Bruno von François

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Bruno von François
Generalmajor Bruno von Francois.jpg
Birth name Bruno Hugo Karl Friedrich von François
Birth date 29 June 1818(1818-06-29)
Place of birth Magdeburg, Province of Saxony, Kingdom of Prussia, German Confederation
Death date ⚔ 6 August 1870 (aged 52)
Place of death Spichern, France
Resting place Honorary cemetery of the German-French Garden in Saarbrücken, Germany
Allegiance Germany Prussian Eagle.jpg Kingdom of Prussia
Wappen des Deutschen Bundes.jpg German Confederation
Coat of arms of North German Confederation.png North German Confederation
Service/branch War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army
Years of service 1834–1870
Rank Major General
Commands held 27. Infanterie-Brigade
Battles/wars
Awards Pour le Mérite
Iron Cross
Prussian Crown Order
Red Eagle Order
Relations ∞ 1847 Helene von Wentzel

Bruno Hugo Karl Friedrich von François (29 June 1818 – 6 August 1870) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, finally Major General and Knight of the Order "Pour le Mérite". He was killed in action during the Franco-German War.

Life

Storming of the Red Mountain of Spicheren on 6 August 1870 with Major General von Francois leading his men with raised sword and trumpeter signals.
The grave inscription reads: “He fell hit by five enemy bullets in the victorious attack during the storming of the Spichernberge on 6 August 1870. 'The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.' (Proverbs 21:31)"

Bruno von François joined the Prussian Army, like his ancestors, when he was barely 17 years old on 29 December 1834. He served with the joined the 37. Infanterie-Regiment (5. Reserve-Regiment) in Luxembourg (commanded by his father) and was commissioned (2nd Lieutenant) on 20 January 1836. From 1839 to 1842 he was assigned to the General War School, and from 1843 to 1844 he was with the Training Infantry Battalion. On 31 March 1846, he was assigned to the Prussian commandery (Kommandantur) of Luxembourg (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg as a member of the German Confederation) as adjutant to Prince Friedrich von Preußen (1794–1863). On 27 March 1847, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and transferred to the 4th Westphalian Infantry Regiment No. 17, but still serving with the commandery. In 1853, he was transferred to the 39th Infantry Regiment, but remained in command of the Adjutancy in Luxembourg under Lieutenant General Leopold Heinrich von Wedell (Adjutant General and Military Governor of the Federal Fortress of Luxembourg).

On 21 July 1856, he was appointed company commander in the 39th Infantry Regiment, in 1858, as major, transferred to the 10th Infantry Regiment. In march 1859, he was appointed commander of the 5th combined Reserve Battalion, on 20 September 1859, he was appointed commander of the Fusilier Battalion/10th Infantry Regiment. Due to the Polish January Uprising in 1863, von Francois was ordered to occupy the Polish border near Kempen, later Krotoschin and Breslau. In 1864, he fought in Jutland. On 4 January 1866, he became leader of the 3. Posensches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 58 and was appointed commander on 3 April 1866. As such, he took part in the German War of Brothers. On 16 July 1870, he became leader and on 1 August 1870 commander of the 27th Infantry Brigade. As such, he took part in the Franco-Prussian War. He was also given command of the Lower Rhine Fusilier Regiment No. 39 and the Hanover Infantry Regiment No. 74 during the battles.

Death

With his troops he took part in the Battle of Weissenburg on 4 August 1870 under the leadership of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia and in the Battle of Spichern on 6 August 1870. Shortly after he reached the plateau of the Spicherer Höhe (southwest of Saarbrücken) after storming the Red Mountain, he was hit under the raised right arm and collapsed. Hit by four more bullets from snipers, he died after 3 p.m. His last words were:

“It is a beautiful death on the battlefield; I am happy to die because I see that the battle is moving forward.”

The "New Free Press Vienna" (Neue freie Presse Wien) honored him in an article on 12 August 1870, among other things. with the following words:

“He was a military man through and through, with a diverse culture of mind and no refinement of form, a whole, undivided, steel-hard and pure character, for whom honor and duty were above all else and who always saw himself and his sons first and foremost as the flag and the consecrated to the Vaterland.”

