Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal

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Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal
Karl Konstantin Albrecht Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal.png
Generalfeldmarschall Dr. phil. h. c. Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal (here still General der Infanterie)
Birth name Karl Konstantin Albrecht Leonhard von Blumenthal
Birth date 30 July 1810(1810-07-30)
Place of birth Schwedt, Kingdom of Prussia
Death date 21 December 1900 (aged 90)
Place of death Gut Quellendorf, Province of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
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
 German Empire
Service/branch War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army
Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
Rank Generalfeldmarschall[1]
Commands held 3. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 71
(8.5.1860 to 10.2.1863)
14th Infantry Division
(30.10.1866 to July 1870 )
IV Corps
(2.10.1871 to 12.4.1888)
Battles/wars First Schleswig War
Second Schleswig War (1864)
Austro-Prussian War
Franco-German War
Awards Pour le Mérite with Oak Leaves
Iron Cross (1870)
Relations ∞ 1839 mit Delicia Anna, widowed von Vyner, née Eathorpe

Karl Konstantin Albrecht Leonhard von Blumenthal auf Gottschalk und Donastedt, since 1883 Graf von Blumenthal (b. 20 July 1810 in Schwedt an der Oder; d. 21 December 1900 on Estate Quellendorf by Köthen), was a German officer and Prussian Generalfeldmarschall.

Life

Proclamation of the German Empire on 18 January 1871, painted by Anton von Werner; Chief of the Generral Staff of the 3rd Army (under Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl von Preußen) Generalleutnant von Blumenthal (with red sash) to the left of Otto von Bismarck and at the side of General der Infanterie Jakob Ritter von Hartmann.

The general is chiefly remembered for his decisive intervention at the Battle of Königgrätz in 1866 during the German War of Brothers as Chief of Staff of the Second Prussian Army under Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, but also his victories at Wörth and Weissenburg as Chief of Staff of the 3rd German Army, and above all his refusal in the Franco-German War to bombard Paris in 1870 during the siege, which he directed.

Von Blumenthal was repeatedly sent abroad on military assignments. In November 1883, he accompanied Crown Prince Friedrich to Spain and Italy. The current Emperor Friedrich III appointed Graf von Blumenthal on 12 March 1888 to Generalfeldmarschall and soon thereafter to Inspector of the Fourth Army Inspectorate and Chief of the Riding Feldjäger Corps (Reitendes Feldjägerkorps). Between 1892 and 1898, he was inspector of the III. Army Inspection.

On 28 March 1898, at his own request, he was relieved of his position as Commanding General of the IV Army Corps and relieved of his position as Inspector General. He remained chief of the Reitendes Feldjägerkorps until the end of his life; He left the city of Magdeburg after 17 years of activity, highly revered and valued by the citizenry.

Legacy

He was noted (among others by the English journalist William Howard Russell[2] who followed him during the Franco-Prussian War) for his kindliness and sense of humor. Like the Crown Prince Frederick, Helmuth von Moltke[3] and other key Prussian leaders, he had an English wife, and it was widely thought in conservative circles that this was the basis of a liberal Prussian clique. His least appreciated but arguably most important work was the development of the doctrine of Fire and Infiltration, the basis of Blitzkrieg.

Family

Leonhard was the son of Friedrich Albrecht Ludwig von Blumenthal (1774–1813) and his wife Friederike Charlotte Dorothea, née von Below (1783–1853). Generalmajor Karl Eduard Louis von Blumenthal (1811–1903) was his younger brother. The father of the two was Rittmeister in the Brandenburg dragoon regiment, which consisted of the remains and the depot of the Dragoner-Regiment No. 1 had been rebuilt. Ludwig died in Potsdam from wounds sustained in the Battle of Dennewitz during the wars of liberation (de). The wealthy maternal grandfather took care of the three-year-old. His family held considerable estates in Pomerania and he grew up on his grandfather's estate at Reddentin, near Stolp.

Marriage

On 8 August 1839, Sekondelieutenant von Blumenthal married Delicia Anna, widowed von Vyner, née Eathorpe (b. 12 May 1813; d. 29 January 1890). He had met the Englishwoman in Koblenz, where her mother lived. The marriage produced six children:

  • Klara (b. 9 July 1840; d. 2 March 1913)
    • ∞ Rudolf Ritter und Edlem von Oetinger (b. 1 January 1830; d. 27 December 1920), Generalleutnant[4]
  • Gustav Edmund Albrecht Harvey (b. 23 July 1842; d. 7 February 1918), Generalleutnant
    • ∞ Therese Gräfin Finck von Finckenstein (b. 23 February 1863; d. 29 February 1936)
  • Agnes (b. 24 February 1844; d. 16 November 1922)
    • ∞ Otto Wichard Karl von Moellendorff-Krampfer (b. 17 April 1829; d. 25 July 1894), Majoratsherrn auf Krampfer bei Perleberg, Knight of Justice (Rechtsritter) of the Johanniter Order (Johanniterorden), preußischer Rittmeister a. D.
  • Laura (b. 10 March 1846: d. 5 March 1929)
    • ∞ Reimar von Moellendorff (b. 11 October 1830; d. 22 June 1894), preußischer Major a. D., Herr auf Horst und Blumenthal
  • Friedrich Christian Kuno Hermann Otto (b. 27 May 1851; d. 25 May 1909), Oberst a. D.
    • ∞ Marie Winkler (b. 26 July 1859; d. 3 September 1897)
  • Alexander Ferdinand Matthias Adam Heinrich (b. 21 November 1855; d. 5 October 1862)

