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Karl von Wrangel

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Karl von Wrangel
Karl von Wrangel
Nickname Drummer of Kolding
Born (1812-09-28)September 28, 1812
Died November 28, 1899(1899-11-28) (aged 87)
Place of birth Königsberg, East Prussia, Prussia
Place of death Quitzdorf am See, Görlitz, Saxony, Germany
Allegiance Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1803-1892) Prussia
Flag of the German Empire North German Confederation
Flag of the German Empire German Empire
Service/branch Flag of Prussia 1892-1918 Prussia Army
Flag of the German Empire Germany Army
Years of service 1830 – 1841
1843 – 1876
Rank General of the Infantry
Commands held 18th Division
Battles/wars

First Schleswig War

Austro-Prussian War

Franco-Prussian War
Awards Pour le Merite with oak leaves
Order of the Red Eagle (Grand Cross)
Spouse(s) Elisabeth Adelheid Ernestine von Strantz (m. 1843–91)

Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Oskar Freiherr[lower-alpha 1] von Wrangel was a Prussian General of the Infantry who was notable for commanding at the Battle of Kolding during the First Schleswig War.

Biography[]

Origin[]

He was the son of the later Prussian Lieutenant General August Friedrich Ludwig Freiherr von Wrangel [de] and his wife Karoline Sophie Henriette, née Countess Truchsess von Waldburg (1777-1819).[1][2]

Military career[]

Wrangel was educated in the Culm and Berlin cadet houses and entered military service on 13 August 1830, as a second lieutenant in the 1st Foot Guards. He attended the Prussian Staff College in Berlin from 1837 to 1840.

In December 1841, Wrangel had to leave the service because of duelling and after he had healed from the serious wound he received, he was reinstated in March 1843 by the future Kaiser Wilhelm I. In the next year he was assigned to the Trigonometric Department of the General Staff in Berlin. Having become premier lieutenant in 1846, he accompanied his uncle, Lieutenant General Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, when the latter had received the supreme command of the German troops intended for the First Schleswig War. Accordingly he went to the Elbe duchies in April 1848. There he became a captain and was transferred to the General Staff of Schleswig-Holstein, participating in the campaigns of 1848 and 49.[2]

Relief, Der Trommler von Kolding vom Wrangel-Denkmal (Flensburg), Bild 03

The drummer of Kolding in the Prussian Relief depicted the monument in Flensburg.

Before that he had acquired the nickname of "Drummer of Kolding", which a newspaper gave him. The incident that gave him the name took place on 29 April 1849, during the Battle of Kolding, which was occupied by the Schleswig-Holsteiners. When they gave way to the advancing Danes, Wrangel brought them to a halt by snatching the drum from a drummer and began playing the double-quick pace.[2]

When Prussia recalled its officers in April 1850, Wrangel became head of the Topographical Department and only returned to frontline service as a lieutenant colonel during the mobilization of 1859.[2] He was now at the head of a Landwehr regiment, which soon became the 61st (8th Pomeranian) Infantry Regiment in Stolp.

In the Austro-Prussian War, he became commander of the 26th Infantry Brigade in Münster and took part in the Campaign of the Main. He fought in the battles at Dermbach, Kissingen, Laufach,[3] Aschaffenburg, Tauberbischofsheim and the Battle of Gerchsheim. For his services at Gerchsheim, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite.

On 10 August 1867, he was appointed commander of the 18th Division in Flensburg and promoted to lieutenant general in the spring of 1868.[2] In the Franco-Prussian War, his division was part of the IX Corps and participated in the battles of Colombey-Nouilly, Mars-la-Tour and Gravelotte. During the Siege of Metz, his troops attacked from September 1 during the Battle of Noiseville in support of the defensive battle of the Prussian I Corps stationed on the east bank of the Moselle. His division distinguished itself particularly in the Second Battle of Orléans in early December. From there Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, Commander-in-Chief of the First and Second armies, telegraphed to Versailles:

The honor of the day belongs to the Wrangel Division.

For this Wrangel was awarded the oak leaves to his Pour le Mérite. As the war progressed, Wrangel's division was involved in the Battle of Le Mans on January 11, 1871.[2]

After peace was concluded, Wrangel remained at the head of his division in Flensburg until June 1872, when he became governor of Posen. On September 2, 1873, he was given the character of a General of Infantry. Wrangel would retire on 12 December 1876.[2] In recognition of his many years of service, Wilhelm I awarded him the Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle with Oak Leaves and Swords on September 16, 1881.[2] He also was a knight of the Johanniter Order.

