Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn

Infobox Military Person
name=Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn


caption="Portrait by George Dawe, 1823/25"
born=6 January 1769
died=22 March 1862
placeofbirth=Vienna
placeofdeath=Vienna
placeofburial=
placeofburial_label=
nickname=
allegiance=Hanover, Prussia, Austria, Russia
branch=Light infantry
serviceyears=Bef. 1790 - 1848
rank=Befehlshaber
unit=
commands=
battles=Napoleonic Wars
(Wagram, Russia, Göhrde),
Neapolitan War
awards=
relations=
laterwork=

Ludwig Georg Thedel, Graf von Wallmoden (6 February 1769, Vienna - 22 March 1862, Vienna) was an Austrian "General of the Cavalry", best known for his training of light infantry and the refinement of the Tirailleur system.

Life

Wallmoden was the son of Johann Ludwig Reichsgraf von Wallmoden-Gimborn (1736-1811), an illegitimate son of George II. At the time of Ludwig's birth, Johann was British ambassador in Austria. Ludwig first entered the Hanoverian army, then in 1790 the Prussian Army and finally in 1795 the Austrian army. In the Austrian army he distinguished himself in the expeditions of 1796 to 1801 and was also sent on several diplomatic missions.

In 1809 he completed the negotiations in London as to the "Subsidienvertrag" between Austria and Great Britain. On his return to Vienna, he distinguished himself at the Battle of Wagram. After the Treaty of Vienna, he was promoted to Feldmarschallleutnant and then sent as a Divisionär to Bohemia.

In 1813 Wallmoden transferred to the Imperial Russian Army, becoming commander of the Russian-German Legion, which he merged into the Allied "army of the north". During the Battle of the Göhrde, he and his corps held out against not only General Davout's force but also the French division under Pécheux, later penetrating into Schleswig and forcing the Danes to make peace.

After the second Treaty of Paris, in 1817 he returned to the Austrian army and was Oberbefehlshaber (supreme commander) of the Austrian troops sent to the kingdom of Naples for the Neapolitan War. In 1821 he left the majority of the Austrian force in Naples and in June occupied Sicily, where he remained until 1823. He later functioned as Befehlshaber of 1. Armeekorps in Upper Italy and as Militärkommandant of Milan until his retirement in 1848. He died in 1862 without issue.

ee also

*Wallmoden family

ources

*equivalent|German
*http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/biog/wallmoden.html
* [http://mdz10.bib-bvb.de/~db/bsb00008398/images/index.html?seite=763 Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn] in "Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie" (ADB). Bd. 40, Leipzig 1896, S. 761.