Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (German: Friedrich Wilhelm; 9 October 1771 – 16 June 1815), was a German prince and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Oels. Nicknamed "The Black Duke", he was a military officer who led the Black Brunswickers against French domination in Germany. He briefly ruled the state of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1806 to 1807 and again from 1813 to 1815.
Frederick William
Painting by Johann Christian August Schwartz, 1809
In October 1806, Frederick William participated in the Battle of Jena-Auerstädt as a major general of the Prussian army, of which his father was the field marshal. His father died from a wound he received in this battle, and Frederick William inherited Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, since his eldest brother had died childless two months earlier, and both the second and third brother were mentally retarded. After the defeat of Prussia in the Fourth Coalition, his state remained under the control of France, however, and was formally made a part of the short-lived Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807. Frederick William fled to his parents-in-law in Bruchsal in the Grand Duchy of Baden, which had remained a sovereign state with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 by Francis II, where he lived for the next few years.
When the War of the Fifth Coalition broke out in 1809, Frederick William used this opportunity to create a corps of partisans with the support of the Austrian Empire. This corps was called the Black Brunswickers because they wore black uniforms in mourning for their occupied country. He financed the corps independently by mortgaging his principality in Oels, and made his way from Austrian Bohemia through the French-allied states of Saxony and Westphalia to the North Sea coast.
Frederick William briefly managed to retake control of the city of Braunschweig in August 1809, which gained him the status of a local folk hero. He then fled to Britain to join forces with his brother-in-law, later to be King George IV. His troops were taken into British pay and the Duke was granted the rank of lieutenant general in the British Army on 1 July 1809.[1] His corps of originally 2,300 soldiers was largely destroyed in battles in Spain and Portugal during the Peninsular War.
Frederick William returned to Braunschweig in December 1813, after Prussia had ended French domination in Braunschweig-Lüneburg. When Napoleon returned to the political scene in 1815 during the Hundred Days, Frederick William raised fresh troops. He was killed by a gunshot at the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16 June, the night after he had attended the Duchess of Richmond's ball in Brussels and left it happy to have a chance to show his fighting ability.[2]
Brunswick Monument at Quatre Bras, (Genappe, Belgium) erected by the Brunswick State for the 75th anniversary. The bronze lion was cast in the Wilhelm foundry in Bornum
An 1874 pair of equestrian statues of the Black Duke and his father are outside the Schloss-Arkaden (Brunswick Palace), Braunschweig. They were restored in 1973.[3]
Brunswick Monument in Baisy-Thy. The German caption reads : Frederick-William Duke of Brunswick and Luneburg fought ahead of his troops and fell not far from this place on 16 June 1815.[4]
^John Philippart, The Royal Military Calendar (London, 1815) volume I, page 154
^See testimonial given by Georgiana Dowager Lady De Ros.
^The history of the castle of Braunschweig (Google Translate)
^"Friedrich Wilhelm Herzog zu Braunschweig und Lüneburg kämpfte und fiel unweit dieser Stätte an der Spitze seiner Truppen XVI Juni MDCCCXV.
^Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 53.
Hugo von Franckenberg-Ludwigsdorff: Erinnerungen an das Schwarze Corps, welches Herzog Friedrich Wilhelm von Braunschweig-Oels im Jahre 1809 errichtete. Aus dem Tagebuche eines Veteranen. Schwetschke, Braunschweig 1859, digitized.
