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iwrxswit'K. 



ID 1787, he was obliged to place himself at the head 

 of a Prussian army for the supi>ort of the stndtholder 

 of Holland. The facility with which this campaign 

 was terminated procured the duke more reputation 

 than he perhaps deserved. High expectations were 

 entertained of him when the wars of the French revo- 

 lution broke ouL The duke received the chief com- 

 mand of the Austrian and Prussian army, and issued 

 at Coblentz, July 15, 17l>^, the famous manifesto, 

 drawn up in a very harsh and haughty style by a 

 Frenchman, I)e Liuion. It certainly did more injury 

 to the allied forces than a hostile army could have 

 done. It inflamed the French nation almost to fury 

 against the insolent conquerors, who intended " to 

 make every city, that dared to resist, level with the 

 ground, and to cut their way to Pnris." The emperor 

 Francis approved it, and so did the king of Prussia ; 

 but the duke considered the expressions too strong. 

 The severest passages were expunged ; but its tone 

 was still very insolent. The duke designed to press 

 forward from Lorraine to Paris, to cut off its supplies, 

 and thus to force it to surrender by famine. Aug. 23, 

 1792, Longwy was taken, and, Sept 2, Verdun. But, 

 in Champagne, a country of itself unproductive, the 

 transport of provisions for the army from the frontiers 

 was rendered difficult by mountains and forests. Du- 

 inouriez was encamped in the vicinity of St Menehould, 

 and skirmishes took place daily ; but Dumouriez, not 

 willing to hazard the fate of France, and foreseeing 

 that the Germans would be forced to retreat by want 

 and disease, avoided a decisive action, notwithstand- 

 ing the efforts of the enemy to provoke him to it. The 

 Germans were, therefore, obliged to conclude an ar- 

 misiice, and to evacuate Champagne. Custines took 

 Worms and Spire during this retreat, and, Oct. 21, 

 captured the fortress of Mentz, and soon afterwards 

 Frankfort, which latter city, however, was retaken by 

 the Prussians and Hessians, Dec. 2. The endeavours 

 of the Germans, therefore, were principally directed 

 to the recapture of those places. To this end the duke, 

 iu conjunction with the Austrians, opened the cam- 

 paign on the Upper Rhine in 1793, took the fortress 

 of Konigstein March 7, conquered Mentz July 22, 

 and prepared to attack the strong fortress of Landau, 

 then in the power of the French. The French, on 

 the other hand, Sept. 14, made a general attack on 

 the duke and Wurmser, from Strasburg to Saarbruck. 

 On that day, the duke had a sanguinary engagement 

 with Moreau, in the vicinity of Pirmasens, a town be- 

 longing to the landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt. The 

 French were driven from their camp near the village 

 of Hornbach, as far as to the Saar. A month later, 

 the duke, having formed a union with Wurmser, suc- 

 ceeded, Oct. 13th, in his attack on the lines of Weis- 

 senburg, and his attempt to draw nearer to Landau. 

 In order to gain another strong point of support, he 

 ventured, on the night of Nov. 16, to make an assault 

 upon the mountain-fortress of Bitsch, which is the key 

 of the Vosges, as the roads from Landau, Pirmasens, 

 Weissenburg, and Strasburg unite at that place. This 

 attempt miscarried. Between the 28th and the 30th 

 of November, however, he defeated a division of the 

 army of the Moselle, at Lantern, which was pressing 

 through the mountains, under the command of Hoche, 

 with Uie intention of relieving Landau. But the daily 

 attacks of Hoche and Pichegru, without regard to the 

 sacrifice of men, and the successful attempt of the lat- 

 ter to break the Austrian lines near Fraschweiler, 

 Dec. 22, forced the Austrians to retreat beyond the 

 Rhine, and occasioned the retreat of the duke also. 

