Wilhelm von Seebach

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Wilhelm von Seebach
Standard of the 8th Hussar Regiment.jpg
Standard of the 8th Prussian Hussar Regiment
Birth name Friedrich Karl Wilhelm von Seebach
Birth date 8 June 1787(1787-06-08)
Place of birth Gut Storndorf, Amt Storndorf, Oberamt Alsfeld, Upper Principality of Hesse, Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, Holy Roman Empire
Death date 2 December 1848 (aged 61)
Place of death Gut Cammerforst, Langensalza district, Province of Saxony, Kingdom of Prussia, German Confederation
Allegiance Coat of arms of the landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel.png Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel
Flagge und Wappen, Deutsches Reich, Königreich Württemberg, valid from 1817 to 1918.png Württemberg
Germany Prussian Eagle.jpg Kingdom of Prussia
Wappen des Deutschen Bundes.jpg German Confederation
Service/branch Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel (Militär).jpg Hesse-Kassel Army
Flagge und Wappen, Deutsches Reich, Königreich Württemberg, valid from 1817 to 1918.png Army of Württemberg
War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army
Years of service 1802/03–1825
Rank 2nd Lieutenant (Hesse-Kassel)
Major and Chamberlain (Württemberg)
Major (Prussia)
Battles/wars War of the Sixth Coalition
(Befreiungskriege)
War of the Seventh Coalition
(Siebte Koalition)
Relations ∞ Reinhardine von Kinsky und Tettau

Friedrich Karl Wilhelm von Seebach (8 June 1787 – 2 December 1848) was a German cavalry officer and lord of the manor (Herr auf Storndorf, Cammerforst, Oppershausen, Flarchheim und 1/2 Gottern / Großen-Gottern [called the little castle or Schlößchen]).

Life

Only 15 years of age, Wilhelm von Seebach, who had been cadet in Kassel, entered the Army of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel c. 1802 as Fähnrich (Officer Cadet), and served with the Guard Regiment (Regiment Garde), also in Kassel. On 10 March 1803, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenat. In 1806, he was transferred to the Husaren-Regiment. The Elector's refusal to join the Confederation of the Rhine, his neutrality in the Prussian-French War and the mobilization of his army in the rear of the French army, which was victoriously advancing north after the Battle of Jena and Auerstädt, caused Napoleon Bonaparte to depose of Wilhelm I. von Hessen-Kassel (1743–1821) in November 1806.

Hesse-Kassel was occupied and in 1807, most of it was incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Westphalia, a client state of France under Jérôme Bonaparte. Before that, the Elector had given his troops a leave of absence, the army was de facto (temporarily) sent home on 1 November 1806. Napoleon raged because he wanted to incorporate more German troops into his Grand Army.

Knowing the leave would not be short term, Wilhelm I also allowed his officers to seek other military service. Wilhelm von Seebach joined the Royal Württemberg Army on 21 December 1806 as Premierlieutenant (1st Lieutenant) in the Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 4 "König", now also serving the disliked Confederation of the Rhine (Rheinbund). On 17 April 1808, he was promoted to Stabs-Rittmeister with rank seniority from 17 September 1804. On 10 January 1810, Rittmeister von Seebach was transferred to the Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 3 "Herzog Louis".

  • 13 February 1810 Transfer to the Jäger-Regiment "König" (renamed Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 4 "König" in 1811)
  • 6 November 1810 Promotion to Major (only 23 years old at the time)
  • 11 December 1810 Squadron Commander (Escadronschef) in the Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 3 "Herzog Louis"
  • 20 July 1811 Transfer to the Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 4 "König" in trade for Lieutenant Colonel Job August Wilhelm von Milkau (1782–1849) who would take over the Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 3 in 1812.[1]
  • 6 September 1811 Transfer to the Leib-Chevauxlegers-Regiment Nr. 2[2] (renamed Jäger-Regiment Nr. 4 "Prinz Adam" in 1813)
    • Commander of the regiment: Colonel Graf von Normann­-Ehrenfels (severly wounded during the Battle of Borodino in September 1812); subordinated to the 1. Kavallerie­-Brigade participation in Napoleon's Russian campaign; heavy casualties during the Battle of Borodino.[3]
  • 12 November 1812 Transfer to the Cavalry Depot nine days after the Battle of Vyazma
  • 23 January 1813 Transfer to the Jäger-Regiment zu Pferd Nr. 3 "Herzog Louis" under Colonel Ludwig Freiherr von Gaisberg (renamed Cavallerie-Regiment Nr. 2 Jäger "Herzog Louis" after the Battle of Leipzig)
    • 6 September 1813 Taken prisoner
  • 20 December 1813 Transfer to the Cavallerie-Regiment Nr. 5 "Dragoner Kronprinz"
  • 23 December 1813 Dismissed[4]
  • 24 April 1815 Rittmeister in the 8. Husaren-Regiment of the Prussian Army (aggregated)
    • Wilhelm von Seebach was a patriot through and through. When he learned that Napoleon had fled the island of Elba and was planning war again, he reported to the Prussian Army and offered his voluntary services. He was accepted

