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Ferdinand von Schill
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'''Ferdinand Baptista von Schill''' (
1776 -
1809), was a
Prussian
soldier who revolted unsuccessfully against French domination in May of 1809.
Image:FerdinandvonSchill-Denkmal_in_Stralsund.jpg thumb|Ferdinand von Schill - Monument in [[Stralsund]]
He was born in
Saxony, and entered the Prussian
cavalry at the age of twelve, he was still a
subaltern (rank) subaltern of
dragoons when he was wounded at the
battle of Auerstadt. From that field he escaped to
Kolobrzeg Kolberg, where he played a very prominent part in the celebrated siege of
1807, as the commander of a volunteer force of all arms. After the
peace of Tilsit he was promoted
major and given the command of a
hussar regiment formed from his Kolberg men.
In 1809 the political situation in Europe appeared to Schill to favor an attempt to liberate his country from the French domination. Leading out his regiment from
Berlin under pretext of manoeuvres, he raised the standard of revolt, and, joined by many officers and a company of
light infantry, marched for the
Elbe River Elbe. At the village of
Dodendorf (
May 5,
1809) he had a brush with the
Magdeburg garrison, but was soon driven northwards, where he hoped to find British support. The
king of Prussia's proclamations prevented the patriots from receiving any appreciable assistance, and with little more than his original force Schill was surrounded by 5000 Danish and Dutch troops in the neighborhood of
Wismar.
He escaped by hard fighting (action of
Damgarten,
May 24) to
Stralsund, and attempted to put the crumbling fortifications in order. The Danes and Dutch soon hemmed him in, and by sheer numbers overwhelmed the defenders (
May 31). Schill himself was killed. Some parties escaped to Prussia, where the officers were tried by court-martial, cashiered and imprisoned. A few escaped to
Swinemunde, but the rest were either killed or taken. Handed over to the French, the soldiers were sent to the galleys, and the eleven officers shot at Wesel on
September 16. The body of Schill was buried at
Stralsund, his head sent to
Leiden, where it remained until 1837. Monuments were erected at
Brunswick, Stralsund and Wesel, and the
1st Silesian Leib-Hussars have borne Schill's name since 1889.
References
*
Haken, ''Ferdinand von Schill'' (Leipzig, 1824)
*
Barsch, ''Ferdinand von Schills Zug und Tod'' (Leipzig, 1860)
** ''Ferdinand von Schill, ein Charakterbild'' (Potsdam, 1860)
*
Petrich, ''Pommersche Lebensbilder''. vol. ii. (Stettin, 1884)
*
Francke, ''Aus Stralsunds Französenzeit'' (1890).
{{1911}}
Category:German people Schill, Ferdinand von
Category:1776 births Schill, Ferdinand von
Category:1809 deaths Schill, Ferdinand von
de:Ferdinand von Schill
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