FREDERICK WILLIAM,

DUKE OF BRUNSWICK-LUNEBURG, OELS, AND BERNSTADT.

AMONG

of his life in a skirmish which took place in the village of Etch, near Wurbel. He there received two wounds, and it was a considerable time before he recovered from their effects.

MONG the gallant heroes, who fell on the sangui- ously displayed by him on all occasions. Sometimes, nary field of Waterloo, the Duke of Brunswick-Oels indeed, his buoyant sense of youthful energy, which claims a prominent place, both on account of his ele- banished every idea of personal danger, impelled him vated rank as a sovereign-prince, and his near alliance beyond the bounds of prudence. On the 27th of Noto some of the most illustrious houses in Europe. Des-vember, 1792, he incurred the most imminent danger cended from a line of heroes, he closed his career in a manner worthy of their glory, and of the high character which he had previously acquired. This heroic prince was the fourth and youngest son of Charles William Ferdinand, the late reigning Duke of BrunswickLuneburg, who died November 10, 1806, at Ottensen, near Altona, in consequence of a wound which he received at the unfortunate battle of Jena. He was doubly allied to the illustrious house which sways the British sceptre; his mother being the sister of our beloved monarch, and his sister the wife of the Prince Regent.

He was born Oct. 6, 1771, and received the same education as his brothers, till the military profession, for which he was destined, required a course of instruction particularly adapted to that object. By his father the young prince was beloved with the greatest tenderness. In 1785, he was nominated successor to his uncle, Frederick Augustus, Duke of Oels and Bernstadt, in case he should die without issue;-an arrangement which was confirmed by his Prussian majesty. After a residence of about two years in Switzerland, the prince commenced his military career. appointed captain in the regiment of infantry then in garrison at Magdeburg, commanded by Lieutenantgeneral Langefeld, governor of that place;-a regiment which previously had for its chief the prince's great uncle, the hero of Crevelt and Minden.

He was

His highness, who devoted himself with the greatest zeal and assiduity to the duties of his profession, was rapidly promoted; and, at the early age of nineteen, he was invested with the grand order of the Black Eagle. In the war with France, which commenced in 1792, the prince accompanied the Prussian army. He gained experience; and the military talents and intrepidity which he gradually developed, were conspicu

The treaty concluded at Basle, in April, 1795, again gave repose to the Prussian army. Prince Frederick William, after being for some time commander of the regiment of Thadden, at Halle, and afterwards of Kleist's regiment, at Prenzlau, was, in 1800, promoted to the rank of major-general. The latter regiment had long distinguished itself in the Prussian army, and, under the conduct of the prince, who bestowed on it the most assiduous attention, confirmed the character and reputation which it had previously acquired. In 1802, he married the Princess Mary Elizabeth Wilhelmina, the grand-daughter of the Grand Duke of Baden ;-a circumstance which diffused new satisfaction and joy over his whole house. The prince and his consort seemed to have been created expressly for each other; and their mutual felicity was augmented by the birth of two sons, Oct. 30, 1804, and April 25, 1806, both of whom are still living.

On the demise of his uncle, Frederick Augustus, on the Sth of October, 1806, he succeeded to the duchy of Oels and Bernstadt. The following year was marked by the breaking out of the long-expected war, the issue of which is so well known. The Duke was attached to the corps commanded by General Blucher, which, after the most astonishing exertions and the most obstinate resistance, was obliged to submit to the law of necessity.

The capitulation of Lubeck put an end to the duke's military career for this war; and the circumstances of the times, with the peculiar relations resulting from them, induced him to solicit his dismission from the Prussian service.

The unexpected decease of his eldest brother, the hereditary prince, in the month of September of the same year, and the agreement concluded by him with his two next brothers, called him, on the decease of his father, to the government of the patrimonial dominions; which, however, he held but for a short time, Brunswick being, by the treaty of Tilsit, incorporated with the kingdom of Westphalia. After this event, the Duke resided chiefly at Bruchsal, in Baden; and there he was doomed to experience a misfortune that afflicted him still more severely. On the 20th of April, 1808, he lost his amiable consort, before she had attained her twenty-sixth year.

scribed as completely annihilated; the inhabitants of Leipsic were, therefore, not a little surprised, when, in the morning of the 26th of July, after a smart action before the inner gates, he entered that city with nineteen hundred men, of whom seven hundred were cavalry. It is not unlikely that the duke had reason to be dissatisfied with something which had occurred dur ing his former occupation of this city; for a contribution, though a very moderate one, amounting to no more than fifteen thousand dollars, was imposed: and this was the only requisition of the kind made by the duke during his whole march. His troops also exercised the right of retaliation on several persons who Early in 1809, when a rupture between France and had given them offence during and after their retreat. Austria appeared probable, his highness concluded On the 27th, the Duke arrived at Halle, and, with a convention with the latter power, by which he en- unparalleled celerity, pursued his route by way of gaged to raise a corps of two thousand men, half infan-Eisleben to Halberstadt, which place Count Wellingetry and half cavalry, at his own expense; and, notwith- | rode, grand-marshal of the palace to the King of Weststanding the difficulties thrown in his way by Prussia, phalia, entered, with the fifth regiment of foot, on the he succeeded in collecting the stipulated number in a forenoon of the 30th. The same evening the duke's very short time. Hostilities soon commenced, and the corps appeared before the gates with six pieces of canduke began his new military career by making an in- non. The enemy, though destitute of cavalry and ar cursion into the kingdom of Saxony, in conjunction tillery, made an obstinate resistance, but was at length with a corps of Austrian troops. They were, however, overpowered, after a sanguinary conflict, which was obliged to evacuate Leipsic and Dresden, on the ap- continued for some time in the streets of Halberstadt, proach of a considerable force, composed of Dutch and during which the duke fought in the ranks of his and Westphalians. The duke and General Am Ende black hussars. retired from Dresden in a western direction, towards Franconia, into which the Austrians had penetrated from Bohemia with a considerable force. The armistice concluded at Znaim terminated the contest in that country also, and deprived the Duke of the co-operation of the Austrian troops. They evacuated Dresden, which they had a second time occupied, and withdrew beyond the frontiers of Bohemia.

