Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel
Frederick William (German: Friedrich Wilhelm; October 9, 1771, Braunschweig, Holy Roman Empire – June 16, 1815, Quatre-Bras, Netherlands), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Duke of Oels, called "The Black Duke", was a military officer and one of the bitterest opponents of Napoleonic domination in Germany. He briefly ruled the state of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
Frederick William was the fourth son of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess Augusta Charlotte of Wales. He joined the Prussian army in 1789 as a captain and participated in battles against France. In 1805, after his uncle, Frederick Augustus, Duke of Oels, had died childless, Frederick William inherited the Duchy of Oels, a small mediatized principality subordinate to the King of Prussia.
In October of 1806, Frederick William participated in the Battle of Jena-Auerstädt as a major general of the Prussian army, of which his father was the field marshal. His father died from a wound he received in this battle, and Frederick William inherited Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, since his eldest brother had died childless two months ago, and both the second and third brother were mentally retarded. After the defeat of Prussia, his state remained under the control of France, however, and was formally made a part of the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807. Frederick William fled to his parents-in-law in Bruchsal, Baden, where he lived for the next few years.
When in 1809 a war between France and Austria broke out, Frederick William used this opportunity to create a corps of partisans with the support of Austria. This corps was called the Schwarze Schar — the "Black Group" (commonly called the 'Black Legion' by historians) because they wore black uniforms in mourning for their occupied country. He financed the corps independently by mortgaging his principality in Oels, and made his way from Austrian Bohemia through the French-allied states of Saxony and Westphalia to the North Sea coast. He briefly managed to take control of the City of Brunswick in August 1809, which gained him the status of a local folk-hero. He then fled to England to join forces with his brother-in-law, later to be King George IV. His corps of originally 2300 soldiers was largely destroyed in battles in Spain and Portugal.
He returned to Brunswick in December of 1813, after Prussia had ended French domination. But when Napoleon returned to the political scene in 1815, Frederick William raised fresh troops. He was killed by a gunshot at the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815.
Family
Frederick William married Mary, daughter of Charles Louis, Margrave of Baden, in 1802. They had the following children that reached adulthood:
References
- At the House of Welf site
- Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 7, p. 508-514
| Preceded by: Charles William Ferdinand |
Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, Prince of Wolfenbüttel 1806–1807 |
Succeeded by: none |
| Preceded by: none |
Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, Prince of Wolfenbüttel 1813–1815 |
Succeeded by: Charles II |
