Reinhard Vincent Graf von Hompesch (1660 – 20 January 1733) was a

Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army () was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This army was brought to such a size ...

officer and nobleman who served as the governor of

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

and

’s-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest city by population. The city is south ...

. His parents were Johann Dietrich II von Hompesch zu Bollheim and Rurich and Anna Louisa von Ketzgen.

Life

Hompesch was a member of the Protestant Hompesch zu Bollheim und Rurich family, an aristocratic family from the duchies of Juliers and Berg in Westphalia, in the lower-Rhine border region between Germany and the Netherlands. He had many siblings, two of whom also chose a military career. By 1691 von Hompesch was a major in the Dutch Horse Guards, becoming Colonel of that regiment in 1711. On 6 July 1698, he was appointed to the position of

Master of the Buckhounds The Master of the Buckhounds (or Master of the Hounds) was an officer in the Master of the Horse's department of the British Royal Household. The holder was also His/Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot. The role was to oversee a hunting pack; a ...

under

William III of England William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, Zeeland, Lordship of Utrecht, Utrec ...

. In 1701 he was appointed major general. During the war of the Spanish Succession War he fought at the

Battle of Ekeren The Battle of Ekeren, which took place on 30 June 1703, was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. A Bourbon army of around 24,000 men, consisting of troops from France, Spain and Cologne, surrounded a smaller Dutch force of 12,000 men, ...

(1703), and in the following year in the rank of Lieutenant General at the

Battle of Blenheim The Battle of Blenheim (; ; ) fought on , was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. The overwhelming Allied victory ensured the safety of Vienna from the Franco-Bavarian army, thus preventing the collapse of the reconstituted G ...

, where he commanded the second line of cavalry. Thereafter

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

appointed him and Major General Jacques-Louis, comte de Noyelles et de Fallais (who had commanded a cavalry brigade at Blenheim) to command of the

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

area. Von Hompesch fortified Trier and occupied Saarbrücken. In 1704 he became commander of the

Grave A grave is a location where a cadaver, dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is burial, buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of buria ...

region. In 1705 and 1706 he commanded the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

region. For his services in 1706 he was elevated by

Emperor Joseph I Joseph I (Joseph Jacob Ignaz Johann Anton Eustachius; 26 July 1678 – 17 April 1711) was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1705 until his death in 1711. He was the eldest son of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor from his thi ...

to the rank of count. In 1708 he fought at Oudenarde and in 1709 at Malplaquet. In July 1710 he became governor of

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

after the Allied victory in the siege of the city, which had lasted from April to June. When he covered the repulse of the allies from the neighbouring town of Arleux on 28 July 1711, his forces were thrown back to Douai, but in counterattack opened the way to France for the Allies by occupying an important bridge. Hompesch was still in command of Douai two years later when the French retook it after a relatively brief siege. Hompesch had insufficient forces to be able to mount a lengthy resistance, while the population, who did not appreciate martial law under a Protestant occupying force, hoped for a rapid end to hostilities. Villars having refused to grant the defeated Governor the honours of war, Hompesch and the entire garrison were taken prisoner on 29 July 1712 and the French captured a large quantity of cannons and ammunition. In 1713 Hompesch was appointed

Governor of Luxembourg The following is a list of governors of Luxembourg. From the 15th to the 19th centuries, the Duchy (later Grand-Duchy) of Luxembourg was ruled by the French, the Burgundians, the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs, and the Dutch. From 1848 onwards, ...

, then in 1714 of

, and finally of

from 1718 until his death in 1733. On 12 April 1723 he was promoted General of Cavalry. In 1732, when tensions with

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, ...

were high, Hompesch became the supreme commander of the whole

and conducted a number of exercises on the border meant as a show of force. In 1721 he bought the estate and castle of

Stevensweert Stevensweert is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Maasgouw. It lies on the right bank of the river Meuse, which forms the border with Kessenich in Belgium. There was also a ferry to this village. ...

, where he died in 1733. In 1721 he was an extraordinary envoy to the general states in Berlin, where he was awarded the

Order of the Black Eagle The Order of the Black Eagle () was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg (who became Friedrich I of Prussia, Friedrich I, King in Prussia, the ...

.Johann Friedrich Schannat: '' Eiflia illustrata '', volume II, p. 53
digitized
/ref> Later, in 1725 he undertook a second diplomatic mission, this time for the Dutch government, when he negotiated with

Simon Henry Adolph, Count of Lippe-Detmold Simon Henry Adolph, Count of Lippe-Detmold (25 January 1694 – 12 October 1734) was a ruler of the county of Lippe. Life He was the son of Frederick Adolphus, Count of Lippe-Detmold and his wife Johanna Elisabeth of Nassau-Dillenburg. His fi ...

for the purchase by Holland of the Dutch lordships of

Vianen Vianen () is a city and a former municipality in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located south of the Lek river. Before 2002 it was part of the province of South Holland. Vianen is made up of a historic town centre tha ...

and

Ameide Ameide is a city in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Vijfheerenlanden, and lies about 9 km southwest of IJsselstein. Ameide received city rights in the 14th century. Ameide was a separate municipality ...

- a trade which the heavily indebted duke could not refuse.

Family

Hompesch had two brothers who chose a military career like him, Adrien Gustave, killed at the siege of Douai in 1710 and Adam Adrien Louis (1678-1733), who also rose to the rank of general, first in the service of Holland and then of Prussia. In addition, one of his descendants, Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim (1744-1805), was the last Grand Master of the Order of Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem.

Sources

External links

HOMPESCH, REINHART VINCENT, baron. @ # I-V; VII-XIX

Pierer-1857
Pierer-1857 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hompesch, Reinhardt Vincent Graf von War of the Spanish Succession 1660 births 1733 deaths Dutch army commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession 18th-century Dutch military personnel Dutch military personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession