John Adolph of Nassau-Usingen (17 July 1740 in Biebrich – 10 December 1793 in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

) was Count of

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

and Saarwerden and Lord of

Lahr Lahr (officially Lahr/Schwarzwald since 30 September 1978) (); ) is a city in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany, approximately 50 km north of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, 40 km southeast of Strasbourg, and 95 km southwest of Ka ...

and

Idstein Idstein () is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt (region), Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt (Old Town) it is part of the ''Deutsch ...

. He served as a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in the French army and later in the royal

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n army as Major-General and as chief of the Fusilier Regiment No. 47.

Early life

Born into an ancient

House of Nassau The House of Nassau is the name of a European aristocratic dynasty. The name originated with a lordship associated with Nassau Castle, which is located in what is now Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Nassau in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With t ...

, he was the younger son of the ruling Prince Charles of Nassau-Usingen and his wife,

Princess Christine Wilhelmine of Saxe-Eisenach Charles, Prince of Nassau-Usingen (31 December 171221 June 1775), was Prince of Nassau-Usingen. Family Charles was born in Usingen, the son of William Henry of Nassau-Usingen and Countess Charlotte Amalia of Nassau-Dillenburg. After Charle ...

(1711–1740).

Biography

In 1749 he went to the Netherlands with his older brothers and studied at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

for three years. In 1752, he joined the French army. He achieved the rank of

and led the infantry regiment ''von Fersen''. In 1758, he traded it for the cavalry regiment ''Nassau-Saarbrücken''. During the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, he spent the years 1757 to 1761 fighting in Germany. He fought in the battles of Hastenbeck, Sonderhausen, Lutternberg,

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

and

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

. He also participated in the sieges of Kassel and Wolfenbüttel and he fought at Grüneberg and Armöneburg. During the Battle of Sonderhausen, he was hit in the left shoulder. In 1760, he received the military Order of Merit. In 1761, he was promoted to

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

and in 1762 to ''

Maréchal de Camp ''Maréchal de camp'' (sometimes incorrectly translated as field marshal) was a general officer rank used by the French Army until 1848. The rank originated from the older rank of sergeant major general ( French: ''sergent-major général'') ...

'' (major general). In 1763, he received the Palatinate

Order of Saint Hubert The Royal Order of Saint Hubert (), or sometimes () is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of knighthood founded in 1444 or 1445 by Gerhard VII, Duke of Jülich-Berg. He sought to commemorate his victory over the House of Egmond at the Battle of ...

. In 1764, he joined the

n army under King Frederick II. He held the rank of Major-General and led the Fusilier Regiment No. 47. at

Grabow Grabow () is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The town lies southeast of Ludwigslust, the next city, and has the river Elde passing through its old town which is characterized by 16th century tim ...

. In the

War of the Bavarian Succession The War of the Bavarian Succession (; 3 July 1778 – 13 May 1779) was a dispute between the Austrian Habsburg monarchy and an alliance of Electorate of Saxony, Saxony and Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia over succession to the Electorate of Bavaria ...

, his regiment was part of the army of Prince Henry. However, John Adolph was accused of embezzling army money and he left the army in outrage. He returned to the French army. Nevertheless, he received the Prussian

Pour le Mérite The (; , ), also informally known as the ''Blue Max'' () after German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Separated into two classes, each with their own designs, the was ...

Order in 1793.

Personal life

He was married to Baroness Carolina Wilhelmina von Reischach zum Reichenstein (1740-1804), who previously served as

lady in waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but ...

at the princely court of

Nassau-Usingen Nassau-Usingen was a county of the Holy Roman Empire in the Upper Rhenish Circle that became a principality in 1688. The origin of the county lies in the medieval county of Weilnau that was acquired by the counts of Nassau-Weilburg in 1602. Tha ...

in Biebrich and princely court of

Hesse-Cassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, also known as the Hessian Palatinate (), was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. The state was created in 1567 when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided upon ...

Hanau Hanau () is a city in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its railway Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ma ...

.Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels. Limburg 1951ff, S. 161 (Bd. 22, 2002).

Death

He died in 1793 in Wiesbaden, childless.

References

* ,

Footnotes

1740 births 1793 deaths 18th-century German people John Adolph John Adolph French Army officers Military personnel from Wiesbaden Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Major generals of Prussia Sons of princes regnant {{Germany-count-stub