Louis von Hesberg

Louis von Hesberg
Handbuch des preußischen Adels, 1893
Birth name	Louis Otto Ernst Georg Friedrich von Hesberg
Birth date	7 September 1824(1824-09-07)
Place of birth	Cassel, Electorate of Hesse, German Confederation
Death date	23 December 1909 (aged 85)
Place of death	Estate Betzigerode near Zwesten, Kreis Fritzlar, Regierungsbezirk Kassel, Province of Hesse-Nassau, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Allegiance	Electorate of Hesse German Confederation Kingdom of Prussia German Empire
Service/branch	Hesse-Kassel Army Prussian Army
Years of service	1842–1888
Rank	Rittmeister (Hesse-Kassel) General of the Cavalry (Prussia)
Battles/wars	Brothers War 1866 Franco-German War
Awards	Iron Cross Prussian Order of the Crown Red Eagle Order
Relations	∞ 1855 Julie von Blumenstein
Other work	Lord of the manor

Louis Otto Ernst Georg Friedrich von Hesberg (sometimes Heßberg; 7 September 1824 – 23 December 1909) was a German officer, finally General of the Cavalry of the Prussian Army as well as lord of the manor (Rittergut Betzigerode and Gut Zwesten).

Life

Hesse-Kassel Rank List 1865

Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee, 1888, p. 39

Wöringer-Kartei

After completing his school education at the Electoral Cadet School (since 1839) in Kassel (together with Karl von Helmschwerdt and others), von Hesberg joined the Life Guard Dragoon Regiment of the Electoral Hessian Army on 27 June 1843 and was commissioned in August 1843 serving in the 4th Squadron/1stes (Leib-)Dragoner-Regiment.

• 1845 1stes (Leib-)Dragoner-Regiment became the new 1stes (Leib-)Husaren-Regiment in Hofgeismar
  • von Hesberg still served in the 4th Squadron
• 11 May 1849 Regimental adjutant
• 12 November 1850 Retired from military service
• 25 January 1851 Returned to active military service
• 24 September 1851 Adjutant of the II. Cavalry Brigade in Cassel
• 31 December 1855 Commander of the 3rd Squadron/2nd Hussar Regiment "Herzog von Sachsen-Meiningen" in
• 29 January 1864 Commander of the renowned Life Guard Squadron (Leib-Escadron) of the Garde du Corps in Cassel
  • as such, he took part in the German War of Brothers on the side of the German Confederation against the Prussian Army
• 30 October 1866 After the annexation of Kurhessen by Prussia, von Hesberg was taken into the Prussian Army on 30 October 1866 as a Rittmeister with the 2nd Hessian Hussar Regiment No. 14, which was formed from the core of the former Electoral Hesse 2nd Hussar Regiment, and was initially aggregated to the Brandenburg Cuirassier Regiment (Emperor Nicholas I of Russia) No. 6.
• 17 November 1866 Squadron commander in the Brandenburgisches Cürassier-Regiment (Kaiser Nicolaus I. von Rußland) Nr. 6
• 18 May 1867 Staff officer of the Brandenburgisches Cürassier-Regiment (Kaiser Nicolaus I. von Rußland) Nr. 6
  • as such, he took part in the Franco-German War in the battles of Spicheren, Vionville, Gravelotte, Orléans and Le Mans
  • 25 August to 13 September 1870 Delegated with the deputy leadership of the Schleswig-Holsteinisches Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 15
• 26 August 1871 Delegated with the leadership of the 3. Schlesisches Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 15 in Hagenau
• 4 November 1871 Appointed commander of the 3. Schlesisches Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 15 in Hagenau
• 15 June 1875 Appointed commander of the 2. Garde-Ulanen-Regiment in Berlin
• 2 March 1880 Appointed commander of the 19. Kavallerie-Brigade in Hannover
• 13 May 1880 Appointed commander of the 20. Kavallerie-Brigade in Hannover
• 26 March 1885 Delegated with the leadership of the Cavallerie-Division des I. Armee-Corps
  • Beginning on 20 March 1885, the two cavalry brigades of the I Army Corps (1. and 2. Kavallerie-Brigade) stationed in East Prussia were separated from their respective infantry divisions and combined to form the Cavalry Division of the I Corps with headquarters in Königsberg.
• 1 June 1885 Appointed commander of the Cavallerie-Division des I. Armee-Corps in Königsberg
• 15 October 1888 Placed at disposal with the statutory pension (de facto retired)

Post-active service

After this, he retired to his estate in Betzigerode, which he had inherited after the death of his uncle Georg Wilhelm Ernst von Heßberg (1777–1852), Lieutenant General and former Minister of War in the Electorate of Hesse. On 19 September 1891, Kaiser Wilhelm II awarded him the rank of General of the Cavalry on occasion of the maneuvers of the XI Army Corps (Kaisermanöver) near Mühlhausen in Thüringen.

On 27 June 1903, von Hesberg celebrated his 60th anniversary of service in Berlin. On the occasion of his 80th birthday, the Kaiser awarded him the uniform of the 2nd Guards Uhlan Regiment. In the spring of 1909, he sold his estate Zwesten but keeping Betzigerode.

