geboren 1745 bevelhebber van de patriottische vrijcorpsen te Utrecht overleden 1794 Borstbee.jpg
Likely Johann Friedrich of Salm-Grumbach, drawing by Johannes Cornelis Mertens (1752–1823).
Swearing on the (provisional) Constitution in Utrecht on 12. October 1786; also John Adams was present Eedsaflegging op het regeringsreglement op de Neude te Utrecht op 12 oktober 1786 Centraal Museum 2316.jpg
Swearing on the (provisional) Constitution in Utrecht on 12. October 1786; also John Adams was present
Parade of the free corps, and auxiliary troops in Utrecht on 2 September 1787. Representation of the Rhinegrave Johann Friedrich of Salm-Grumbach, as commander-in-chief in the middle (K) with his striking hairstyle. Drawing by Johannes Jelgerhuis HUA-31653-Afbeelding van de parade van de schutterij en hulptroepen op de Neude te Utrecht op 2 september 1787.jpg
Parade of the free corps, and auxiliary troops in Utrecht on 2 September 1787. Representation of the Rhinegrave Johann Friedrich of Salm-Grumbach, as commander-in-chief in the middle (K) with his striking hairstyle. Drawing by Johannes Jelgerhuis
Troops of the Patriotten leave Utrecht late in the evening on Saturday, 15 September 1787 Patriotten verlaten Utrecht, 1787 Het uittrekken der Patriotten uit Utrecht (titel op object), RP-P-OB-85.827.jpg
Troops of the Patriotten leave Utrecht late in the evening on Saturday, 15 September 1787
Gezigt van het geschut op den Buiten Amstel, na Ouderkerk te zien 1787 Gezigt van het geschut op den Buiten Amstel, na Ouderkerk te zien 1787.jpg
Gezigt van het geschut op den Buiten Amstel, na Ouderkerk te zien 1787

Johann Friedrich von Salm-Grumbach (5 November 1743 - 11 September 1819) was a member of the noble family of Wild and Rhinegrave from the line of Salm-Grumbach. In the mid-1780s, he served as colonel of a legion of the States General of the Netherlands, then of the States of Holland and West Friesland. [2] As the intended successor to Field Marshal Duke Louis Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who had left the Netherlands in October 1784, he played a significant role in the conflict between the Dutch Patriots and Orangists until mid-September 1787.

Contents

Supported by the Patriots, who advocated for a representative representation of the bourgeoisie, he temporarily assumed the position of de facto general and commander-in-chief of the armed forces in Holland in 1786; de jure, Albert van Rijssel was appointed. Later, he commanded several Free Corps in Utrecht until the Prussian invasion of Holland in 1787 strengthened the position of the Stadtholder William V of Orange again. Criticism of Salm's military judgment arose primarily due to the hasty evacuation of Utrecht; afterwards, he was often referred to as a "stylish failure".

For many years, Johann Friedrich von Salm-Grumbach has been confused with Prince Frederick III, Prince of Salm-Kyrburg in various writings, which have been written in several languages. [3] [4] [5] Contemporaries such as the Duke of Brunswick, his former adjutant Quint Ondaatje, August Ludwig Schlözer, and General Von Pfau, [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] as well as many other German historians, hold a different opinion. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

Early life

Johann Friedrich was born to the Rhine Count Karl Walrad Wilhelm zu Salm-Grumbach (1701-1763) and his wife Juliane Franziska, a born Countess of Prösing und Limpurg (1709-1775). He grew up in Henri-Chapelle, close to Aachen. He had numerous siblings and became co-heir of the Limpurg-Sontheim dominion, which was sold to Württemberg in 1781. [18]

Military career

Johann Friedrich's military career took him into the French army, where he held the rank of Maréchal de camp. [19] In Dutch service, he commanded a battalion of the infantry regiment "Saxe-Gotha" in 1772. [20] However, it was his role as the commander of a legion in 1784 that marked a significant shift. [21] He raised a force of about 1000 soldiers and 450 horsemen [22] and in 1784, he transferred to the service of the States of Holland and West Friesland, an entity of the States General. [23] [24] They were dominated by the oppositional Patriot movement, which fought the quasi-monarchical position of the stadtholder in the Dutch Republic of the United Netherlands. In this struggle, the grouping allied itself with the French King Louis XVI.

