Ludwig Freiherr Roth von Schreckenstein
Encyclopedia
Ludwig Johann Karl Gregor Eusebius Freiherr Roth von Schreckenstein (born 16 November 1789 in Immendingen
Immendingen
Immendingen is a town in the district of Tuttlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....

; died 30 May 1858 in Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...

) was a Prussian General of the cavalry and Minister of War
Prussian Minister of War
The Prussian War Ministry was gradually established between 1808 and 1809 as part of a series of reforms initiated by the Military Reorganization Commission created after the disastrous Treaty of Paris. The War Ministry was to help bring the army under constitutional control, and, along with the...

.

Her was the son of Friedrich Freiherr Roth von Schreckenstein (1753–1808) and of Kunigunde von Riedheim (1767–1828) and belonged to old Swabian Reichrsritter
Imperial Knight
The Free Imperial Knights, or the Knights of the Empire was an organisation of free nobles of the Holy Roman Empire, whose direct overlord was the Emperor, remnants of the medieval free nobility and the ministeriales...

family Roth von Schreckenstein, which had its ancestral seat in Immendingen
Immendingen
Immendingen is a town in the district of Tuttlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....

.

Already in 1806, Schreckenstein became a squire at the court of Frederick Augustus I of Saxony
Frederick Augustus I of Saxony
Frederick Augustus I was King of Saxony from the House of Wettin. He was also Elector Frederick Augustus III of Saxony and Duke Frederick Augustus I of Warsaw...

. On 16 April 1809 he received his commission, and joined the Saxonian cuirassier regiment of Zastrow as a Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 and in 1812 participated in Napoleon's campaign in Russia with the Grande Armée. There he was on the staff of General Johann von Thielmann
Johann von Thielmann
Johann Adolf Freiherr von Thielmann was a Saxon soldier who served with Saxony, Prussia and France during the Napoleonic Wars.-Biography:...

, and earned great credit in September 1812 at the victory of the Battle of Borodino
Battle of Borodino
The Battle of Borodino , fought on September 7, 1812, was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the French invasion of Russia and all Napoleonic Wars, involving more than 250,000 troops and resulting in at least 70,000 casualties...

.

On 15 May 1815, Schreckenstein joined the Prussian service as a Rittmeister
Rittmeister
Rotamaster was the military rank of a commissioned cavalry officer in charge of a squadron , the equivalent of O3 or Captain, in the German-speaking armies, Austro-Hungarian, Polish-Lithuanian, Russian and some other states.The exact name of this rank maintains a variety of spellings in different...

and adjutant to Thielmann. He fought with the III Prussian Army Corps in 1815 at the battles of Ligny
Battle of Ligny
The Battle of Ligny was the last victory of the military career of Napoleon I. In this battle, French troops of the Armée du Nord under Napoleon's command, defeated a Prussian army under Field Marshal Blücher, near Ligny in present-day Belgium. The bulk of the Prussian army survived, however, and...

 and Wavre
Battle of Wavre
The Battle of Wavre was the final major military action of the Hundred Days campaign and the Napoleonic Wars. It was fought on 18-19 June 1815 between the Prussian rearguard under the command of General Johann von Thielmann and three corps of the French army under the command of Marshal Grouchy. A...

 during the Belgian campaign. Promoted to Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

 in 1816, in 1824 he was appointed staff officer of the 8. Husarenregiment in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

. There, on 4 October 1828, he married the Countess Luise von Hatzfeldt-Trachenberg (born 21 November 1800; died 22 January 1835 in Aschersleben
Aschersleben
Aschersleben is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approx. 22 km east of Quedlinburg, and 45 km northwest of Halle .-Pre-20th century:...

), who was the daughter of Prince (after 1803) Franz Ludwig von Hatzfeldt, Herzog von Trachenberg (1756–1827), royal Prussian ambassador in Vienna, and Friederike Karoline Countess of Schulenburg-Kehnert (1779–1832).

Also in times of peace, he could always be sure of the favour of his superiors and preferment in promotions. There followed his appointment to Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

 in 1830 and to Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 in 1834. In 1837 he received the command over the 13. Kavalleriebrigade in Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...

.

In 1841 Schreckenstein was promoted to Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

. During the Revolutions of 1848 he was a division commander in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

. To put an end to the revolutionary fighting in Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....

, he declared martial law over the city and disbanded its militia. On 10 May 1848 he was appointed a Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

 and a month later, on 25 June, was appointed the successor of August von Kanitz as Prussian Minister of War
Prussian Minister of War
The Prussian War Ministry was gradually established between 1808 and 1809 as part of a series of reforms initiated by the Military Reorganization Commission created after the disastrous Treaty of Paris. The War Ministry was to help bring the army under constitutional control, and, along with the...

. After a clash between citizens and the military on 31 July 1848 in Schweidnitz, Schreckenstein submitted his resignation in September, under pressure from the Frankfurt Parliament
Frankfurt Parliament
The Frankfurt Assembly was the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany. Session was held from May 18, 1848 to May 31, 1849 in the Paulskirche at Frankfurt am Main...

. The entire war ministry went with him.

On 19 April 1849, Schreckenstein once again joined the military, and took over as commander of the Guard Corps during the First Schleswig War. In September of that year, he was placed in command of the Prussian troops in Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....

, Hohenzollern and Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

. On 2 June 1853, Schreckenstein was appointed General of the Cavalry and general officer commanding of the VII. Armeekorps. In 1857, he was one of the first to receive the House Order of Hohenzollern
House Order of Hohenzollern
The House Order of Hohenzollern was an order of chivalry of the House of Hohenzollern. It was both a military and a civil award...

.

He died at the castle of Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...

.

Works

In the 1850s, Roth von Schreckenstein wrote various works on military theory:
  • Gedanken über die Organisation und den Gebrauch der Cavallerie im Felde. Berlin 1849.
  • Die Cavallerie in der Schlacht an der Moskwa. Münster 1855.
  • Vorlesung über den Sicherheitsdienst im Felde nebst Betrachtung über Taktik und Strategie. Münster 1858.
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