Promotions

  • 28 July 1827 Sekondelieutenant
    • Coming from the cadet corps (since 1820, when he was 10 years old, first in the Culmer Voranstalt, then in the Berlin Hauptanstalt) he was transferred to the Garde Reserve Infantry Regiment (later the Garde Fusilier Regiment).
    • Allgemeine Kriegsschule, language studies in Belgium and France, after his marriage he soon became fluent in English
    • 1837 to 1845 Adjutant and Rechnungsführer in the Garde-Landwehr-Bataillon Koblenz
  • 14 January 1844 Premierlieutenant (after nearly seventeen years of service)
  • 6 January 1849 Hauptmann (in the Generalstab der Armee)
  • 8 June 1853 Major
  • 22 May 1858 Oberstlieutenant
  • 1 July 1860 Oberst
  • 25 June 1864 Generalmajor
  • 30 October 1866 Generalleutnant
  • 22 March 1873 General der Infanterie
  • 15 March 1888 General-Feldmarschall (for the 60th anniversary of service)

Awards, decorations and honors (excerpt)

Rangliste 1896
Awards, decorations and honors (in German)
  • Prussia:
    • Knight of the Red Eagle Order
      • 4th Class with Swords, 1853
      • 3rd Class with the Ribbon
      • 2nd Class with Oak Leaves, 1864
      • 1st Class with with Oak Leaves, 1871
      • Grand Cross with Swords on Ring, 13 September 1876
      • Crown to Grand Cross, 12 June 1892
    • Knight of the Royal Crown Order
      • 2nd Class, 22 September 1863
      • with Swords, 1864
    • Pour le Mérite (military) with Oak Leaves and Diamonds
      • Pour le Mérite, 22 April 1864
      • Oak Leaves, 17 September 1866
      • Diamonds, 22 April 1898
    • Kriegsdenkmünze für 1864 (Preußen)
    • Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz)
    • Commander's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, with Star and Swords, 20 September 1866
    • Erinnerungs-Kreuz für den Feldzug von 1866
    • Iron Cross (1870), 2nd and 1st Class
    • Kaiserliche Kriegsdenkmünze 1870/71
    • Knight of the Black Eagle Order, 21 July 1877; with Collar, 1878; in Diamonds
    • Jubiläums-Eichenlaub „25“ 1870/1895 to the Iron Cross 2nd Class
    • Prussian Centenary Medal 1897 (Zentenarmedaille)
  • Hohenzollern:
    • Cross of Honour of the Princely House Order of Hohenzollern, 1st Class with Swords
  • Anhalt:
    • Grand Cross of the Order of Albert the Bear, 1872
  • Austrian Empire / Kingdom of Hungary Austria-Hungary:
    • Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of Leopold, with War Decoration, 1875
    • Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, 1889
  • Baden:
    • Commander of the Military Karl-Friedrich Merit Order, 1870
  • Bavaria:
  • Brunswick:
    • Grand Cross of the Order of Henry the Lion, with Swords, 1892
  • Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg / Saxe-Meiningen Ernestine duchies:
    • Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, with Swords, 1877
  • France:
  • Hanover:
    • Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order, 2nd Class, 1861[15]
  • Italy:
    • Grand Cross of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
    • Grand Cross of the Military Order of Savoy
  • Mecklenburg:
    • Grand Cross of the Wendish Crown, with Golden Crown
    • Military Merit Cross, 1st Class (Schwerin)
  • Oldenburg:
    • Grand Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig with Swords and Golden Crown and Swords on Ring
      • with Swords, 31 December 1870
      • Golden Crown and Swords on Ring
  • Reuss:
    • Cross of Honour, 1st Class with Crown
  • Russia:
    • Knight of St. George, 4th Class, 27 December 1870
    • Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky, 1876
  • Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach:
    • Grand Cross of the White Falcon, with Swords, 1870
  • Saxony:
    • Albrechts-Orden of Saxony, Commander 2nd Class (SA2b)
    • Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, 1876 (SV1)
    • Knight of the Rue Crown, 1884 (SR)
  • Schaumburg-Lippe:
    • Military Merit Medal, with Swords
  • Schwarzburg:
    • Princely Schwarzburg Cross of Honour, 1st Class with Swords and in Diamonds
  • Spain:
    • Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, with Collar, 3 December 1883 (SC1mK)
  • Sweden-Norway:
    • Knight of the Seraphim, 12 May 1873 (SSer)
    • Commander of the Sword, 2nd Class, 16 January 1862 (SS2b)
  • Württemberg:
    • Grand Cross of the Military Merit Order, 30 December 1870
    • Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 1893

Honors

  • Honorary Citizen
    • Erfurt, 1871
    • Düsseldorf, 1871
    • Magdeburg, 1877
    • Halle (Saale)
  • Fort No. XII of the Straßburg Fortress, a military barracks in Halle, and a colliery in Recklinghausen, named in his honour, 2 September 1873
  • Honorary Member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1 April 1876
  • Dr. h. c. (Ehrendoktorwürde) of the Universität Halle-Wittenberg, 1877
  • Granted the noble title of Count (Graf) on 19 September 1883
  • Many streets in Germany carried his name.

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ List of German Reichsgeneralfeldmarschälle and Generalfeldmarschälle from 1664 until 1945
  2. ↑ William Howard Russell (28 March 1820 - 11 February 1907) was born in Tallaght, Co. Dublin. He was an British-Irish reporter with The Times, and is considered to have been one of the first modern war correspondents, after he spent 22 months covering the Crimean War including the Charge of the Light Brigade.
  3. ↑ Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke (26 October 1800, Parchim, Mecklenburg-Schwerin – 24 April 1891) was a German Field Marshal. The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as one of the great strategists of the latter 19th century, and the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field. He is often referred to as Moltke the Elder to distinguish him from his nephew Helmuth Johann Ludwig von Moltke, who commanded the German Army at the outbreak of World War I.
  4. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Gräflichen Häuser, Gotha 1895, p. 138.
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