Family[]

Wrangel had married Elisabeth Adelheid Ernestine von Strantz (25 September 1813 in Berlin – 27 February 1891 in Sproitz ) on 26 March 1843. From the marriage came the daughter Adda (* 28 July 1844 in Charlottenburg; † 23 January 1913), who married Karl Freiherr von Liliencron († 1901), Herr auf Sproitz, a chamberlain and former Rittmeister, on 29 July 1864 in Berlin.[4] Adda was a profilic writer and a founding member and chairwoman of the Women's League of the German Colonial Society.[2]

Legacy[]

In 1903, a memorial was unveiled in Flensburg's city park in his memory, consisting of a statue with a pedestal to which a relief depicting Kolding's drummer was attached.[5] In addition, a street in Flensburg is named after him and there is also a street in Kiel named after him.[2]

Honours and awards[]

  • Honorary Citizen of Flensburg, 1872[1]

Orders and decorations[]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ Regarding personal names: Freiherr is a former title (translated as Baron), which is now legally a part of the last name. The female forms are Freifrau and Freiin.

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "DNB, Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek" (in de). https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&cqlMode=true&query=nid%3D103110496. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 "General der Infantrie Freiherr Karl von Wrangel - ein Lebenswerk 50 Jahre im Dienste von König und Kaiser" (in de). https://slub.qucosa.de/api/qucosa%3A77294/attachment/ATT-0/. 
  3. ↑ Tony Jacques (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 574. ISBN 978-0313335389. https://books.google.com/books?id=Dh6jydKXikoC&dq=%22Karl+von+Wrangel%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA574. Retrieved February 11, 2021. 
  4. ↑ "Adda von Liliencron: Liebesgaben für Soldaten" (in de). https://www.svz.de/regionales/mecklenburg-vorpommern/mecklenburg-magazin/liebesgaben-fuer-soldaten-id16157221.html. 
  5. ↑ "STADTPARK FLENSBURG" (in de). https://www.flensburg-mobil.de/einrichtungen/stadtpark-flensburg-24939-flensburg/einfache-sprache.html. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Rangliste de Königlich Preußischen Armee" (in German). Berlin: Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn. 1896. p. 233. 
  7. ↑ "Königlich Preussische Ordensliste". Berlin: Gedruckt in der Reichsdruckerei. 1877. p. 51. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Königlich Preussische Ordensliste". Berlin: Gedruckt in der Reichsdruckerei. 1886. pp. 14, 26, 1003. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049878831&view=1up&seq=5&skin=2021. 
  9. ↑ Lehmann, Gustaf (1913). [496,%22panX%22:0.611,%22panY%22:0.761,%22view%22:%22thumbnails%22,%22zoom%22:0.386} Die Ritter des Ordens pour le mérite 1812–1913]. 2. Berlin: Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn. p. 492. https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN135808618?tify={%22pages%22:[496],%22panX%22:0.611,%22panY%22:0.761,%22view%22:%22thumbnails%22,%22zoom%22:0.386}. 
  10. ↑ "Königlich Preussische Ordensliste". Berlin: Gedruckt in der Reichsdruckerei. 1877. p. 44. 
  11. ↑ "Staatshandbücher für das Herzogtums Sachsen-Altenburg". 1869. p. 34. 
  12. ↑ "Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein" (in German). Darmstadt: Staatsverlag. 1879. p. 144. 
  13. ↑ "Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach" (in German). Weimar: Böhlau. 1864. p. 26. 
  14. ↑ "Sveriges statskalender för Skottåret 1892" (in sv). Stockholm: Kongl. Boktryckeriet. P.A. Norstedt & Soner. 1891. p. 397. 

Bibliography[]

  • Adda von Liliencron: General der Infanterie Freiherr Karl von Wrangel. Ein Lebensbild nach seinen eigenen Aufzeichnungen. Gotha 1903.
  • Bernhard von Poten (1910). "Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB)" (in de). Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 124–125. 
  • Kurt von Priesdorff (1939). Soldatisches Führertum. 7. Hamburg: Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg. pp. 351–354.  Template:DNB-IDN
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