Johann Friedrich played an important role as a military leader of the Dutch Republic during the era of the Patriots as a negotiator with the Austrian emperor Joseph II, to dismantle the Barrier treaties 1709-1715. As commander of the Rhine Legion formed during the Kettle War in 1784, his troops were responsible for the defense of the republic. The troops included eight companies of cavalry (Hussars and Cuirassiers), two companies of Jaegers and six companies on Foot. In 1786, Holland employed him to maintain an army, but six months later dismissed his regiment to save money. In several cities a fund was set up to support his troops so that Salm, eager to replace the Stadtholder, could remain. [25]

On May 12, 1787 Johann Friedrich led the army to Utrecht, to protect the Patriot revolt meanwhile a "democratic El Dorado". On 7 June Johann Friedrich von Salm-Grumbach was appointed commander-in-chief and Ondaatje as liaison officer. [26] but he was not recognized by all officers. [27] [28] [29] Salm's new powers were legally controversial. [30] On the 28 June, he marched to Woerden to capture princess Wilhelmina of Prussia , the wife of the Prince of Orange. [31] Salm suggested conquering Palace Soestdijk and besieging Amersfoort. [32] In August 60 French gunners arrived in the city. [33] When Frederick William II of Prussia invaded the Dutch Republic, Frederick left Utrecht on 16 September 1787 and hurried to Uithoorn and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, without giving battle. [34] On Thursday, September 20, 1787, the Stadtholder and his wife arrived in The Hague.

In Amsterdam Salm's escape was very resented, and if he had arrived there he would certainly have been harmed. [35] This city, to which the Defense Commission had hastily retreated at Salm's request, [36] [37] closed the gates to Salm's troops. [38]

Legacy

There are different versions of what afterwards. In order to avoid a possible death penalty, Salm decided to flee. He is reported to have hired a boat in Katwijk and reached Hamburg accompanied by Ondaatje. He then visited his brother in Grumbach in the Rhineland-Palatinate. [39] He is then said to have acquired an estate near Bar-le-Duc (Lorraine), which he called “Holland's folly”.

In the summer of 1788, one of the leading patriots Pieter Paulus, on a visit to Paris, refused to admit him. [40] In 1791, Quint Ondaatje, for four months his personal assistant, wrote him an apology. [41]

Frederick endured heavy criticism from Thomas Jefferson: ...a prince without talents, without courage, and without principle. He might have held out in Utrecht for a considerable time, but he surrendered the place without firing a gun, literally run away & hid himself so that for months it was not known what was become of him. Amsterdam was then attacked and capitulated (on 10 October). [42]

Related Research Articles

<i>Patriottentijd</i> Period of violence and sociopolitical instability in the Netherlands between 1780 and 1787

The Patriottentijd was a period of political instability in the Dutch Republic between approximately 1780 and 1787. Its name derives from the Patriots faction who opposed the rule of the stadtholder, William V, Prince of Orange, and his supporters who were known as Orangists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batavian Revolution</span> 1781–1795 period in Dutch history

The Batavian Revolution was a time of political, social and cultural turmoil at the end of the 18th century that marked the end of the Dutch Republic and saw the proclamation of the Batavian Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exercitiegenootschap</span>

An exercitiegenootschap or militia was a military organisation in the 18th century Netherlands, in the form of an armed private organization with a democratically chosen administration, aiming to train the citizens and the lower bourgeoisie in use of muskets. Exercitiegenootschappen were propagated by Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, who translated an old book (1732) by Andrew Fletcher on arming a nation's citizens and so got the idea from Scotland. He also saw them as necessary due to the serious decline in the existing, Orangist schutterijen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pieter Paulus</span> Dutch jurist and politician

