Georg Wilhelm von der Marwitz[1] (ca. 1723[2] - ca. 8 July 1759[3]), also known as Black Marwitz,[4] was a Prussian major, quartermaster, and adjutant to Frederick II of Prussia.

Biography

In his youth, Marwitz was appointed as a page of Frederick the Great. He later became a favourite of Prince Henry, the king's younger brother.[5] The king became aware of the relationship between the prince and the page. In March 1746, Frederick sent a series of satirical letters to Henry, poking fun at the prince's affection and Marwitz alike.[6] After this spat between the brothers, Marwitz was dismissed from his post. Nonetheless, Prince Henry managed to secure Marwitz a position in the 1st Infantry Regiment.[7] However, not long afterwards, the Prince is said to have "banished [Marwitz] from his sight, on account of duplicity and bad behavior."[8] Henry seems to have suspected Marwitz of conspiring against his brother, Prince Augustus Ferdinand.[9] Over the course of the next decade, Marwitz continuously fell in and out of favour with the king. Finally, in 1757, he regained the favour of both the ruler and the prince. Frederick granted him a position as an adjutant, and Prince Henry re-admitted him to his circle.[10]

There are some indications that Marwitz possessed literary talents. In his satirical letter dated to March 3, 1746, Frederick mentions that Marwitz was allegedly writing elegies filled with passionate kisses to Prince Henry.[11] Apparently, the king tutored Marwitz personally and permitted him to use the royal library. During the Seven Years' War, Frederick even commissioned Marwitz to write his biography.[12]

Marwitz passed away on (or some days prior to) the 8th of July, 1759 in Landeshut, of a hot fever with measles.[13][14] Frederick personally penned a letter to relay the news of Marwitz's passing to Prince Henry. Years later, the prince would dedicate a plaque on the Rheinsberg Obelisk to Marwitz. The last lines of the memorial inscription read: his merits and the services [he rendered] would be forgotten, if they were not preserved by this monument.[15]

Hochkirch Controversy

Fontane relates that prior to the Battle of Hochkirch in 1758, Marwitz "refused […] to make camp at the designated location, since it seemed ripe for attacking. He was consequently not only disgraced but also not awarded the Pour le mérite."[16]

Henri de Catt, however, gives a different account of these events,[17] apparently based on what Marwitz himself once told him.[18] According to De Catt's recounting, the incident took place as follows: Some time before the Battle of Hochkirch, Frederick ordered Marwitz to set up camp. The king had long sought an excuse to reprimand his adjutant. Marwitz was consequently told that his camp was atrocious and against all common-sense rules.[19] Marwitz was then put under house arrest until after the battle. The king subsequently arranged the camp at Hochkirch after his own fashion, telling Marwitz that he should follow the royal example. However, this encampment proved to be unsuitable in the following battle.[20] The tale of Marwitz at Hochkirch is also recounted by a distant relative, Friedrich August Ludwig von der Marwitz. However, in his recounting, Marwitz is not punished for his objection to the royal orders. Thus, Friederich August's narrative is likely an idealized version of the events.[21]