Family

Bruno von Francois, who came primarily from a German family and from a partly Huguenot family on his father's side, was the son of the Prussian lieutenant general Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Christoph von François (1785–1855) and his wife, Betty, née von Vangerow (1799–1844). Karl von François, a Saxon military cadet, Prussian, later Württemberg and then, as of 1809, Freikorps officer under Ferdinand von Schill, joined the Sum Hussar Regiment of the Imperial Russian Army in 1812 as a bitter opponent of the French occupation in Germany and took part in the battles against Napoleon Bonaparte (Coalition Wars). He returned to the Prussian Army in 1815. Bruno had one brother and five sisters, among them the writer Clotilde Hildegard Amalie Josephine, married von Schwartzkoppen (1830–1910). His only brother Udo von François (b. 25 July 1833) was a Prussian officer and a Major of the Union Army during the American Civil War during which he was killed in action in 1862.

Marriage

On 13 August 1847 in Luxembourg (German Confederation), 1st Lieutenant von François married his fiancée from Koblenz Marie Amalie Helene von Wentzel (1829–1909), a daughter of Lieutenant General Karl Wilhelm Leopold Alexander von Wentzel. The marriage resulted in seven children:[1]

  • Karl Wilhelm Bruno (1848–1850)
  • Alfred Karl Bruno (1849–1911), Major General; ⚭ 1892 Elisabeth Luise Erdmute Emilie von Petery (b. 20 October 1863), three sons
  • Olga Marie Friederike (1851–1879)
  • Curt Karl Bruno (1852–1931), military cadet, veteran of the Franco-Prussian War, Major in the General Staff, later officer of the Schutztruppe and founder of the city of Windhoek in German Southwest Africa
    • ⚭ Amalia Gereses, daughter of a Damara king; one daughter (Josephine)
    • ⚭ 1897 Amalie Gertrud Margarethe "Margret" Meyer zu Bohmte (b. 17 July 1880); four children
  • Hermann Karl Bruno (1856–1933), General of the Infantry; ⚭ 1878 Elisabeth Emma Olga von Besser, one son
  • Hugo Karl Bruno (1861–1904), officer of the Prussian Army (Captain) and the Schutztruppe as well as farmer in German Southwest Africa, ⚔ during the Hottentot War; ⚭ Else Goedecke, two children
  • Helene (1867–1869)

Promotions

  • 29 December 1834 Musketier and Avantageur (Officer Candidate)
  • 30 June 1835 Portepee-Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
  • 20 January 1836 Seconde-Lieutenant (2nd Lieutenant)
  • 27 March 1847 Premier-Lieutenant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 6 March 1853 Hauptmann (Captain)
  • 16 October 1858 Major
  • 17 March 1863 Oberst-Lieutenant (Lieutenant Colonel)
  • 8 June 1866 Oberst (Colonel)
  • 26 July 1870 General-Major (Major General)

Awards, decorations and honours

Honours

  • 1880 Depiction of François as a war hero in the painting “Storm on the Spicherer Höhe” by the painter Anton von Werner
  • 1895 Life-size statue “Von François with trumpeter” by sculptor Wilhelm Schneider to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Spichern
  • Françoisstraße in Saarbrücken, Alt-Saarbrücken district
  • Von François Memorial Trail (François-Gedenkweg) to the memorials on the Spicherer Heights
  • Fenced-in memorial stone at the place of death on the Red Mountain of Spichern at the site of the fallen hero
    • in the immediate vicinity of the memorial for the 1st Hanover Infantry Regiment No. 74

Gallery

  • Bruno Hugo Karl Friedrich von François, Die Ritter des Ordens pour le mérite.png
  • Bruno von François.jpg
  • Clotilde François von Schwartzkoppen.jpg


References

  1. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Briefadeligen Häuser, Gotha 1907, p. 188
  2. ↑ Die Ritter des Ordens pour le mérite, Zweiter Band 1812 bis 1913, Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1913, p. 487
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