Pieter Paulus was a Dutch jurist, fiscal (prosecutor) of the Admiralty of the Maze and politician. He was one of the ideologues of the Dutch Patriot movement and is considered by many Dutch as the founder of their democracy and political unity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Wiselius</span> Dutch lawyer and politician (1769–1845)

Samuel Iperuszoon, Knight Wiselius was a successful Dutch lawyer and a prominent Patriot and democrat, involved in the dismantling of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the negotiations over the Cape. Wiselius was a witty, Voltairian spirit with political views far ahead of his time who would end his days writing dramas on Classical themes. Wiselius corresponded with nearly all the main players at the time of the Batavian Republic and it would be impossible to know that period completely without his carefully kept and neatly written correspondence. He was also a poet, historian and superintendent of the police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornelis Krayenhoff</span>

Corneli(u)s Rudolphus Theodorus, Baron Krayenhoff was a physicist, artist, general, hydraulic engineer, cartographer and – against his will and for only a short time – Dutch Minister of War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quint Ondaatje</span> Dutch patriot and revolutionary politician

Pieter Philip Jurriaan Quint Ondaatje was an illustrious Dutch patriot and influential revolutionary politician at the end of the 18th century. Ondaatje is regarded as a pioneer of Dutch democracy. When Utrecht was besieged by States army troops he allied himself with Rhinegrave von Salm, entrusted with the defence Holland and Utrecht. At the end of 1787 he lived as refugee in Brussels and French Flanders. From 1795 he served the Batavian Republic and in 1806 the Kingdom of Holland. Up to the Hundred Days he worked in Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam</span>

The Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam refers to the transfer of power in the city of Amsterdam on 18 January 1795 to a Revolutionary Committee of the new Batavian Republic. The same day the stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, William V, Prince of Orange fled the country. Amsterdam was the first city that declared itself in the Batavian Revolution that brought about the Batavian Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornelis van der Aa</span> Dutch writer and bookseller

Cornelis van der Aa was a bookseller in Haarlem when he was sentenced in 1796 by the schepenen of the city to five years of imprisonment and consecutive perpetual exile from the department in Holland for political reasons as he was a follower of the stadtholders. At the end of 1799, he was released and settled in Utrecht as a bookseller. From then on until his death in 1816 in Amsterdam, where he moved to later on, he spent his time writing books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes Munnicks</span>

Johannes Munnicks or Jean Munniks, Munnix, Munnicx, Munnigk, Munick, Jan Munnickius was a Dutch Golden Age medical doctor and writer from the Northern Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adriaan Kluit</span>

Adriaan Kluit was a Dutch scholar, important in Dutch linguistics. He was born in Dordrecht. He was rector of the Latin school in Alkmaar and Middelburg. In 1779 he became the professor of history at the University of Leiden, remaining there until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prussian invasion of Holland</span> Prussian military campaign in 1787 in the Dutch Republic

The Prussian invasion of Holland was a military campaign under the leadership of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, against the rise of the democratic Patriot movement in the Dutch Republic in September–October 1787 with the aim of disempowering the patriots and disarming the Free Corps, as well as reinstating the William V of Orange as hereditary stadtholder in the Dutch Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Act of Guarantee</span>

The Act of Guarantee of the hereditary stadtholderate was a document from 1788, in which the seven provinces of the States General and the representative of Drenthe declared, amongst other things, that the admiralty and captain-generalship were hereditary, and together with the hereditary stadtholderate would henceforth be an integrated part of the constitution of the Dutch Republic. Moreover, members of the House of Orange-Nassau would have the exclusive privilege to hold the office. The Act was in force until the Batavian Republic was established in 1795.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Jutphaas</span>

