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Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byErnst Gebauer, 1835 | |
| Birth name | Johann David Ludwig von Yorck |
| Born | (1759-09-26)26 September 1759 |
| Died | 4 October 1830(1830-10-04) (aged 71) |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Prussia Dutch Republic |
| Branch | Prussian Army Dutch Army |
| Years of service | 1772–1779 1782–1785 1785/1786–1821 |
| Rank | Generalfeldmarschall (Prussia) Captain (Netherlands) |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Grand Cross of the Iron Cross Pour le Mérite Order of St. George |
| Signature |  |
Johann David Ludwig Graf Yorck von Wartenburg (bornvon[a] Yorck; 26 September 1759 – 4 October 1830) was aPrussianGeneralfeldmarschall instrumental in theKingdom of Prussia ending an alliance withFrance to form one withRussia during theWar of the Sixth Coalition.Ludwig van Beethoven's "Yorckscher Marsch" is named in his honor.
The Field Marshal's surname is Yorck;Wartenburg is a battle-honour appended to the surname as a title of distinction (cf. Britain'sMontgomery of Alamein).
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Yorck's father, David Jonathan von Yorck, was born in Rowe in the PrussianProvince of Pomerania[1] (nowRowy,Poland), to Jan Jarka, aLutheran pastor, whose family came from a small manor inGross Gustkow (hence the namevon Gostkowski) and traced its origins from PomeranianKashubians. David Jonathan von Yorck served as acaptain (Hauptmann) in thePrussian Army under KingFrederick the Great; Yorck's mother Maria Sophia Pflug was the daughter of aPotsdam artisan. Their son Ludwig was born in Potsdam in 1759; the couple married in 1763. Ludwig's father changed his name fromJark(a) toYorck to make it moreEnglish (York) and dropped thevon Gostkowski.
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Yorck entered the Prussian Army in 1772 and reached the rank oflieutenant in 1777. After seven years' service, however, he was cashiered forinsubordination, having reproached his superior forplundering during theWar of the Bavarian Succession when in 1779, during the Guard Parade, Yorck expressed his contempt for him. He spent one year's confinement inFort Friedrichsburg,Königsberg, after which King Frederick the Great denied him re-employment.[2]
Yorck left Prussia and joined theSwiss mercenaries inDutch service in 1781. He took part in the operations of 1783-84 in theEast Indies as a captain of theRegiment de Meuron. He also participated with the French army in a battle against the British inCape Town. Returning to Potsdam in 1786 he was, on the death of Frederick the Great, reinstated in the army byFrederick William II, from 1792 with the rank ofmajor. In 1794/95 he participated in the operations inPoland during theKościuszko Uprising, distinguishing himself especially in theSzczekociny.[3]
From 1799, Yorck began to make a name for himself as commander of alight infantry (Jäger) regiment, being one of the first to emphasize the training of skirmishers. In 1805, with the rank ofOberst, he was appointed to command an infantry brigade as a vanguard force of DukeKarl August of Saxe-Weimar during theWar of the Fourth Coalition. In the disastrousJena campaign, he was a conspicuous and successful rearguard commander, especially atAltenzaun. Having crossed theElbe river andHarz mountains, he was taken prisoner, severely wounded, in the last stand ofBlücher's corps atLübeck.[3]
In the reorganization of the Prussian army which followed the 1807Treaty of Tilsit, Yorck was one of the leading figures. At first major-general commanding theWest Prussian brigade, afterwards inspector-general of light infantry, he was finally appointed second in command to GeneralGrawert, the leader of the auxiliary corps which Prussia was compelled to send in support of Napoleon'sinvasion of Russia. The two generals did not agree, Grawert being an open partisan of the French alliance, and Yorck an ardent Prussian patriot, but Grawert soon retired and Yorck assumed the command.[3]
Opposed in his advance onRiga by the Russian GeneralSteingel, Yorck displayed great skill in a series of battles which ended in the retreat of the enemy to Riga. Throughout the campaign he had been the object of many overtures from the enemy's generals, and though he had hitherto rejected them, it was soon clear to him that the French Grand Army was doomed.Marshal MacDonald, his immediate French superior, retreated before the corps ofDiebitsch, and Yorck found himself isolated. As a soldier his duty was to break through, but as a Prussian patriot his position was more difficult. He had to judge whether the moment was favorable for the war of Prussia's liberation; and, whatever might be the enthusiasm of his junior staff officers, Yorck had no illusions as to the safety of his own head. On 20 December, the general made up his mind.[3]
TheConvention of Tauroggen armistice, signed by Diebitsch and Yorck without the consent of their king, declared the Prussian corps "neutral". The news was received with the wildest enthusiasm, but the Prussian Court dared not yet throw off the mask, and an order was despatched suspending Yorck from his command pending a court-martial. Diebitsch refused to let the bearer pass through his lines, and the general was finally absolved when theTreaty of Kalisz placed Prussia on the side of the Allies. Yorck's act proved to be a significant turning point in Prussian history. His veterans formed the nucleus of the forces ofEast Prussia, and Yorck himself in public took the final step by declaring war on Napoleon as the commander of those forces.[3]
On 17 March 1813, Yorck made his entry intoBerlin in the midst of the wildest exuberance of patriotic joy. On the same day, the king declared war on France. During 1813-14, Yorck led his veterans with conspicuous success. He covered Blücher's retreat afterBautzen and took a decisive part in the battles on theKatzbach. In the advance onLeipzig, his corps won the action ofWartenburg (3 October) and took part in the crowning victory in theBattle of the Nations of 18 October. In the campaign in France, Yorck drew off the shattered remnants ofOsten-Sacken's corps atMontmirail, and decided the day atLaon.[3]
The storming of Paris was Yorck's last fight. In the campaign of 1815, none of the older men were employed in Blücher's army, in order thatAugust von Gneisenau might be free to assume command in case of the old prince's death. Yorck was appointed to a reserve corps in Prussia, and, feeling that his services were no longer required, he retired from the army. His master would not accept his resignation for a considerable time, and in 1821 made himGeneralfeldmarschall. He had been madeGraf Yorck von Wartenburg in 1814. The remainder of his life was spent on his estate of Klein-Öls (todayOleśnica Mała, Poland) inSilesia, a gift of the king. A statue byChristian Daniel Rauch was erected in Yorck's honor in Berlin in 1855.[4] The former football clubYorck Boyen Insterburg was also named in honor of Yorck.[citation needed]
A 1931 filmYorck was made about him withWerner Krauss playing the General.
Yorck was the great-grandfather of the late-nineteenth-century philosopherPaul Yorck von Wartenburg and the great-great-great-grandfather ofPeter Yorck von Wartenburg, a member of theGerman resistance during theNazi regime.[citation needed]
Regarding personal names:Graf was a title before 1919, but now is regarded as part of the surname. It is translated asCount. Before the August 1919 abolition of nobility as a legal class, titles preceded the full name when given (Graf Helmuth James von Moltke). Since 1919, these titles, along with any nobiliary prefix (von,zu, etc.), can be used, but are regarded as a dependent part of the surname, and thus come after any given names (Helmuth James Graf von Moltke). Titles and all dependent parts of surnames are ignored in alphabetical sorting. The feminine form isGräfin.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Yorck von Wartenburg, Hans David Ludwig".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 923–924.
"Йорк, Иоганн Давид Людвиг" .Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906.| International | |
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