Friedrich Leopold von Geßler (1688 - 1762)

Born 24 Jun 1688 in Schwarzenau, Herzogtum Preußen

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 22 Aug 1762 at age 74 in Brieg, Königreich Preußen

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Biography

Friedrich Leopold von Geßler is Notable.

Friedrich Leopold Count von Gessler was born on June 24, 1688, and died on August 22, 1762. He was the son of Konrad Ernst von Gessler and Gertrud von Gattenhoffen.

He entered the Royal Prussian in 1703, joining in the Infantry Regiment von Holstein, but soon entered the Imperial Army. He served in the War of the Spanish Succession under Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau.

In 1713, he re-entered the Royal Prussian Army as a Captain of Cavalry in Cuirassier Regiment (von Pannwitz) No 12.

He was promoted to Major in 1714, transferring to a dragoon regiment, and to Lieutenant Colonel in 1720. Becoming commander of Dragoon Regiment (von der Schulenburg) No. 2 in 1736, he was promoted to Colonel in 1729, and became Chief of Cuirassier Regiment (von Gessler) No. 4 in 1733. He was promoted to Major General in 1739.

During the First Silesian Army, he distinguished himself at Mollwitz and Chotusitz, where he led the cavalry of Wilhelm Dietrich von Buddenbrock's left wing and a result of which he was promoted to Lieutenant General and awarded the Order of the Black Eagle in 1742.

In the Battle of Hohenfriedberg, his charge with Bayreuth Dragoon Regiment overran 20 battalions and took 2,500 prisoners and captured 67 standards and is widely regarded as one of the greatest German cavalry charges. Friedrich II, King of Prussia, reputedly wrote the Hohenfriedberger March in honor of the action.

He commanded the cavalry on the right wing at Kesselsdorf in 1745.

He was named a Count in 1745.

He was promoted to General of the Cavalry in 1747, and Field Marshal in 1751.

He fought at Lobositz in 1756, but physical ailments forced his retirement when he tried to campaign in 1757.

He was admitted to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in 1735,

In 1851, Frederick William IV, King of Prussia included his name on the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great.

He is buried at Brieg, where his tomb in the Church of St. Nicholas was designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans in the Church of St. Nicholas and completed in 1790.

Sources

• Julius Kindler von Knobloch, Oberbadisches Geschlechterbuch (Heidelberg, Germany; Carl Winter's Universtatsbuchhandlung; 1894), vol. 1, pp. 438-439.

• Ernst Heinrich Kneschke, Deutsche Grafen-Haeuser der Gegenwart (Leipzig; 1853), vol. 2., p. 138.

• Anton Balthasar König, Biographisches Lexikon aller Helden und Militärpersonen(Berlin: Arnold; Wever; 1789), vol. 2, pp. 8-11.

• Kurt von Priesdorff, Geßler (Berlin, Germany: Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft; 1935).

• Kurt von Priesdorff, Soldatisches Führertum (Hamburg, German: Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg; 1937), vol. 1, pp.189–192.

• https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz23485.html

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Leopold_von_Gessler