The Battle of Jutphaas, also known as the Battle of the Vaart or the Battle of Vreeswijk, occurred on 9 May 1787 on the banks of the Vaartsche Rijn canal near Jutphaas and Vreeswijk between Orangists and Patriots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adriaan van Zeebergh</span>

Adriaan van Zeebergh was a Dutch politician during the Patriottentijd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendrik Daniëlsz Hooft</span>

Hendrik Daniëlszoon Hooft, Ambachtsheer of Urk and Emmeloord was a Dutch politician during the Patriottentijd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pieter 't Hoen</span> Dutch journalist, poet and politician

Pieter 't Hoen was a Dutch journalist, poet, and politician who played an important role during the Patriottentijd as the editor of De Post van den Neder-Rhijn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joachim Rendorp</span>

Joachim Rendorp, Vrijheer of Marquette was a Dutch politician of the Patriottentijd in the Dutch Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Breda (1793)</span> Siege of the War of the First Coalition

The siege of Breda took place from 21 to 27 February 1793 in the course of the Flanders Campaign during the War of the First Coalition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Hendrik Maronier</span> Dutch writer

Jan Hendrik Maronier was a Dutch pastor and writer.

References

  1. ↑ Het Utrechts Archief
  2. ↑ August Ludwig von Schlözer: Ludwig Ernst, Herzog zu Braunschweig und Lüneburg, kaiserl. königl. und des h. Römischen Reiches FeldMarschall etc.: Ein Aktenmäßiger Bericht […]. 3. Ausgabe, Vandenhoek-Ruprechtscher Verlag, Göttingen 1787, S. 615 (PDF)
  3. ↑ Pierre de Witt (1886) Une Invasion prussienne en Hollande en 1787. Revue des Deux Mondes, 3e période, tome 74, p. 129-164.
  4. ↑ H.T. Colenbrander (1899) De patriottentijd. Deel 3: 1786-1787, Register
  5. ↑ Simon Schama (1977) Patriots and Liberators: Revolution in the Netherlands, 1780-1813, p. 108, 739
  6. ↑ Eclaircissemens importans Concernant le Complot de l'Enlévement des Papiers de S.A.S. Mgr. le Duc de Brunswick, relaas met bewijsstukken van het complot door Varanchan de St.-Génié en de Rijngraaf van Salm Grumbach om belastende documenten van de hertog van Brunswijk in 1785 in handen te spelen van de auditeur-militair van de Republiek te Maastricht. Gedrukt, 1786
  7. ↑ DBNL (1869) Mr. Ph. Jurriaan Quint Ondaatje von M.P.J. Ondaatje, p. 58
  8. ↑ DBNL (1869) Mr. Ph. Jurriaan Quint Ondaatje von M.P.J. Ondaatje, p. 55
  9. ↑ Ludwig Ernst, Herzog Zu Braunschweig Und Lüneburg, kaiserl. königl. und des h. Römischen Reichs FeldMarschall, Göttingen 1787, S. 615
  10. ↑ Theodor Philipp von Pfau (1790) Geschichte des Preussischen Feldzuges in der Provinz Holland im Jahr 1787, S. 7-8
  11. ↑ Gottlob Friedrich Krebel: Europäisches Genealogisches Handbuch. Johann Friedrich Gleditsche Handlung, Leipzig 1790, S. 32 (Google Books)
  12. ↑ Genealogisches und Staats-Handbuch. 65. Jahrgang, Verlag von Johann Friedrich Wenner, Frankfurt am Main 1827, S. 555, 557 (Google Books)
  13. ↑ Hermann Wendel: Die beiden Salm, ein Justizirrtum der Geschichte. In: Frankfurter Zeitung, 24. Februar 1933; vgl. Annales Historiques de la Révolution Française. Vol. 10 (1933), S. 360