 As some difficulties had already risen between Austria 

 and Prussia, he laid down the chief command of the 

 army in the beginning of the year 1794. Mollendorf 

 v.as his successor. The duke continued to labour for 

 the welfare of his country, until the fatal year 180(5. 



Although he was now of sucli an age that he might 

 have retired without reproach from public life, yet he 

 assumed burdens beyond his powers. At the begin- 

 ning of the year 1806, commissioned by the king of 

 Prussia, he made a journey to Petersburg relative to 

 the war that soon broke out with France. He was 

 I hen placed at the head of the Prussian army. But 

 physical strength was not equal to his moral energy, 

 as was proved by the battles of Jena and Auerstadt 

 (q. v.). He was mortally wounded, and closed his life 

 at Ottensen, near Altona, Nov. 10, 1806. As a civil 

 ruler, he was distinguished for good intentions ; yet 

 the want of consistency, which is evident in most ac- 

 tious of his life, may have been the caase ef the many 

 failures of his benevolent purposes. The duke's sub- 

 jects were also offended by his foreign partialities, 

 particularly his fatal inclination for the French na- 

 tion, which had been instilled into him by Frederic 

 II. 



BRUNSWICK, Ferdinand, duke of, fourth son of duke 

 Ferdinand Albert, was born at Brunswick, Jan. llth, 

 1721, and educated for the military profession. In 1739, 

 he entered into the Prussian service, was engaged in 

 the Silesian wars, and became one of the most eminent 

 generals in the seven years' war. He commanded the 

 allied army in Westphalia, where, always opposed to 

 superior forces, he displayed superior talents. He 

 drove the French from Lower Saxony, Hesse, and 

 Westphalia, and was victorious in the two great lit- 

 tles of Crefeld and Minden. (See Seven Years' 

 fPar.) After the peace, he resigned his commis- 

 sion, on account of a misunderstanding between him 

 and the king. From that time he lived at Bruns- 

 wick, the patron of art and literature. He died in 

 1792. 



BRUNSWICK, Frederic William, duke of ; fourth and 

 youngest son of duke Charles William Ferdinand of 

 Brunswick. He was born in 1771, and received the 

 same education with his second and third brothers, 

 who were a few years older, till the military career, 

 to which he was destined, gave his studies a particular 

 direction. He was loved by his father with great 

 tenderness, but very strictly treated. In 1786, he was 

 appointed by the king of Prussia, successor of his 

 uncle, Frederic Augustus, duke of Oels and Bern- 

 stadt. He then went to Lausanne, remained two 

 years in Switzerland, and, upon his return, was made 

 captain in a Prussian regiment of foot. During the 

 war against France in 1792, and the following year, he 

 fought in the Prussian armies, and was twice wound- 

 ed. After the peace of Bale, he received a regiment, 

 and, in 1804, married the princess Maria Elizabeth 

 Wilhelmina of Baden. The oflspring of this marriage 

 were two princesses, born in 1804 and 1806, who are 

 still living. In 1805, his uncle died, and he became 

 duke of Oels and Bernstadt. In 1806, he took part 

 in the war against France, with all the fire which the 

 oppression 01 Germany and his father's unhappy fate 

 had kindled in him. He finally joined the corps of 

 Blucher, and was made prisoner with him at Lubeck. 

 By the death of his eldest brother, the hereditary 

 prince, who died in September of the same year, 

 without leaving any children, and by an agreement 

 adjusted by his father between him and his elder bro- 

 thers, who, on account of their blindness, were unfit 

 to govern, and were unmarried, he would have suc- 

 ceeded his father in the government of Brunswick, 

 had not the peace of Tilsit and Napoleon's will pre- 

 vented. After that time, he lived at Bruchsal, 

 where, in April, 1808, his wife died. In 1809, at the 

 breaking out of the war between Austria and France, 

 he raised a body of volunteers in Bohemia. Schill 

 had already perished in Stralsund, when the duke 

 made an invasion into Saxony. He was, however, 

 compelled, by the king of Westphalia, to evacuate 



