Count Leopold Gondrecourt was a Austro-Hungarian general of French origin most notable for his service in the Battle for Königshügel.

Biography

After attending the

École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the "Special Military School of Saint-Cyr") is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto ...

Saint-Cyr-l'École Saint-Cyr-l'École () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It used to host the training school for officers of the French army, the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM), which w ...

, Count Gondrecourt entered the service of the Austrian army.Gondrecourt, Leopold Gf.
/ref> At the end of 1863, he was appointed as a brigadier in command of a 4800-strong brigade that was to be sent to

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

and set out from Prague on 17 and 18 December 1863. Initially an Austrian contingent of the federal German troops in the

federal execution The term federal execution'','' or (German: ''Bundesexekution'') refers to the right of a confederation or federation to act militarily against individual member states if they violate duties resulting from membership. The term "''Reichsexekution' ...

against the duchies of

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

and Lauenburg; the brigade then continued to serve along the

Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

in the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...

. On 3 February 1864, together with the Prussian brigade "Canstein", Gondrecourt's unit stormed the area in front of the

Danewerk The Danevirke or Danework (modern Danish spelling: ''Dannevirke''; in Old Norse; ''Danavirki'', in German; ''Danewerk'', literally meaning '' earthwork of the Danes'') is a system of Danish fortifications in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. This his ...

during the Battle for Königshügel near

Selk The Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church (german: Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, abbreviated SELK) is a confessional Lutheran church body of Germany. It is a member of the European Lutheran Conference and of the International ...

. For the successful capture of the Königshügel, he was awarded the

Military Order of Maria Theresa The Military Order of Maria Theresa (german: Militär-Maria-Theresien-Orden; hu, Katonai Mária Terézia-rend; cs, Vojenský řád Marie Terezie; pl, Wojskowy Order Marii Teresy; sl, Vojaški red Marije Terezije; hr, Vojni Red Marije Te ...

. For his services in the war, the Prussian commander

Friedrich Graf von Wrangel Friedrich Heinrich Ernst Graf von Wrangel (13 April 1784 – 2 November 1877) was a ''Generalfeldmarschall'' of the Prussian Army. A Baltic German, he was nicknamed "Papa Wrangel" and was a member of the Baltic noble family of Wrangel. Ea ...

suggested to the Prussian King

Wilhelm I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the ...

that Gondrecourt be awarded the order

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eag ...

'for his praiseworthy behavior in the battle near Oberselk and the storming of the Königsberg, as already mentioned in my earlier proposal, but also for his excellent bravura in Veile on the 8th of the month'. King Wilhelm I then awarded him this medal on 18 August 1864.Gustav Lehmann: ''Die Ritter des Ordens pour le merite.'' Band 2, S. 457, Nr. 47, Mittler, Berlin 1913. In 1864 Gondrecourt was appointed chief steward and tutor of the six-year-old Archduke

Crown Prince Rudolf en, Rudolph Francis Charles Joseph , caption = Rudolf in 1887 , spouse = , issue = Elisabeth Marie, Princess Otto of Windisch-Graetz , house = Habsburg-Lorraine , father = Franz Joseph I of Austria , mother ...

. The boy, who was appointed colonel at birth, was to be raised to be a soldier. For this purpose Gondrecourt used harsh military educational methods, such as water treatment, waking up with pistol shots, nocturnal exposure in the zoo, as well as hours of exercise. Eventually one of his subordinates, Josef Latour, informed the archduke's stay abroad mother, Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, about the negative effects of these methods on her son. She presented an ultimatum resulting in Emperor

Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until ...

dismissing Gondrecourt in 1866. He then became the commandant of the Theresienstadt fortress. In 1866 he became adjutant to General

Eduard Clam-Gallas Count Eduard Clam-Gallas (, in Prague – , in Vienna) was an Austrian general. He was the eldest son of Count Christian Christoph Clam-Gallas (1771–1838), patron of Beethoven, and Countess Josephine Clary-Aldringen (1777–1828). Career In ...

in the 1st Army Corps, later commanding general with the rank of major general of the same. In 1888 Gondrecourt was released into retirement and died within the same year.

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gondrecourt, Leopold 1816 births 1888 deaths Military personnel from Nancy, France Austro-Hungarian generals People of the Second Schleswig War Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa Austrian people of French descent École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class)

Biography

Awards

See also

Bibliography

References