  14. ↑ Georg Weber (1888) Allgemeine Weltgeschichte: mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Geistes- und Culturlebens der Völker und mit Benutzung der neueren geschichtlichen Forschungen. Das Zeitalter der Reformen und Revolutionen, Band 13, S. 385, 387
  15. ↑ Friedrich Christoph Schlosser: Geschiedenis der achttiende eeuw en der negentiende tot den ondergang van het Fransche keizerrijk. Band 3, van Druten & Bleeker, Sneek 1859, S. 304, 309 (Google Books)
  16. ↑ Olaf van Nimwegen (2017) De Nederlandse Burgeroorlog (1748-1815)
  17. ↑ Peter Tomson (2021) Cornelis van Foreest: Beginselvast bestuurder in een tijdperk van revoluties, S. 55
  18. ↑ Bernhard Peter: Ein Erbstreit und die heraldischen Folgen: Das Schicksal des Limpurger Territorium
  19. ↑ Frédéric Schoell: Cours d’histoire des états européens. Band 40: Histoire du XVIII siècle. Duncker et Humblot, Berlin 1833, S. 308
  20. ↑ Jan Willem van Sypesteijn: Geschiedenis van het regiment Hollandsche hussaren. Gebroeders van Cleef, Amsterdam und Den Haag 1849, S. 2
  21. ↑ Arie Rens: Boreel. Het verhaal van een Regiment Huzaren. S. 12
  22. ↑ Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer: Handboek der geschiedenis van het vaderland. Band 3, J. A. Wormser, Amsterdam 1895, Nr. 752
  23. ↑ Friedrich Christoph Schlosser: Geschiedenis der achttiende eeuw en der negentiende tot den ondergang van het Fransche keizerrijk. Band 3, van Druten & Bleeker, Sneek 1859, S. 304, 309
  24. ↑ Arend Stubbe: Uniformen van het Legioen van de Rijngraaf van Salm. Utrecht 1785, Serie von Drucken, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
  25. ↑ (in Dutch) Christiaens, W. & M. Evers (2002) Patriotse illusies in Amsterdam en Harderwijk, p. 106
  26. ↑ Inventaris van het archief van de Commissie van Defensie te Woerden, 1787
  27. ↑ Paul Krijnen: Pieter Quint Ondaatje. Revolutieleider in Utrecht. 2021, p. 56–58
  28. ↑ Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis der omwenteling in 1787, p. 125
  29. ↑ M. P. J. Ondaatje: Mr. Ph. Jurriaan Quint Ondaatje. In: Vaderlandsche letteroefeningen. Jaargang 1869, p. 55
  30. ↑ Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis der omwenteling in 1787
  31. ↑ (in Dutch) Knoops, W.A. & F.Ch. Meijer (1987) Goejanverwellesluis. De aanhouding van de prinses van Oranje op 28 juni 1787 door het vrijkorps van Gouda, p. 30, 63.
  32. ↑ O. van Nimwegen, Willem V, S. 336
  33. ↑ Hulzen, A. van (1966) Utrecht in de patriottentijd, p. 289
  34. ↑ S. Schama, Patriots and Liberators, Revolution in the Netherland 1780-1813, p. 129-30
  35. ↑ Memorie voor den Rhijngraaf van Salm, p. 25–28
  36. ↑ Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis der omwenteling in 1787, S. 178
  37. ↑ Johannes Steyn: De Leidsman der Jeugt. Vaderlandsche Historie. Band 14, M. Westerman & Zoon, Amsterdam 1840, S. 117 (Google Books)
  38. ↑ Theodor Philipp von Pfau: Histoire de la campagne des Prussiens en Hollande en MDCCLXXVII. Berlin 1790, S. 82 (Google Books)
  39. ↑ (in Dutch) Nieuwe Nederlandse Jaarboeken 1787, 5386.
  40. ↑ (in Dutch) Vles, E.J. (2004) Pieter Paulus (1753–1796) Patriot en Staatsman, p. 84.
  41. ↑ Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis der omwenteling in 1787
  42. ↑ Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on Early Career
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.