Hans Ernst Karl von Zieten, by Franz Krüger

Hans Ernst Karl, Graf von Zieten (5 March 1770 – 3 May 1848) was an officer in the Prussian Army during the Napoleonic Wars.[1][2][a]

Biography

Zieten was born in Dechtow in the Margraviate of Brandenburg; he was not related to the Frederician general Hans Joachim von Zieten.[1]

During the Waterloo Campaign of 1815, Lieutenant-General von Zieten commanded the Prussian I Corps. The corps fought a holding action against the French on 15 June, and was heavily engaged against the French the next day at the Battle of Ligny, and then again two days later on 18 June at the Battle of Waterloo.[3]

On 1 July, Zieten's I Corps participated in the Battle of Issy just outside the walls of Paris. At the end of the campaign on 7 July, his corps was granted the honour of being the first major Coalition force to enter Paris.[4]

King Frederick William III of Prussia granted Zieten the title of Graf, or count, on 3 September 1817.[1] At the age of 69, he was promoted to Generalfeldmarschall on 9 September 1839.[1] Zieten died in Warmbrunn.

References and notes

  1. ^ Regarding personal names: Graf was a title before 1919, but now is regarded as part of the surname. It is translated as Count. 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 is Gräfin.
  1. ^ a b c d Gnessner, Michael (17 April 2013), Hans Karl Friedrich Ernst Graf von Zieten (in German), Epoche-Napoleon.net, retrieved 18 May 2015
  2. ^ Decorations and Awards: Awards of the 'Pour le Merite' to Prussian General Officers 1792-1815, The Napoleon Series, retrieved 18 May 2015
  3. ^ Becke, Archibald Frank (1911). "Waterloo Campaign, 1815" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 371–381.
  4. ^ Prussian Army During the Napoleonic Wars: The Race to Paris, retrieved 18 May 2015


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