Family

Louis was born the son of Hesse-Cassel Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich Justin von Hesberg (b. 23 March 1785 in Laar; d. 11 December 1827 in Cassel), commander of the Infantry Life Guard Regiment, and his wife (∞ 1815) Dorothea Marianne Henriette Karoline, née von Eschwege zu Aue (b. 9 December 1792 in Aue; d. 21 December 1859 in Hannover). He had a older sister and a older brother: Caroline Friederike Dorothea Josine von Hesberg (1816–1876) and Georg Carl Friedrich Ferdinand Louis von Hesberg (1818–1873).

Louis also had 10 uncles and aunts, among them Hesse-Kassel Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig (Louis) von Hesberg (1788–1872), regimental commander and Christian socialist, and Amalie Christiane Karoline von Hesberg (1796–1848), mother of Friedrich von Marschall.

Louis' father Heinrich Justin, a soldier since the age of 15 (campaigns in 1805 against Austria, 1806 against Prussia with the siege of Hameln and Stralsund, 1809 in Spain, 1812 at Smolensk and Borodin, 1813 for Napoleon against the Allies and 1814/15 with Prussia against France), was knight of the Order of the Crown of Westphalia (I. Class) as well as the French Legion of Honour. On 28 July 1821, he received the Hessian House Order of the Golden Lion. Later, in 1822, he was granted permission to wear the Knight's Cross of the French Legion of Honor, which he had previously been awarded. He died on 11 December 1827 in Kassel, after falling from his horse in the Lower Königsstraße. Mother Dorothea, who had become a young widow, married Friedrich Carl Freiherr von Hammerstein, lord of the manor (Apelem and Gesmold).

Marriage

On 8 August 1855 in Falkenberg, 1st Lieutenant von Hesberg married Julie "Lilli" Elisabeth Christiane von Blumenstein (b. 7 January 1837 in Kassel; d. 26 March 1924 in Betzigerode). She was the seventh (the fifth to survive infancy) of eight children of Lord of the Manor (Falkenberg), Electoral Hesse Chamberlain (Kammerherr) and chief forestry master (Oberforstmeister) Ernst von Blumenstein (1796–1875) and his wife Johanne Caroline Friederike "Frieda", née von Meyerfeld (1799–1866).

The couple had five children:

• Johanna Dorothea Amalie (b. 19 September 1856); ⚭ 21 October 1884 Ernst von Steinberg auf Brüggen
• Georg Ernst Borries (b. 3 July 1858; d. 18 October 1926), Grand Ducal Saxon Court Marshal, Prussian Captain; ⚭ 1903 Ottilie Emma Elise Wally-Grub (b. 14 October 1871)
• Marie Klothilde Karoline (b. 2 December 1860)
• Ebba Johanna Jenny (b. 17 December 1861)
• Ernst Chlodwig (b. 10 March 1867), Prussian cavalry officer

Promotions

Hessian Army (according to Wöringer-Kartei)

• 27 June 1843 Portepee-Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 14 or 22 August 1843 Seconde-Lieutenant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 20 or 28 August 1851 Premier-Lieutenent (1st Lieutenant)
• 31 December 1855 Rittmeister

Prussian Army

• 17 January 1867 Major
• 18 January 1872 Oberst-Lieutenant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 19 September 1874 Oberst (Colonel)
• 13 May 1880 General-Major (Major General)
• 1 June 1885 General-Lieutenant (Lieutenant General)
• 19 September 1891 Charakter als General der Kavallerie z. D. (Honorary General of the Cavalry at disposal)

Gallery

• 

  Hessenland, No. 13, 1 July 1903

• 

  Hessenland, No. 1, January 1910

Awards and decorations

• Commemorative Cross for the Campaign of 1866 (Erinnerungs-Kreuz für den Feldzug von 1866)
• Red Eagle Order (Roter Adlerorden), 4th Class (PRAO4/PrA4) on 18 January 1869
• Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz)
• Iron Cross (1870), 2nd and 1st Class
• Mecklenburg-Schwerin Military Merit Cross (Großherzoglich Mecklenburgisches Militärverdienstkreuz), 2nd Class (MMV2)
• Russian Order of Saint Anna (St.-Annen-Orden), II. Class with Swords (RA2⚔)
• Imperial Russian Sankt-Stanislaus-Orden, II. Class (RSt2)
• War Commemorative Medal of 1870–1871 (Kaiserliche Kriegsdenkmünze 1870/71; KD70/71) in Bronze with five battle clasps
• Red Eagle Order, 3rd Class with the Bow (mit der Schleife) on 20 September 1876
• Prussian Order of the Crown (Preußischer Kronenorden), 2nd Class on 18 January 1880
• Red Eagle Order, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves on 7 September 1881
• Order of Henry the Lion (Herzoglich Braunschweigischer Orden Heinrichs des Löwen), Commander's Cross 1st Class with Swords (BrHL2a⚔/BrH2a⚔)
• Star to his Red Eagle Order 2nd Class with Oak Leaves
• Prussian Order of the Crown, 1st Class
• Red Eagle Order, 1st Class with Oak Leaves and the Crown on 15 October 1888
• Anniversary Oak Leaves (Jubiläums-Eichenlaub „25“ 1870/1895) to his Iron Cross (1870), 2nd Class
• Prussian Centenary Medal 1897 (Zentenarmedaille)
• Red Cross Medal (Prussia), III. Class on 27 January 1902

Further reading

• Hermann Grebe: Die hessischen Adelsherren von Hessberg im Dienste ihrer Landesherren, in "Zeitschrift des Vereins für Hessische Geschichte und Landeskunde", 1992 pp. 41–53 (Archive)