Ludwig von Wolzogen, Herzog Eugen von Württemberg und die Denkschrift über die Abwehr einer russischen Seelandung in Ostpreußen

Abstract

This article revolves around a memorandum which has turned up in the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Secret State Archives Prussian Cultural Heritage) in Berlin. Written by the Prussian officer Ludwig von Wolzogen (1773-1845), it discusses means of thwarting a Russian naval landing on the Sambian coast of East Prussia around 1800. It was written for the military training of von Wolzogen's protégé Duke Eugen von Württemberg. In light of the military significance of naval landings - which had increased during the Napoleonic era - von Wolzogen examined in his memorandum the various actions which could be taken to defend East Prussia against the naval landing of a Russian force of ten thousand. Von Wolzogen’s military reasoning is still clearly indebted to the Prussian linear tactics of the time, but also reflects the growing influence of science and mathematics on the military. In addition to information on the Russian Baltic Sea fleet and the defence of the East Prussian coast, the article also contains detailed insights into the relationship between Duke Eugen von Württemberg and the later General Ludwig von Wolzogen, who in different periods served in the Prussian as well as the Russian army, took part in the battles against Napoleon and distinguished himself as both a military theorist and an operative planner.