Peter Wittgenstein
Encyclopedia
Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi
Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi is a town located where Alta River flows into Trubizh River in the Kiev Oblast in central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi Raion , the town itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...
– 11 June 1843, Lemberg
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
, Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
) was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
distinguished for his services in the Napoleonic wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
.
Life
Born Count Ludwig Adolf Peter of Sayn-Wittgenstein-LudwigsburgSayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg was a side line of the Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg family, created by Graf Casimir for his brother, Ludwig Francis zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg...
, he was descended from a family of independent counts whose seat was in Berleburg (present day North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
).
Military career
He was promoted to Major in 1793 of the Ukrainian light cavalry regiment. He fought with the unit in the Kościuszko UprisingKosciuszko Uprising
The Kościuszko Uprising was an uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia led by Tadeusz Kościuszko in Poland, Belarus and Lithuania in 1794...
. Promoted Colonel in 1798, and promoted to major general 1799, in 1800 he took command of the Mariupolski Hussars Regiment.
In 1805, he fought at Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...
, in 1806 against the Turks, and in 1807 against Napoleon at Friedland
Battle of Friedland
The Battle of Friedland saw Napoleon I's French army decisively defeat Count von Bennigsen's Russian army about twenty-seven miles southeast of Königsberg...
and against the Swedes in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
In the war of 1812 he commanded the right wing army of the Russian Army, which he commanded in the First
First battle of Polotsk
In the First battle of Polotsk, which took place on 17–18 August 1812, Russian troops under the command of Peter Wittgenstein fought French and Bavarian troops led by Nicolas Oudinot and stopped their advance to Saint Petersburg...
and Second battle of Polotsk
Second Battle of Polotsk
The Second Battle of Polotsk took place during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. In this encounter the Russians under General Peter Wittgenstein attacked and defeated a Franco-Bavarian force under Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr. In the aftermath of this success, the Russians took Polotsk and dismantled...
. It was the battle that decided fate of Saint-Petersburg. Alexander I awarded him the Order of St. George
Order of St. George
The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George (also known as Order of St. George the Triumphant, Russian: Военный орден Св...
. He tried to combine with Pavel Chichagov
Pavel Chichagov
Pavel Vasilievich Chichagov or Tchichagov was a Russian military and naval commander of the Napoleonic wars.He was born in 1767 in Saint Petersburg, the son of Admiral Vasili Chichagov and his English wife. At the age of 12 he was enlisted in the Guard. In 1782 he served in a campaign in the...
, at the Battle of Berezina
Battle of Berezina
The Battle of Berezina took place November 26–29, 1812 between the French army of Napoleon, retreating after his invasion of Russia and crossing the Berezina , and the Russian armies under Mikhail Kutuzov, Peter Wittgenstein and Admiral Pavel Chichagov. The battle ended with a mixed outcome...
, and later combined with the Prussian army corps under Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg.
In the campaign of 1813 in January, he took over the command of the Russian army after Kutuzov
Kutuzov
Kutuzov may refer to:* Mikhail Kutuzov, Russian field marshal during Napoleonic era* Named after Mikhail Kutuzov** Order of Kutuzov, military award** Kutuzov Embankment, embankment and street** Operation Kutuzov, military operation in WWII...
's death, and commanded the Russian army at Lützen
Battle of Lützen (1813)
In the Battle of Lützen , Napoleon I of France lured a combined Prussian and Russian force into a trap, halting the advances of the Sixth Coalition after his devastating losses in Russia. The Russian commander, Prince Peter Wittgenstein, attempting to undo Napoleon's capture of Leipzig, attacked...
and Bautzen
Battle of Bautzen
In the Battle of Bautzen a combined Russian/Prussian army was pushed back by Napoleon, but escaped destruction, some sources claim, because Michel Ney failed to block their retreat...
. But after the defeats of the Spring campaign, he laid down this command and led an army corps during the Battle of Dresden
Battle of Dresden
The Battle of Dresden was fought on 26–27 August 1813 around Dresden, Germany, resulting in a French victory under Napoleon I against forces of the Sixth Coalition of Austrians, Russians and Prussians under Field Marshal Schwartzenberg. However, Napoleon's victory was not as complete as it could...
and Battle of Leipzig
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...
.
In the campaign of 1814, he led the 6th Corps under Schwarzenberg
Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg
Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg (or Charles Philip, Prince of Schwarzenberg (April 18, 1771 – October 15, 1820) was an Austrian field marshal.- Life :...
, and he was severely wounded at Bar-sur-Aube
Battle of Bar-sur-Aube
The Battle of Bar-sur-Aube was fought on February 27, 1814, between the First French Empire and the Austrian Empire. The French were led by Nicolas Oudinot, while the Austrians and their Bavarian allies, forming the Army of Bohemia, were led by Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg...
.
In 1823 he was promoted Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
, and in 1828 he was appointed to command the Russian army in the war against Turkey. But ill health soon obliged him to retire. In 1834 the King of Prussia gave him the title of Fürst (Prince) zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.
Family
His parents were Count Christian Louis Casimir of Sayn-Wittgenstein-LudwigsburgChristian Louis Casimir of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg
Count Christian Louis Casimir of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg was a Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg in 1750-1796....
and his first wife Countess Amalie Ludowika Finck von Finckenstein
Countess Amalie Ludowika Finck von Finckenstein
Amalie Ludowika Finck von Finckenstein was the first wife of Count Christian Louis Casimir of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg and mother of the Russian Field Marshal Prince Peter Khristianovich Wittgenstein....
.
On 27 June 1798 he married Countess Antonia Cäcilie Snarska and had in this marriage 11 children.
He died on 11 June 1843 in Lemberg (Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
), where he looked after estates of his son Lev Petrovich
Ludwig zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
Prince Ludwig Adolf Friedrich of Sayn-Wittgenstein was a Russian aristocrat of German descent...
.
External links
- Kamenka, Wittgenstein's paradise
- "Ludwig Adolf Peter zu Sayn-Wittgenstein", German Wikipedia
- "Витгенштейн, Пётр Христианович", Russian Wikipedia