He now directed his course towards his native city. Late in the evening of the 31st of July, he entered Brunswick, on whose ramparts, wrapped in a cloak, he passed the night. And here it has been justly asked by a writer of great respectability, "What must have been the feelings of the prince, when he beheld the palace, once the residence of his illustrious ancestors, his own cradle, and the theatre of his juvenile years: when he traversed the streets in which his parent had so often been seen, attended by crowds of happy mor tals, who awaited the father of his people, to pay him the tribute of grateful tears; when be encountered the anxious and timid looks of those who once hoped to see the prosperity and the glory of their country aug

The Duke of Brunswick, in the mean time, had likewise evacuated some of the places of which he had taken possession, but still remained in the Erzgeberge, without being pursued either by the Saxons or Westphalians. For some time he appeared undecided, whether he should join the Austrians in Bareuth, or adopt a different plan. He at length determined to quit Ger-mented by him, whom alone, from among his three many, where fortune did not seem to smile on the cause which he had espoused, and to conduct his corps to the English, who were then preparing for an expedition to the Continent.

The difficulties which opposed the execution of this undertaking were innumerable. It was not till he had traversed a space of nearly three hundred miles, that he could hope to reach the German Ocean; and his route lay through countries not wholly destitute of hos

tile troops.

The corps of the Duke of Brunswick had been de

sons, his father had deemed worthy to be his successor? These were, perhaps, the most painful moments experienced by this high-spirited prince, since the sable genius of Auerstadt eclipsed the splendour of the house of the Welfs. Fate seemed to shew him once more the happy land, to which he was the rightful heir, to make him more keenly sensible of his loss. He. nevertheless, retained sufficient strength of mind to conduct himself with exemplary moderation. If he could not confer happiness, neither would he involve others in his own calamity: but, in a proclamation,

magnanimously recommended to his countrymen to be | East Friesland, with a view to embark on the coast of obedient to their present rulers." that province. This opinion, however, proved erro

years at Elsfleth. In these vessels he embarked his men in the night of the 6th, and by force procured a sufficient number of hands to navigate them; the surrounding district being chiefly inhabited by sea-faring people. On the morning of the 7th, the duke hoisted the British flag, set sail, and the following day reached Heligoland with part of his corps. That island he quitted on the 11th, and with his faithful followers proceeded to England, where they and their brave com. mander were received into the British service.

The duke found it impossible to remain at Bruns-neous; for, crossing the Hunte, a small stream which wick, as he was closely pressed on all sides. The discharges itself into the Weser at Huntebruck, he Westphalian general, Reubel, concentrated four thou-seized the corn-ships which had been lying inactive for sand men of his division at Ohoff; General Gratien had set out with a Dutch division from Erfurt, and was approaching the coasts of the German Ocean; while General Ewald, with a corps of Danish troops, crossed from Gluckstadt over the Elbe into the Hanoverian territory, to cover the banks of that river. General Reubel was nearest to the duke, who, in his rapid retreat, had daily actions with the advanced guard of the Westphalian troops. That which was fought in the afternoon of the 1st of August, at Oelper, near Brunswick, and in which the duke's horse was killed by a cannon-ball, was the eleventh since the commencement of his retreat in Saxony.

The next morning he quitted his native city, and the movement which he now made caused it to be generally supposed that he was proceeding to Zell. Thither the troops under Reubel, and others, accordingly directed their course. The duke, however, suddenly made his appearance at Hanover, which he entered on the morning of the 3d of August; and, in the afternoon, pursued his route, by way of Neustadt, to Nienburg, where he arrived the following day. Here he crossed the Weser. He broke down the bridges behind him, and reached Hoya on the 4th. In this manner he hastened along the left bank of the Weser, while part of his corps, in order to make a false demonstration, turned off to Bremen. On the evening of the 5th, this detachment possessed itself of the gates of the city, and hastily departed the next day to rejoin

the corps.

The duke, in the mean time, continued his march through O'denburg and Delmenhorst, where he passed the night between the 5th and 6th of August; and it appeared as if he were directing his course towards

On the fortunate turn taken by the affairs of Europe early in 1814, his highness quitted England, to take possession of his patrimony, recovered from the rapacious fangs of Buonaparte; and was devoting his attention to those plans of internal improvement by which his father rendered himself beloved and adored by his subjects, when the perfidious conduct of the French once more summoned him to assist in the task of humbling that nation. How heartily he espoused the cause of legitimate right and social order, may be conceived from this fact, that, though the contingent required of him was no more than four thousand men, he actually joined the immortal Wellington with fourteen thousand, whom he clothed in black, vowing, that he with them would wear no other colour till he had witnessed the complete overthrow of the monster who had basely insulted his dying father. Providence, however, did not permit him to enjoy that gratification, nor to see the glorious results of the victory to which his own valour and that of his brave followers contributed. He was killed on the spot, whilst gallantly fighting at the head of his faithful troops, as we have already related. His body was conveyed to Brunswick, to be interred in the burial-place of his illustrious ancestors.

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