Ludwig
Graf von Wallmoden-Gimborn
Ludwig
George Thedel Graf von Wallmoden-Gimborn was born on the 6th of February 1769 in
Hanover. After completing his education he entered Hanoverian service as a
Lieutenant in the Hanoverian Leibgarde-Regiment and transferred into the
Prussian army in 1790 in which he fought during the revolutionary wars against
France and was awarded the Prussian Order Pour le Mérite in 1794 for his
conduct at the battle of Kaiserslautern on the 20th of September whilst serving
a Rittmeister in Husarenregiment Wolffradt number 6 in during which action he was wounded
with a bayonet thrust to the chest. He remained in Prussian service for five years before
yet again transferring; this time into Austrian service as a Rittmeister 2.
Classe in
October 1795 into the Vécsey Hussar Regiment. Promoted to Rittmeister 1. Classe
on the 1st of January 1797 he was simultaneously transferred to the Karaczay
Chevaulegers Regiment with a further promotion to Major in the
general staff on the 16th of April 1797. He was assigned to Dragoon Regiment
number 2 on the 7th of June 1798 and promoted to Oberst-Lieutenant in the 1st Uhlan Regiment
on the 3rd of August of the same year. On the 16th of August 1801 he assumed command of his regiment.
He remained in command of the 1st Uhlans until promoted to Generalmajor
on the 1st of April 1807. He was dispatched to
London at the beginning of the war in 1809 to negotiate subsidies which he
rapidly accomplished and returned to Austria in time to participate in the
battle of Wagram on the 5th and 6th of July 1809 as a brigade commander in
Feldmarschall-Lieutenant Graf Klenau's 6th Army Corps. He distinguished himself on the second day of the battle and
in the ensuing withdrawal to Moravia at the encounter at Hollabrunn on the 9th
of July in which the 6th Army Corps had provided the rear guard. The commander in Chief of the Austrian forces, Generalissimus Erzherzog
Karl awarded him the Knight's Cross of the Order of Maria Theresia in the name
of the Emperor promulgated by the Army Order of the 13th July 1809. Promoted to
Feldmarschall-Lieutenant on the 21st August 1809, he transferred with permission of the
Emperor into English service at the end of 1912 and then into Russian service in order to assume overall command
of the light troops commanded by Generals Dörenberg, Tettenborn and Czernitchew
in Northern Germany with orders to cover the right flank of the
main army in its crossing of the River Elbe. Following the battle of Lützen on the
2nd of May 1813, Wallmoden took up quarters in Lüneburg and Mecklenburg. He
used this period to reorganize his corps which had a strength of 28, 031 men and
sixty cannon. This mixed corps now consisted of Prussia, Russian, Swedish,
Hanoverian and various north German contingents. As part of the Army of the
North, Wallmoden was engaged throughout August 1813 in covering the area
of Hamburg commanded by Marshal Davout. Following the Leipzig campaign, Wallmoden continued to lead his corps until the fall of Paris when
the corps was disbanded and the general returned to Austrian service on the 24th
of May 1815.
In August 1816 he assumed command of the Imperial troops in
Naples, the "Truppenkorps" to restore order during a period of unrest there and
on the 30th of August 1819 was
appointed as the Colonel-Proprietor of the the 6th Cuirassier Regiment. When in
July 1820 further unrest broke out in Naples, the Austrians dispatched an
army of some sixty thousand troops and Wallmoden commanded a division which
formed the left flank of the Austrian forces in the corps of General der
Cavallerie Graf Frimont. The unrest was rapidly put down
and Wallmoden reentered Naples on the 24th of March 1821 and assumed the supreme
command in Naples. He remained in command in Naples until March 1827 when the Austrian
forces withdrew and took up an appointment in Lombardy-Venetia as the military
commander in Milan. He simultaneously commanded the 1st Army Corps from August
1830 until March 1848. He was appointed a Privy Councillor on the 20th of
January 1831 and was promoted
to General der Cavallerie on the 18th of September 1838. He remained in his post at Milan until
the 1st March 1848 when he was appointed as the deputy of Feldmarschall Graf Radetzky
until he finally retired on the 19th of October 1848. On his retirement, Emperor Franz Joseph awarded him the Grand Cross of the
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Among his many decorations were the following: The Knight's
Cross of the Imperial Russian Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Imperial
Russian Saint Vladimir Order 2nd Class, the Imperial Russian Order of Saint Anne
1st Class with Swords and Brilliants, the Imperial Russian Order of Saint George
3rd Class, the Prussian Red Eagle Order 1st Class, the Prussian Order Pour le
Mérite with Crown, the British Most Honourable Order of the Bath Grand Cross,
the Hanoverian Guelphen Order Grand Cross, the Swedish Sword Order Grand Cross,
the Sicilian Military Order of Saint George Grand Cross. He was additionally
appointed a Privy Councillor.
Following his retirement the General lived in Vienna and died at
the age of 94 on the 20th of March 1862.
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