Karl Ludwig August Friedrich von Phull (or Pfuel) (6 November 1757 – 25 April 1826) was a German

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

in the service of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. Phull served as Chief of the General Staff of King Frederick William III of Prussia in the

Battle of Jena-Auerstedt A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. While in Russian service, he successfully advocated for a scorched earth policy during

Napoleon's invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...

Family

Phull was born in

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...

to the

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

-line of the Pfuel family of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

. He was the son of the Swabian general Carl Ludwig Wilhelm August von Phull (1723–1793) and Auguste Wilhelmine von Keßlau (1734–1768). Phull's first marriage was in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

on 2 May 1790 to Henriette Luise Charlotte von Beguelin (1763–1810), but they divorced in 1800. They had one daughter, Emilie Hernriette (1792–1864). Phull remarried on 18 September 1801 to Charlotte Poths (1766–1808), but this second marriage ended in 1803. Phull and Poths had one son, Eugen (1801–1857). Phull married for a third time in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

on 4 October 1810 to Sabine Henriette von Wedel (ca. 1773–1840), but this marriage also ended in separation.

Career

Phull entered the Prussian Army in 1777, serving near King Frederick II and becoming a member of the Prussian General Staff in 1781. Having participated in the

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campaign of 1793 in the

First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that succ ...

, he was promoted to

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...

in 1798 and Generalmajor in 1805. As the Departementschef of the General Staff since 1804, he was Frederick William III's chief of staff during the

in 1806. As a result of the Prussian collapse in the Fourth Coalition, Frederick William sent Phull to serve Tsar

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son o ...

. Phull won the confidence of the Russian emperor, was promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

in the

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, and instructed Alexander in military strategy. In 1809, Phull was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

. It is disputed how involved Phull was in the Russian decision to adopt a scorched earth policy during

. After Napoleon took

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

on 14 September 1812, Phull was denounced by many Russian officers. He had to flee through Sweden to

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. But the merits of his advice were later recognized. In a letter to Phull on 12 December 1813, Tsar Alexander wrote ''"C'est vous qui avez conçu le plan qui, avec l'aide de la providence, a eu pour suite le salut de la Russie et celui de l'Europe."'' ("It is you who conceived the plan which, with the help of Providence, had as a result the salvation of Russia and that of Europe''").ADB, page 93 In 1813, Phull advised

Prince Frederik of the Netherlands Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau (full names: Willem Frederik Karel; 28 February 1797, in Berlin – 8 September 1881, in Wassenaar), was the second son of William I of the Netherlands and his wife, Wilhelmine of Pru ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. After the fall of Paris in 1814, Phull was named Russian ambassador in The Hague and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

; his witty third wife, Sabine Henriette von Wedel, headed a popular household in Brussels. After Sabine became emotionally unstable, Phull retired to Stuttgart in 1821, where he died five years later. Phull's involvement with the Russian campaign in 1812 is included in

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

's ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...

'', in which the general is known as ''Pfuel''.

Notes

References

*'' Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB). Bd. 26,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

1888 {{DEFAULTSORT:Phull, Karl Ludwig Von 1757 births 1826 deaths Prussian nobility Prussian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Russian people of German descent People from Ludwigsburg People from the Duchy of Württemberg Russian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars German military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars French invasion of Russia Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class)