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FREDERICK AUGUSTUS H

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 62 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FREDERICK See also:AUGUSTUS H . (1797-1854), See also:king of See also:Saxony, eldest son of See also:Prince See also:Maximilian and of See also:Caroline Maria See also:Theresa of See also:Parma, was See also:born on the 18th of May 1797. The unsettled times in which his youth was passed necessitated his frequent See also:change of See also:residence, but care was nevertheless taken that his See also:education should not be interrupted, and he also acquired, through his journeys in See also:foreign states (See also:Switzerland 1818, See also:Montenegro 1838, See also:England and See also:Scotland 1844) and his intercourse with men of See also:eminence, a See also:special See also:taste for See also:art and for natural See also:science. He was himself a See also:good landscape-painter and had a See also:fine von P. F.K., See also:Frankfort on See also:Main, 186o) was circulated more widely than the author intended, and in the See also:French See also:translation gave rise to much indignation in See also:France. In 1861 Frederick See also:Charles became See also:general of See also:cavalry. He was then See also:commander of the III. (See also:Brandenburg) See also:army See also:corps. This See also:post he held from 186o to 187o, except during the See also:campaigns of 1864 and 1866, and in it he displayed his real qualities as a See also:troop See also:leader. His self-imposed task was to raise the military spirit of his troops to the highest possible level, and ten years of his continuous and thorough training brought the III. corps to a See also:pitch of real efficiency which the Guard corps alone, in virtue of its special recruiting See also:powers, slightly surpassed. Prince Frederick Charles' See also:work was tested to the full when von See also:Alvensleben and the III. corps engaged the whole French army on the 16th of See also:August 187o. In 1864 the prince once more fought against the Danes under his old leader " Papa " See also:Wrangel.

The Prussian contingent under Frederick Charles formed a corps of the allied army, and See also:

half of it was See also:drawn from the III. corps. After the storming of the See also:Duppel lines the prince succeeded Wrangel in the supreme command, with See also:Lieutenant-General Freiherr von See also:Moltke as his See also:chief of See also:staff. These two See also:great soldiers then planned and brilliantly carried out the See also:capture of the See also:island of See also:Alsen, after which the See also:war came to an end. In 1866 came the Seven See also:Weeks' War with See also:Austria. Prince Frederick Charles was appointed to command the I. Army, which he led through the mountains into Bohemia, See also:driving before him the Austrians and See also:Saxons to the upper See also:Elbe, where on the 3rd of See also:July took See also:place the decisive See also:battle of See also:Koniggratz or See also:Sadowa. This was brought on by the initiative of the leader of the I. Army, which had to See also:bear the brunt of the fighting until the advance of the II. Army turned the See also:Austrian flank. After the See also:peace he returned to the III. army corps, which he finally See also:left, in July 187o, when appointed to command the II. See also:German Army in the war with France. In the See also:early days of the advance the prince's ruthless See also:energy led to much See also:friction between the I. and II.

Armies (see FRANCO-GERMAN WAR), while his strategical mistakes seriously embarrassed the great headquarters staff. The advance of the II. Army beyond the See also:

Saar to the Moselle and from that See also:river to the See also:Meuse displayed more energy than careful See also:strategy, but herein at least the " Red Prince " (as he was called from the See also:colour of his favourite See also:hussar See also:uniform) was in thorough sympathy with the king's headquarters on the one See also:hand and the feelings of the troops on the other. Then came the See also:discovery that the French were not in front, but to the right See also:rear of the II. Army (August 16). Alvensleben with the III. corps held the French to their ground at See also:Vionville while the prince hurried together his scattered forces. He himself directed with superb See also:tactical skill the last efforts of the Germans at Vionville, and the victory of St Privat on the 18th was due to his leadership (see See also:METZ), which shone all the more by contrast with the failures of the I. Army at See also:Gravelotte. The prince was left in command of the forces which blockaded See also:Bazaine in Metz, and received the surrender of that place and of the last remaining See also:field army of the enemy. He was promoted at once to the See also:rank of general field See also:marshal, and shortly afterwards the II. Army was despatched to aid in crushing the newly organized army of the French See also:republic on the See also:Loire. Here again he retrieved strategical errors by energy and tactical skill, and his work was in the end crowned by the victory of Le Mans on the 12th of See also:January 1871.

Of all the subordinate leaders on the German See also:

side none enjoyed a greater and a better deserved reputation than the Red Prince. He now became inspector-general of the 3rd "army inspection," and a little later inspector of cavalry, and in the latter post he was largely instrumental in bringing the German cavalry to the degree of'perfection in manceuvre and general training which it gradually attained in the years after the war. He never ceased to improve his own soldierly qualities by further study and by the conduct of manoeuvres on a large See also:scale. His sternness of See also:character kept him aloof from the See also:court and from his own See also:family, and he spent his leisure months chiefly on his various See also:country estates. In 1&72 and in 1882 he travelled in the Mediterranean and the Near See also:East.

End of Article: FREDERICK AUGUSTUS H

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