Ruthard von Frankenberg: Im Schwarzen Korps bis Waterloo. Memoiren des Majors Erdmann von Frankenberg. edition von frankenberg, Hamburg 2015, ISBN978-3-00-048000-3
Robert F. Multhoff (1961), "Friedrich Wilhelm, Herzog von Braunschweig-Lüneburg-Oels", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 5, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 502; (full text online)
Louis Ferdinand Spehr: Friedrich Wilhelm, Herzog von Braunschweig-Lüneburg-Oels. Meyer, 1848, digitized.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
frederick, william, duke, brunswick, wolfenbüttel, other, people, with, same, name, frederick, brunswick, lüneburg, german, friedrich, wilhelm, october, 1771, june, 1815, german, prince, duke, brunswick, lüneburg, oels, nicknamed, black, duke, military, office. For other people with the same name see Frederick of Brunswick Luneburg Frederick William Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel German Friedrich Wilhelm 9 October 1771 16 June 1815 was a German prince and Duke of Brunswick Luneburg and Oels Nicknamed The Black Duke he was a military officer who led the Black Brunswickers against French domination in Germany He briefly ruled the state of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel from 1806 to 1807 and again from 1813 to 1815 Frederick WilliamPainting by Johann Christian August Schwartz 1809Duke of Brunswick LuneburgPrince of Brunswick WolfenbuttelReign16 October 1806 8 July 1807PredecessorCharles William FerdinandDuke of BrunswickReign26 October 1813 16 June 1815SuccessorCharles IIBorn 1771 10 09 9 October 1771Brunswick Brunswick Wolfenbuttel now Brunswick Germany Died16 June 1815 1815 06 16 aged 43 Quatre Bras Netherlands now Genappe Belgium SpousePrincess Marie of Baden m 1802 died 1808 wbr IssueMore Charles II Duke of BrunswickWilliam Duke of BrunswickHouseBrunswick BevernFatherCharles William Ferdinand Duke of BrunswickMotherPrincess Augusta of Great Britain Contents 1 Life 2 Family 3 Monuments 4 Ancestors 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksLife editPrince Frederick William of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel was born in Braunschweig as the fourth son of Charles William Ferdinand Duke of Brunswick Luneburg on the latter s 36th birthday and Princess Augusta of Great Britain He was the first cousin and brother in law from 8 April 1795 of his friend George IV Prince Regent of the United Kingdom from 1811 He joined the Prussian army in 1789 as a captain and participated in battles against Revolutionary France In 1805 after his uncle Frederick Augustus Duke of Oels had died childless Frederick William inherited the Duchy of Oels a small mediatized principality in Silesia subordinate to the King of Prussia nbsp Statue of Frederick William at Braunschweig by Ernst Julius Hahnel In October 1806 Frederick William participated in the Battle of Jena Auerstadt as a major general of the Prussian army of which his father was the field marshal His father died from a wound he received in this battle and Frederick William inherited Brunswick Wolfenbuttel since his eldest brother had died childless two months earlier and both the second and third brother were mentally retarded After the defeat of Prussia in the Fourth Coalition his state remained under the control of France however and was formally made a part of the short lived Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807 Frederick William fled to his parents in law in Bruchsal in the Grand Duchy of Baden which had remained a sovereign state with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 by Francis II where he lived for the next few years When the War of the Fifth Coalition broke out in 1809 Frederick William used this opportunity to create a corps of partisans with the support of the Austrian Empire This corps was called the Black Brunswickers because they wore black uniforms in mourning for their occupied country He financed the corps independently by mortgaging his principality in Oels and made his way from Austrian Bohemia through the French allied states of Saxony and Westphalia to the North Sea coast Frederick William briefly managed to retake control of the city of Braunschweig in August 1809 which gained him the status of a local folk hero He then fled to Britain to join forces with his brother in law later to be King George IV His troops were taken into British pay and the Duke was granted the rank of lieutenant general in the British Army on 1 July 1809 1 His corps of originally 2 300 soldiers was largely destroyed in battles in Spain and Portugal during the Peninsular War nbsp Tod des Schwarzen Herzogs German Death of the Black Duke at the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815 An 1835 painting by Friedrich Matthai now displayed in the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum Frederick William returned to Braunschweig in December 1813 after Prussia had ended French domination in Braunschweig Luneburg When Napoleon returned to the political scene in 1815 during the Hundred Days Frederick William raised fresh troops He was killed by a gunshot at the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16 June the night after he had attended the Duchess of Richmond s ball in Brussels and left it happy to have a chance to show his fighting ability 2 Family editOn 1 November 1802 in Karlsruhe Frederick William married Princess Marie Elisabeth of Baden 7 September 1782 Karlsruhe 20 April 1808 Bruchsal daughter of Charles Louis Hereditary Prince of Baden The couple had three children before Marie died of puerperal fever four days after giving birth to a stillborn daughter Charles 30 October 1804 18 August 1873 William 25 April 1806 18 October 1884 Stillborn daughter b amp d 16 April 1808 Bruchsal Monuments editTomb in the crypt of Brunswick Cathedral Brunswick Monument at Quatre Bras Genappe Belgium erected by the Brunswick State for the 75th anniversary The bronze lion was cast in the Wilhelm foundry in Bornum An 1874 pair of equestrian statues of the Black Duke and his father are outside the Schloss Arkaden Brunswick Palace Braunschweig They were restored in 1973 3 nbsp Brunswick Monument in Baisy Thy The German caption reads Frederick William Duke of Brunswick and Luneburg fought ahead of his troops and fell not far from this place on 16 June 1815 4 nbsp Tomb of Frederick William in the crypt of Brunswick Cathedral nbsp Frederick William Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel depicted in Gedenkzuil van den Nederlandschen Krijgsroem in Junij MDCCCXV 1816 by Jan Scharp nl Ancestors editAncestors of Frederick William Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel 5 16 Ferdinand Albert I Duke of Brunswick Luneburg8 Ferdinand Albert II Duke of Brunswick Luneburg17 Landgravine Christina Wilhelmina of Hesse Eschwege4 Charles I Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel18 Louis Rudolph Duke of Brunswick Luneburg9 Duchess Antoinette Amalie of Brunswick Luneburg19 Princess Christine Louise of Oettingen Oettingen2 Charles William Ferdinand Duke of Brunswick20 Frederick I of Prussia10 Frederick William I of Prussia21 Sophia Charlotte of Hanover5 Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia22 George I of Great Britain11 Sophia Dorothea of Hanover23 Sophia Dorothea of Celle1 Frederick William Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel24 George I of Great Britain 22 12 George II of Great Britain25 Sophia Dorothea of Celle 23 6 Frederick Prince of Wales26 John Frederick Margrave of Brandenburg Ansbach13 Caroline of Ansbach27 Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe Eisenach3 Princess Augusta of Great Britain28 Frederick I Duke of Saxe Gotha Altenburg14 Frederick II Duke of Saxe Gotha Altenburg29 Princess Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe Weissenfels7 Princess Augusta of Saxe Gotha30 Karl Prince of Anhalt Zerbst15 Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt Zerbst31 Duchess Sophia of Saxe WeissenfelsReferences edit John Philippart The Royal Military Calendar London 1815 volume I page 154 See testimonial given by Georgiana Dowager Lady De Ros The history of the castle of Braunschweig Google Translate Friedrich Wilhelm Herzog zu Braunschweig und Luneburg kampfte und fiel unweit dieser Statte an der Spitze seiner Truppen XVI Juni MDCCCXV Genealogie ascendante jusqu au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l Europe actuellement vivans Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living in French Bourdeaux Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel 1768 p 53 Further reading editAllgemeine Deutsche Biographie vol 7 p 508 514 permanent dead link Hugo von Franckenberg Ludwigsdorff Erinnerungen an das Schwarze Corps welches Herzog Friedrich Wilhelm von Braunschweig Oels im Jahre 1809 errichtete Aus dem Tagebuche eines Veteranen Schwetschke Braunschweig 1859 digitized Ruthard von Frankenberg Im Schwarzen Korps bis Waterloo Memoiren des Majors Erdmann von Frankenberg edition von frankenberg Hamburg 2015 ISBN 978 3 00 048000 3 Robert F Multhoff 1961 Friedrich Wilhelm Herzog von Braunschweig Luneburg Oels Neue Deutsche Biographie in German vol 5 Berlin Duncker amp Humblot p 502 full text online Louis Ferdinand Spehr Friedrich Wilhelm Herzog von Braunschweig Luneburg Oels Meyer 1848 digitized External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frederick William Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel At the House of Welf site Portraits of Frederick William Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel at the National Portrait Gallery London nbsp Frederick William Duke of Brunswick WolfenbuttelHouse of Brunswick BevernCadet branch of the House of WelfBorn 9 October 1771 Died 16 June 1815 Regnal titles Preceded byCharles William Ferdinand Duke of Brunswick LuneburgPrince of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel1806 1807 Succeeded byDuchy conquered by France and annexed to Westphalia Preceded byDuchy established Duke of Brunswick1813 1815 Succeeded byCharles II Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Frederick William Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel amp oldid 1211415751, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