References

  1. ↑ The index of historical figures of the "Politische Correspondenz" gives his first names as Georg Wilhelm. (Droysen, Johann Gustav, ed. (1890). Die politische Correspondenz Friedrichs des Großen (in German). Vol. 18. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. p. 744.)
  2. ↑ The memorial plaque for Marwitz on the Rheinsberg Obelisk states that Marwitz died at age 36. (Ziebura, Eva (1999). Prinz Heinrich von Preußen (in German). Berlin: Wolfgang Stapp. p. 48. ISBN 3-877-76177-1.)
  3. ↑ Frederick's letter to Henry noting the death of Marwitz is dated to the 8th of July, 1759. (Droysen, Johann Gustav, ed. (1890). Die politische Correspondenz Friedrichs des Großen (in German). Vol. 18. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. p. 385.)
  4. ↑ Schwarzer Marwitz (Marwitz, Friedrich August Ludwig von der (1908). Meusel, Friedrich (ed.). Ein märkischer Edelmann im Zeitalter der Befreiungskriege (in German). Berlin: E.S. Mittler und Sohn. p. 18. ISBN 9785881636913.)
  5. ↑ Lehndorff, Ernst Ahasverus Heinrich von (1910). Schmidt-Lötzen, Karl Eduard (ed.). Dreißig Jahre am Hofe Friedrichs des Großen: Aus den Tagebüchern des Reichsgrafen Ernst Ahasverus Heinrich von Lehndorff, Kammerherrn der Königin Elisabeth Christine von Preußen (in German). Vol. 2. Gotha: Friedrich Andreas Perthes AG. p. 77.
  6. ↑ Ziebura, Eva (1999). Prinz Heinrich von Preußen (in German). Berlin: Wolfgang Stapp. pp. 44–47. ISBN 3-877-76177-1.
  7. ↑ Lehndorff 1910, 77
  8. ↑ Einige Zeit später machte der Prinz ihm Falschheit und schlechtes Benehmen zum Vorwurf, und verbannte ihn gänzlich aus seinen Augen. (Lehndorff 1910, 77)
  9. ↑ Ziebura, Eva (1999). Prinz Heinrich von Preußen (in German). Berlin: Wolfgang Stapp. p. 47. ISBN 3-877-76177-1.
  10. ↑ Lehndorff 1910, 77
  11. ↑ Elegien voller heisser Küsse (Ziebura, Eva (1999). Prinz Heinrich von Preußen (in German). Berlin: Wolfgang Stapp. p. 44. ISBN 3-877-76177-1.)
  12. ↑ Donnersmarck, Viktor Amadeus Henckel von (1846). Militärischer Nachlass (in German). Vol. 1. Zerbst: Verlag der Summer'schen Buchhandlung. pp. 220–221.
  13. ↑ fièvre chaude mêlée de rougeole (Droysen, Johann Gustav, ed. (1890). Die politische Correspondenz Friedrichs des Großen (in German). Vol. 18. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. p. 385.)
  14. ↑ For unknown reasons, the index of persons of the Politische Correspondenz gives the 19th of July 1759 as the date of death. (Droysen, Johann Gustav, ed. (1890). Die politische Correspondenz Friedrichs des Großen (in German). Vol. 18. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. p. 744.)
  15. ↑ son mérite et ses services seroient oubliés, si ce monument n'en conservoit la mémoire. Transcribed and translated from a photograph of the plaque on the Rheinsberg Obelisk. Fontane's transcription of the French inscription modernizes the language slightly for unknown reasons (Fontane 1863, 355-356)
  16. ↑ [Marwitz] weigerte […], das Lager, das einen Ueberfall gleichsam herauszufordern schien, an der angewiesenen Stelle abzustecken, und erhielt dafür nicht nur keinen Pour le mérite, sondern fiel in Ungnade. (Fontane, Theodor (1863). Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg: Das Oderland (in German). Vol. 2. Berlin: Wilhelm Herz. pp. 355–356.)
  17. ↑ De Catt specifies that this account was told to him by one capitaine de M......, aide de camp. De Catt had already referred to Marwitz as a capitaine in previous sections of his memoir, and does not mention any other adjutants with the initial M. Consequently, it is likely that this account was obtained directly from Marwitz by De Catt. (Catt, Henri de (1884). Koser, Reinhold (ed.). Unterhaltungen mit Friedrich dem Grossen: Memoiren und Tagebücher (in French and German). Leipzig: S. Hirzel. p. 120, Ftn. 2.)
  18. ↑ Catt, Henri de (1884). Koser, Reinhold (ed.). Unterhaltungen mit Friedrich dem Grossen: Memoiren und Tagebücher (in French and German). Leipzig: S. Hirzel. pp. 198–199.
  19. ↑ détestable et contre toutes les règles du sens le plus commun (Catt 1884, 198-199)
  20. ↑ Catt 1884, 198-199
  21. ↑ Marwitz, Friedrich August Ludwig von der (1908). Meusel, Friedrich (ed.). Ein märkischer Edelmann im Zeitalter der Befreiungskriege (in German). Berlin: E.S. Mittler und Sohn. p. 18. ISBN 9785881636913.
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