Flying Squirrel Entertainment
The Lounge => Historical Discussion => Topic started by: Hadhod on February 18, 2014, 02:24:41 am
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I recently found out that one of my ancestors served in the Saxon Army during the Napoleonic Wars.
In the family tree I found at my grandparents house it was remarked that he served in the Regiment "Prinz Max" (I assume an abbreviation for Prinz Maximilian) from 1807-1817, so 10 years in total. It was especially noted that he fought in Wargram, Russia and France.
After doing some research I found out the Regiment Prinx Maximilian is the 5. Königlich Sächsiches Infanterie Regiment "Prinz Maximilian" which was garrisoned mostly in Chemnitz and Freiberg, bigger towns roughly 20 kilometres from the town where my ancestors grew up and lived for more than 3 centuries.
As already mentioned he was part of the Saxon contingents in Napoleon's Army in 1809 (fought at Wagram) and followed him into Russia in 1812. As only the two Grenadier companies joined Napoleon on his Russia campaign (the normal line infranty was garrisoned in Northern Germany) he must have been part of them. He was one of only 50 survivors that made it back to Saxony alive.
One of the many unclear issues is whether he fought at the Battle of Nations too, but I didn't find any sources on the 5tes participating in there. After the Battle however Saxony switched sides and from then on they joined the allies against Napoleon. After the Waterloo campaign the 5. was assigned as garrison troops in France where he stayed apparently until 1817.
If anyone has any sources on this regiment or where I could find more information (like muster rolls, battle history etc.) to see what rank my ancestor had and so forth it would be greatly appreciated.
And now I am of course thrilled who else knows about his ancestors serving in the Napoleonic Wars. :)
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Well, I had a family member act as a naval trainer for the Americans during the war of 1812.
That's the best I got.
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I know of none of my ancestors actually serving in the wars, its a little hard for me to find out in the UK since I have little time to do family research now and I think I'd need to dedicate a lot of time on ancestry sites again to find out.
I do know however, that 3 of my great grandfathers were part of a Levee en Masse kind of thing in between 1798-1801 called the Posse Comititatus which meant that anyone signing would be required to enter militia style service in the event of an invasion from France.
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Someone with my rather unique last name was commisioned captain in the 5th batallion of Amsterdam Garde Nationale, late 1813. They fought against the French in the siege of Naarden. I'm not directly related though, I know that much.
Still, pretty cool. He was also a Freemason.
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Cool stuff guys, how did you find out information about your ancestors specifically? I am trying my best but I didn't find him in any muster rolls or something similar so far. My last hope is State Archive in Dresden where a list of 6000 Saxons in the Grande Armee is storaged. :'(
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I just saw the name in a newspaper article where the raising of the 5th Batallion was made public.
There were a few Saxons that served in the Dutch army in 1813-15. Deserters from the Etranger-regiments. :P
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Well I had French ancestors at the time, so I'm sure it is inevitable that at least some of them served in Napoleon's army, but sadly I have virtually no information regarding that part of the family, :( I would love to learn more though.
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I have roots back to the Prussian military but no direct form of records to trace back to see who my ancestors were. Off topic from Napoleonic wars I have an ancestor named Elijah who served in a cavalry regiment during the American Civil war, thats the best I got. ;D
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Well I had French ancestors at the time, so I'm sure it is inevitable that at least some of them served in Napoleon's army, but sadly I have virtually no information regarding that part of the family, :( I would love to learn more though.
It's really not that inevitable. You could buy your way out of conscription, and that's even if you were called up and were unlucky enough to be that seventh person that has to join the army.
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Hmh sounds interesting, i should start doing some research about that, so far i only know that one of my grandfathers served as pilot in WW2. :)
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Well, I know very little of my family, being adopted and all. The oldest records I have are those of my great grand father, who was the son of a prominent Italian nobleman from Naples, and the first in the family to move to Argieland.
Chances are my ancestors fought against the French in the Italian campaigns, though I can't be certain if they fought for Murat or Ferdinand.
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There were two related Petschulat's in the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Westfalian Landwehr. One was a Major the other a Gefreiter. They were supposedly at Waterloo with Blucher. But, that's about all I know about them. My last name is very unique. My family is the only known people with this last name, so it's a very heavy possibility that these two men are ancestors of mine.
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Aaah, the Westphalian landwehr...
I find it somewhat hard to believe two men of the same family would hold two vastly different ranks. Especially in the Landwehr. How were they related to each other?
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They were brothers, apparently. The Major was a Max Petschulat, the Gefreiter was Hans-Juergen Petschulat.
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Did the younger brother not get into Cadet school?
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Idk. I'm unsure what their personal lives were, and I'm unsure they're even my actual family, but the names of them are recent family (Max was the name of my Great-grandfather, and Hans-Juergen is my Grandfather).
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Thought I'd revive this, in case anyone else has some interesting stuff to tell :)
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My ancestor was Jean Baptiste Hertel. A French colonel who led a unit of natives to slaughter 54 Englishmen in the Deerfield massacre during Queen Anne's War. He was awarded the Cross of the Order of Louis (some prestigious medal around that name) and was given land in France and Canada.
