Prince Frederick William Henry Augustus of Prussia (german: Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich August; 19 September 1779 – 19 July 1843) was a Prussian royal and general. Born on Friedrichsfelde Palace, he was the youngest son of

Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia en, Augustus Ferdinand , house = House of Hohenzollern , father = Frederick William I of Prussia , mother =Sophia Dorothea of Hanover , birth_date = , birth_place = Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia , death_date = , death_place = Berlin, Kingdom ...

, the brother of King

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

, and

Margravine Elisabeth Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt , house = Brandenburg-Schwedt , father = Frederick William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt , mother = Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia , birth_date = , birth_place = Schwedt , death_date = , death_place = Berlin, Brandenburg , pla ...

Military career

August joined the Prussian army as a young man, earning the rank of captain by eighteen years old. In 1803, he became a major and was granted an infantry battalion of his own. Three years later, now a lieutenant colonel, he and his battalion took part in the Battle of Auerstedt. His brother, Prince Louis Ferdinand, had been killed by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

army under

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

four days earlier. August himself was captured and held by the French until 1807. In March 1808, his cousin, King

Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, w ...

, made him brigadier general. The Prince spent the next five years reorganizing the Prussian artillery together with Gerhard von Scharnhorst. Seven years after the failure of the Prussian army at Auerstedt, the Prince distinguished himself at the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig (french: Bataille de Leipsick; german: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig, ); sv, Slaget vid Leipzig), also known as the Battle of the Nations (french: Bataille des Nations; russian: Битва народов, translit=Bitva ...

. He continued his campaign against Napoleon throughout 1814. In the winter 1814-1815, August attended the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon ...

. He moved to the north of France in June 1818 and then back to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

after the war had ended. He spent his last years inspecting artillery units in various garrison towns. He died suddenly in

Bromberg Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with mor ...

during one such trip, and was buried in Berlin Cathedral in a service accompanied by the Staats- und Dom Choir Berlin.

Relationships and estate

Although he was one of the richest landowners in Prussia, his estates reverted to the Crown upon his death, since he never left any legitimate heirs. His first mistress, Karoline Friederike Wichmann, with whom he cohabited from 1805 until 1817, bore him four children. She was ennobled as Baroness von Waldenburg. His second mistress was Auguste Arend, later ennobled as Baroness von Prillwitz. They were together from 1818 until her death in 1834, and had seven children. Shortly after Baroness Von Prillwitz's death he began a relationship with and morganatically married Emilie von Ostrowska, a Polish noblewoman. They had a daughter, Charlotte, who was five when her father died, and was raised by her father's Jewish tailor.

Honours

He received the following orders and decorations:

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Augustus Of Prussia, Prince Prussian princes Coppet group Generals of Infantry (Prussia) Prussian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars 1779 births 1843 deaths Recipients of the Iron Cross (1813) Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary category:Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Second Degree Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class Burials at Berlin Cathedral Military personnel from Berlin People from Lichtenberg