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ALVENSLEBEN

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 775 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ALVENSLEBEN ,. CONSTANTIN VON (1809-1892), Prussian See also:

general, was See also:born on the 26th of See also:August 1809 at Eichenbarleben in Prussian See also:Saxony, and entered the Prussian See also:guards from the See also:cadet See also:corps in 1827. He became first See also:lieutenant in 1842, See also:captain in 1849, and See also:major on the See also:Great General See also:Staff in 1853, whence after seven years he went to the See also:Ministry of See also:War. He was soon afterwards promoted See also:colonel, and commanded a See also:regiment of Guard See also:infantry up to 1864, when he became a major-general. In this See also:rank he commanded a See also:brigade of guards in the war of 1866. At the See also:action of Soor (Burkersdorf) on the 28th of See also:June he distinguished himself very greatly, and at See also:Koniggratz, where he led the advanced guard of the Guard corps, his See also:energy and initiative were still more conspicuous. Soon afterwards he succeeded to the command of his See also:division, General See also:Hiller v. Gartringen having fallen in the See also:battle; he was promoted lieutenant-general, and retained this command after the conclusion of See also:peace, receiving in addition the See also:order pour le merite for his services. In 187o, on the outbreak of war with See also:France, von Alvensleben succeeded See also:Prince See also:Frederick See also:Charles in command of the III See also:army corps which formed See also:part of the II See also:German Army commanded by the prince. Under their new general, the See also:Brandenburg regiments forming the III corps proved them-selves collectively the best in the whole German army, with the possible exception of the Prussian guards, and, if Prince Frederick Charles is entitled to the See also:chief See also:credit in training the III corps, Alvensleben had contributed in almost equal degree to the efficiency of the Guard infantry, while his actual leadership of the III corps in the battles of 187o and 1871 showed him afresh as a fighting general of the very first rank. The battle of Spicheren, on the 6th of August, was initiated and practically directed throughout by him, and in the confusion which followed this victory, for which the See also:superior commanders were not pre-pared, Alvensleben showed his energy and determination' by resuming the advance on his own responsibility. This led to the great battles of the 14th, 16th and 18th of August around See also:Metz, and again the III corps was destined, under its resolute See also:leader, to win the chief credit.

See also:

Crossing the Moselle the instant that he received permission from his army See also:commander to do so, Alvensleben struck the flank of See also:Bazaine's whole army (August 16th) in See also:movement westward from Metz. The III corps attacked at once, and for many See also:hours See also:bore the whole brunt of the battle at See also:Vionville. By the most resolute leading, and at the cost of very heavy losses, Alvensleben held the whole See also:French army at See also:bay while other corps of the I and II German Armies gradually closed up. In the battle of See also:Gravelotte, on the 18th, the corps took little part. Its See also:work was done, and it remained with the II Army before Metz until the surrender of Bazaine's army. Prince Frederick Charles then moved See also:south-See also:west to co-operate with the See also:grand-See also:duke of See also:Mecklenburg on the See also:Loire. At the battle of See also:Beaune-la-Rolande, the corps, with its comrades of Vionville, the X corps under General v. Voigts-Rhetz, won new laurels, and it participated in the advance on Le Mans and the battle at that See also:place on the 12th of See also:January 1871. At the See also:close of the war Alvensleben received the See also:oak-leaves of the order pour le me'rite, the first class of the See also:Iron See also:Cross and a See also:grant of See also:Ioo,000 thalers. He became full general of infantry in 1873 and retired immediately afterwards. In 1889 the See also:emperor See also:William II. ordered that the 52nd infantry regiment (one of the distinguished regiments of Vionville) should thereafter See also:bear Alvensleben's name, and in 1892, on the anniversary of the battle of Le Mans, the old general received the order of the See also:Black See also:Eagle. He died on the 28th of See also:March 1892 at See also:Berlin.

His See also:

brother, GUSTAV VON ALVENSLEBEN (1803—1881), Prussian general of infantry, was born at Eichenbarleben on the 3oth of See also:September 1803, entered the Guard infantry in 1821, and took part as a general staff officer in the suppression of the See also:Baden insurrection of 1849. He became a major-general in 1858, aide-de-See also:camp to the See also:king in 1861, and lieutenant-general in 1863, and in the See also:campaign of 1866 performed valuable military and See also:political services. He was promoted general of infantry in 1868. In the war of 187o he commanded the IV army corps, which took a conspicuous part in the action of See also:Beaumont and afterwards served in the See also:siege of See also:Paris. He received the Iron Cross, the order pour le Write, and a See also:money grant, as a See also:reward for his services, and retired in 1872. He died at Gernrode in the Harz on the 3oth of June 1881. Another brother, ALBRECHT, See also:COUNT VON ALVENSLEBEN (1794—1858), was a distinguished Prussian statesman.

End of Article: ALVENSLEBEN

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