"for the duration of the war and without salary". The 8. Husaren-Regiment had newly been established on 7 March 1815 near Lüttich. The regiment under Major Friedrich August Peter von Colomb was placed under command of the Reserve Cavalry (Generalleutnant Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Prinz von Preußen) with the IV. Korps under General Friedrich Wilhelm Graf Bülow von Dennewitz. Graf von Bülow's corps carried out a forced march and arrived in the late afternoon during the Battle of Waterloo. His intervention brought about a turning point. The corps also took part in the Battle of Senlis and the bombardment of Fort Guise.

  • 9 August 1815 Transfer as Squadron Commander (Escadronschef) in the 3. Husaren-Regiment (part of the occupation army in France)
  • 8 April 1817 Dismissed and sentenced to 1 year's fortress imprisonment (reason not given)
  • 20 April 1818 Once again with the 8. Husaren-Regiment (aggregated)[5]
  • 12 October 1822 With the 2. Eskadron/8. Kürassier-Regiment (aggregated) in Langensalza
  • 13 June 1825 Resigned with inactivity salary (mit Inaktivitäts-Gehalt ausgeschieden)[6]
  • 20 June 1844 Charakter als Major (honorary major)

Gut Storndorf

In the Middle Ages, the rulers of Storndorf were the Landgraves of Hesse. Many rights over the place were given as a fief to the “von Storndorf family”. In 1600, a Storndorf line was so heavily in debt that half of Storndorf ("half of the village of Storndorf and half of the goods outside the Storndorf court") reverted to the landgraves. On 9 August 1634, Landgrave George II of Hesse-Darmstadt issued his court councilor Ludwig von Seebach a letter of fiefdom on the reverted half of Storndorf as compensation for missed salary payments. With the extinction of the von Storndorf family, from 1713 there was a Hessian and a Seebach half at the town and court of Storndorf.

Gut Cammerforst

The place “Cemoforte” was probably first mentioned in documents in 860 as a property of the Fulda monastery. In 918, King Konrad owned an estate in Cammerforst (later written Kammerforst), from which the later manor probably emerged. In the 14th century, the Lords of Seebach were enfeoffed with the manor. From 1525 to 1535, the manor was divided into an upper and a lower estate. The indebted von Seebach had to cede 2/3 of their manor to Johann Christoph von Harstall in 1625. During the Thirty Years' War, the place was sacked by imperial troops. The construction of the new church began in 1687. After the upper estate temporarily came to the Lords of Eschwege, Hartmann Adolf von Eschwege sold it to the later Royal British Electoral Braunschweig Generalmajor Johann Christian Friedrich von Seebach (d. 6 December 1791[7]) in 1764. In 1792, after the Generalmajor's death, Wilhelms father, Georg Philipp von Seebach, took over Gut Cammerforst, and in 1822 (provisionally until his retirement from the military in 1825), after his father's death (d. 27 June 1822), Wilhelm himself. In 1848, after Wilhelms's death, Cammerforst was first managed, son Ulrich Friedrich von Seebach took over both upper and a lower estates in 1860, when he was old enough. Until 1815, Kammerforst was the westernmost place in the Electorate, later Kingdom of Saxony. It belonged to the Electoral Saxon office of Langensalza. After the cession to the Kingdom of Prussia, Kammerforst belonged to the Langensalza district (Kreis Langensalza) in the Province of Saxony from 1816 to 1944 (now a part of the Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis in Thuringia). After the end of WWII in 1945, the noble family was expropriated by the communists as part of the land reform.

Family

Friedrich Karl Wilhelm was the son of Electoral Palatinate Captain George Philipp von Seebach (1748–1822) and his wife (∞ 1779[8]) Sophie Charlotte Luise, née Freiin von Breidenbach zu Breidenstein (b. 19 February 1759;[9] d. 7 July 1811). Wilhelmthe youngest, had three siblings:

  • Wilhelmine Karoline Philippine (1780–1834; died in Baltimore)
  • Elisabeth Sophie Luise Philippine Karoline Friederike (1782–1853); ∞ 9 June 1805 Friedrich Thilo von Seebach (1782–1870), Royal Saxon Colonel and General-Intendant of the Army; 3 children, all three would become Freiherr in 1855, the youngest, Saxon diplomat Albin Leo (1811–1884), Graf in 1865
  • Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Friedrich (1785–1838)
    • The older brother originally inherited Gut Storndorf, later, Wilhelm von Seebach bought it from his brother.

Marriage

In c. 1818, Rittmeister von Seebach married his fiancée Reinhardine von Kinsky und Tettau (1795–1858) from Leeuwarden (Frisia).[10] They had 10 children:[11]

  • Charlotte Margarete Wilhelmine Anna (b. 3 March 1819 in Trier)
  • Otto Hans Karl (1821–1841)
  • Marie Jeannette Charlotte (1824–1890)
  • Karl Christian Franz Georg Philipp (b. 9 December 1825 in Wesel), First Lieutenant of the Imperial-Royal Army (Austrian Empire) in the Schwarzenberg Uhlan Regiment, severly wounded during the Battle of Temesvár on 9 August 1849, died of his wounds on 18 August 1849
  • Anna Luise (1827–1897); ∞ Rudolf Freiherr Marschall von Altengottern (1820–1890), jurist, politician and Knight of Justice (Rechtsritter) of the Johanniterorden
  • Thekla Viktoria Therese (1830–1850)
  • Luise (1831–1892)
  • Werner (1832–1902), Leutnant a. D., after his father's death, he received the estates Oppershausen and 1/2 Großen-Gottern; ∞ Eleonore Thekla Edle von der Planitz (b. 15 June 1830 in Naundorf[12]); 6 children (2 sons)
  • Emilie Reinhardine (b. 12 March 1835); ∞ Carl Wilhelm von Oppel (1836–1914), Herr auf Wellerswalde, Zöschau und Krebs; 1 son
  • Ulrich Friedrich (1837-1889), inherited the estates Cammerforst Flarchheim; ∞ Bertha Lange-Kestner (1841–1892); 4 sons

Awards and decorations

Friedrich Karl Wilhelm von Seebach.jpg
  • Military Merit Order (Württemberg), Knight's Cross (WMV3) on 23 May 1809
  • Knight of the Legion of Honour (FEL5/FE5) in 1812[13]
  • Prussian War Commemorative Medal for the Wars of Liberation (Kriegsdenkmünze für die Befreiungskriege) in 1815
  • Officer of the French Legion of Honour (FEL4/FE4) in c. 1822/23
  • War Memorial Medal (Württemberg) in 1840

Further reading

  • Seebach, lineage Thüringen, in Johann Heinrich Zedler: "Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon Aller Wissenschafften und Künste". Volume 36, Leipzig 1743, pp. 1016–1027

References

  1. ↑ Königlich-Württembergisches Staats- und Regierungsblatt, 1811, p. 183
  2. ↑ Königlich-Württembergisches Staats- und Regierungsblatt, 1811, p. 148
  3. ↑ „Die Einsätze der württembergischen Kavallerie und Artillerie 1812 – 1815“
  4. ↑ Königlich-Württembergisches Staats- und Regierungsblatt, 1814, p. 3
  5. ↑ Militär-Wochenblatt, No. 98, 9 May 1818, p. 1
  6. ↑ Seebach, Friedrich Wilhelm v. (Kurhessisches Armeekorps)
  7. ↑ Lausitzisches Magazin, 1791, p. XIX
  8. ↑ Breidenbach zu Breidenstein, Carl Friedrich Christian Freiherr von (Sophie's father)
  9. ↑ Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Freiherrlichen Häuser, Band 3, 1853, p. 49
  10. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Adeligen Häuser, 1921, p. 745
  11. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Adeligen Häuser, 1905, pp. 749–750
  12. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Adeligen Häuser, 1913, p. 641
  13. ↑ Königlich-Württembergisches Hof- und Staats-Handbuch, 1812, p. 42
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