Baron Friedrich Caspar von Geismar (known in Russian as ''Fyodor Klementyevich Geismar'', ; 1783–1848) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

military officer who spent the best part of his career in the service of

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

. He eventually rose to the rank of Full General and became an

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...

Biography

He was born on 12 May 1783 in

Ahlen Ahlen (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Aulen'') is a Town#Germany, town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 30 km southeast of Münster. Ahlen is part of the Warendorf (district), District of Warendorf and is economically the most impo ...

into a noble family known since the 13th century. His father was a chamberlain at the court of the

king of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

. He was an heir to the Dössel line of an old Austrian-German noble family of Geismar zu Riepen from the castle of

Warburg Warburg (; Westphalian: ''Warberich'' or ''Warborg'') is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany on the river Diemel near the three-state point shared by Hessen, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is in Höxter distr ...

. His parents were Baron Clemens August von Geismar, the commander of the Guard Regiment of the Kings of Prussia, and Bernadina de Berswardt. On 2 August 1798, at the age of 15, he joined the Lower Austrian 4th Infantry Regiment "

Hoch- und Deutschmeister The grand master of the Teutonic Order (; ) is the supreme head of the Teutonic Order. It is equivalent to the grand master of other military orders and the superior general in non-military Roman Catholic religious orders. ''Hochmeister'', li ...

". He served with his unit in the disastrous

battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV French Republican calendar, FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important military engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near t ...

, where his unit was destroyed by

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. After the battle, he joined the Russian service and fought in the ranks of

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

during the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the Continenta ...

. After the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, and G ...

, he was given command of a

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

cavalry regiment and the task of escorting the ducal family back to

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

where he defeated a French attack, for which the city of Weimar awarded him honorary citizenship. He joined a local masonic lodge in a ceremony that inspired

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

to write his poem ''Creed''. After the war, he put down the Chernigov Regiment revolt of the

Decembrists The Decembrist revolt () was a failed coup d'état led by liberal military and political dissidents against the Russian Empire. It took place in Saint Petersburg on , following the death of Emperor Alexander I. Alexander's brother and heir ...

and, in the 1828 Turkish campaign, won a battle near

Băilești Băilești () is a city in Dolj County, Oltenia, Romania, with a population of 15,928 in 2021. One village, Balasan, is administered by the city. Geography The city lies in the western part of the Wallachian Plain, on the banks of the Balasan Ri ...

. In 1830, his native town of Ahlen also awarded him with honorary citizenship. Later that year, he fought against the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

in Poland. In a series of defeats, he lost most of his soldiers in the battles of Stoczek, Iganie and

Wawer Wawer () is one of the dzielnica, districts of Warsaw, located in the south-eastern part of the city. The Vistula river runs along its western border. Wawer became a district of Warsaw on 27 October 2002 (previously it was a part of Praga Południ ...

, and considered suicide. Eventually he was given command over a new force and took part in the final Battle of Warsaw. During the struggle for Fort 54 (Ordon's Redoubt), he was severely wounded. After the Polish campaign, he commanded the I Corps stationed in

Wilno Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, but was accused of conniving Konarski's revolutionary activities and forced into retirement. In 1842, he settled at his property in Podolia, the village of Gródek. He built several factories, churches, a school and a hospital for locals. Geismar had many children from two marriages, first to a Romanian princess from the House of Ghika (whom he had met during the Turkish war and later divorced) and then to

Herder A herder is a pastoralism, pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on extensive management, open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic pastoralism, nomadic or transhuma ...

's niece named Nathalie.

References

Imperial Russian Army generals German barons Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) 1783 births 1848 deaths 18th-century people from the Holy Roman Empire {{Russia-mil-bio-stub