Also had family who garrisoned French forts in Canada during the Seven Years War.
That's the best I got bae
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Got some updates on my ancestor:
The Regiment was fighting in 1806 in the devastating Battle of Jena on the Prussian side. Luckily my ancestor wasn't enlisted at that time of he would have probably died there as the regiment was nearly completely wiped in the battle. After the capitulation of the Prussians in 1806 Saxony became a French client state and had to bring in 20.000 men into the French Army. One of the newly enlisted recruits must have been my ancestor. Since it was explicitly stated in the family tree that my ancestor took part in the Battle of Wagram I have to assume he was part of the normal Musketeers at that time as only the Musketeers participated there. Thus he was in 1807 with them and marched with the Grande Armée into Poland. There he participated in the nearly 3 months-lasting Siege of Danzig where the Regiment stayed for nearly 1 year afterwards. In 1808 he returned home in Saxony.
In 1809 the War of the Fifth Coalition broke out and Saxony again had its contingents in the French Army, this time marching into Austria. The regiment was part of the Battle of Linz-Urfahr, a minor skirmish between roughly 20.000 Allied and French/Saxon/Wurttembergian troops.
At the Battle of Wagram the Regiment served in the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Divison of the IX. Corps under Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte who was dismissed by Napoleon after the battle for his poor performance. There my ancestor was probably part of the charge on Deutsch Wagram itself against the Austrian's left flank as the regiment was part of the charge on a small village at that flank whioh ended in Saxons shooting each other as both Saxons and Austrians wore white coats at that time. By night Bernadotte let his men fall back from the village Aderklaa as they were in complete disorder. However Napoleon had ordered a further attack on the left flank so the next morning the Saxon/French Corps had to retake the village again under heavy casualities. The Austrians brought in fresh troops and after 2 hours the Saxon Infantry broke completely and routed the battlefield with Bernadotte not trying to rally them in order. By that time Napoleon in person came over to the left flank of the Battle and fired Bernadotte as his flank was in utter chaos and not usable for the battle anymore. Luckily my ancestors survived this slaughter at Anderklaa.
In 1812 my ancestor must have been part of the Grenadierbataillon "von Spiegel" (which was still part of the Infantry Reg. No5) as he went into Russia with Napoleon. However the "normal" musketeers of the regiment stayed in Northern Germany as garrison troops and only the 2 Grenadier Companies went into Russia. There those two companies took part in many minor skirmishes but did not participate in any major battles (like Smolensk or Borodino). From originally roughly 800 men only 50 returned from the Russian Campaign, with my ancestor being one of them.
Meanwhile in early 1813 the Musketeers who were still garrisoned around Lüneburg in Nothern Germany were completely wiped in the Battle of Lüneburg with their Eagle lost. So from now on only a few Grenadiers remained. They merged with other remaining Saxon Grens into the Grenadier Bataillon von Anger and fought for example in the Battle of Bautzen in the VII. Corps under Reynier.
Finally in late 1813 the Grenadiers were now part of the recreated Gren.Reg. "von Spiegel". Here they participated in a lot of minor battles and ultimately in the Battle of Nations. Still under the command of Reynier's VII. Corps the now famous incident took place: more than 5000 Saxons switched sides along with the Württembergian Cav and my ancestor was one of them :D
Lastly after the Battle of Nations the Regiment was renumbered once again into the 2nd Infantry Regiment and was part of the march into Flanders. There they remained as garrison until 1817. Right after returning from duty in July 1817 after 10 years of being in the military Ehregott Schmidt married his wife Susanna.
I hope this wasn't too boring and maybe some of you have the time and will to write down stories of their ancestors (if you got one in the Napoleonic Wars or anywhere else). I am very curious if you got some stories to share.
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Thats a really interesting story Hadhood. My family emigrated to Massachusetts from Ireland in the 1820's so there is a good chance an ancestor served in the British Army during the Nap Wars. I however have no contact with any Irish relatives I possibly could have and no records. I do know a fair bit about my Civil War ancestors however.
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Please share.
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Oh he is a cool story. The breif version is he was born in Massachusetts and was working in New Hampshire when Sumter happened. 2 days after Sumter fell he enlisted for 90 days and served in Company H 1st New Hampshire. After this enlistment expired he enlisted as a Cpl in the 24th Massachusetts (New England Guards). in 1862 he server in North Carolina in 63 South Carolina 64 Florida and in 1865 his regiment garissened Richmond. During his stay he was offered to be the New commandant of Libby Prison after it was taken over by the Union. He served as wardan untill he was mustered out. During his career he rose from the rank of Private to Captain.
He moved out west on the 70th's and was blown to smithereens in a mining accident in California.
I own a couple letters from him. Apparently he had 2 other brothers who server. One server in the Navy while another was in another massachusets regiment. Apparently his brothers regiment got so chewed up it was mustered out. I dont know much about these 2 brothers for they were only mentioned in letters.
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Oh he is a cool story. The breif version is he was born in Massachusetts and was working in New Hampshire when Sumter happened. 2 days after Sumter fell he enlisted for 90 days and served in Company H 1st New Hampshire. After this enlistment expired he enlisted as a Cpl in the 24th Massachusetts (New England Guards). in 1862 he server in North Carolina in 63 South Carolina 64 Florida and in 1865 his regiment garissened Richmond. During his stay he was offered to be the New commandant of Libby Prison after it was taken over by the Union. He served as wardan untill he was mustered out. During his career he rose from the rank of Private to Captain.
He moved out west on the 70th's and was blown to smithereens in a mining accident in California.
As brief as it may be, sounds like the man was well accomplished and well deserving of his commissions.
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I had an ancestor (17? years old) who enlisted as a musician in the 159th New York. About half way through his service he was given a musket, he survived the war and worked for a newspaper afterwards.
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Idk if this is really a good place to put this, but since there is no where else...
In that sort of "musket-era," I had an ancestor named Francis McCorkle that was a Major with some militia that fought all over NC and has a plaque at Kings Mountain, if anyone knows where that is.
I also had a few Civil War guys. One was around 6 at the time and remembers being herded into the trapdoor basement when Union soldiers went through his house looking for quartered troops. The last Civil War ancestor I know of fought all the way up to Gettysburg without being wounded and was coming back down South to build a church, but died of the flu.
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I just found a day by day account of one of my ancestors of the civil war. If you guys want I can post some of the entries. Highlights are him enlisting as a Pte, and then becoming a 2Lt. Was captured and exchanged and was put in command of the 23rd United States Colored Infantry regiment. The book is truly phenomenal accounts from every day 1863-5
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My grandpa served with some of the anarchist and sindicalist brigades and columns during the spanish civil war, he was a commie and was put to the musket when the war ended, thats all igot ):
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nvm
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Damn very nice history, since I'm American I have no clue or records: / I'm sure I had some ancestors who fought for the Austrian Empire.
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Damn very nice history, since I'm American I have no clue or records: / I'm sure I had some ancestors who fought for the Austrian Empire.
There were Americans who enlisted in the French army to fight the British in Europe... There's always that possibility.
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Most European countries had drafts in the 19th century, Britian being the exception, so you're bound to have ancestors that were in the army.
Unless, of course, your family was rich. Like mine. Huehuehue.
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Most European countries had drafts in the 19th century, Britian being the exception, so you're bound to have ancestors that were in the army.
Unless, of course, your family was rich. Like mine. Huehuehue.
Y peasantry no kill
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You could pay someone to take your place until the very late 19th century.
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I pretty sure my ancestors served, but I am not sure in what way. If the noble name was still respected in the nineteenth century, it might have been very well possible that they were officers, though I cannot be sure.
Some man in out family has the family tree and stories and shit, so I am definitely going to contact him next week.
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Being a noble didn't get you an commission. Being rich did.
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Being a noble didn't get you an commission. Being rich did.
Which was kinda what I meant when referring to the family name. Don't know why I wrote that down. I meant: If the name still meant something.
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The first know ancestor on my mothers side was in the Scots Brigade (in service of the Dutch Republic) and got buried under the name 'Mudman' for some reason :-\.
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One of my ancestors/relatives, Thomas Graves, was second in command to Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen.
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Got some ancestors in Italy near Lucca and some in sicily that fought in more wars than anyone in my family can remember. Then they all went to Argentina and/or NY for work
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One of my ancestors served, erm, kinda. Well if fighting in the War of 1812 out in the frontier against natives counts as fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. Being wealthy land owners and nobility really didn't mean anything over in the US post-royal rule in terms of who fought from what I've read. I also might've had some British and Polish family fight in Europe, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm like 99% sure I had British, but not sure about Polish.
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my dad fought in ww1
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My Great Grandpa served as a Col of a regiment During Napoleonic Wars, I follow after him :)
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My Great Grandpa served as a Col of a regiment During Napoleonic Wars, I follow after him :)
As a colonel in the Napoleonic wars?
Good luck.
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My Great Grandpa served as a Col of a regiment During Napoleonic Wars, I follow after him :)
It is impossible that your great-grandpa was a colonel in the Napoleonic Wars and it is impossible for you to be a colonel in the Napoleonic Wars.
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You never know, all his ancestors could have remarried at the age of 75 with a young woman and got her with child ^^
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My Great Grandpa served as a Col of a regiment During Napoleonic Wars, I follow after him :)
It is impossible that your great-grandpa was a colonel in the Napoleonic Wars and it is impossible for you to be a colonel in the Napoleonic Wars.
ok lol my great great great...grandpa
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It's kind of difficult to be sure if you ha family members who fought. The records weren't excellent and I doubt there are that many surviving.
My family was still living in Ulster, Wales, and Sweden when the wars happened, so I think it's not too far fetched to say one of them was desperate enought to join the British or Swedish armies.