Dubislav Friedrich von Platen
 Dubislaw von Platen | |
| Born | 24 August 1714 |
|---|---|
| Died | 7 June 1787 (aged 72) |
| Allegiance |
.svg.png){kind=small} Prussia |
| Service/branch | Prussian Army |
| Years of service | 1701–1766 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Battles/wars |
War of Austrian Succession First Silesian War Second Silesian War Seven Years' War War of Bavarian Succession |
| Awards |
Black Eagle Order Equestrian statue of Frederick the Great Knight, Order of Saint John, Order Pour le Merite |
| Spouse(s) | Sophia Susanna Charlotte von Cocceji |
| Relations |
Hans Friedrich von Platen (father) Leopold Johann von Platen (brother) |
Dubislaw Friedrich von Platen (23 August 1714–7 June 1787) was a Prussian officer, cavalry general, Governor of Konigsberg, a Knight of the Order of Saint John, and the Order of the Black Eagle. He was an active cavalry officer in all of the wars fought by Frederick the Great; he was memorialized on Equestrian statue of Frederick the Great in 1851.
Family
He was the son of general Hans Friedrich von Platen (21 January 1668–17 May 1743) and Hypolita Juliane of Podewils.[1] The later Prussian General Leopold Johann von Platen (died 22 December 1780) was his younger brother. He was married to Sophia Susanna Charlotte von Cocceji, the daughter of Prussian Minister of Justice Samuel von Cocceji. A son and a daughter survived him.[2]
Military career
On 5 June 1723, at the age of nine, he was appointed cornet by King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia at the request of his father, and on 18 August 1729, he became a second lieutenant. On 7 July 1730, he became a first lieutenant. On 11 August 1736 he received his own company in the Curassassier regiment "Gessler" No. 4. In the same year he was accepted into the Johanniterorden in Sonnenburg. At the beginning of the First Silesian War he was Rittmeister, a captain of cavalry. His regiment was late for the Battle of Mollwitz, but in 1742 his regiment was involved in the Battle of Chotusitz. He was awarded the Pour le Mérite for his successful retreat to Camenz. He was later promoted to Major. In 1744 he fought in Bohemia and Moravia. On 22 May 1747, he became Lieutenant-Colonel;[2] in 1752, he was part of the famed Bayereuth Dragoons and, in 1755, second commander in the Dragoon regiment "Normann", No. 1.[1]
Action in the Seven Years' War
In the Seven Years' War the regiment went to Saxony in 1756. On 4 March 1757, Platen received the Dragoon Regiment "Langermann" No. 8 and was promoted to major general. On 15 April 1757 he fought at Gross-Jägersdorf. After that, the regiment was transferred to Pomerania against the Swedes and fought there at Siege of Stralsund. At the beginning of the year 1758 it was transferred to Hinterpommern, where it was deployed until June against the Russians. He fought on 25 August at the Battle of Zorndorf, where two of his sons died. After the retreat of the Russians, the regiment drove back crews from occupied Pomeranian cities like Gollnow and Greifenberg. He then moved back against the Swedes and occupied his regiment Prenzlau and Pasewalk and in December. On 17 January 1759 he took part in the capture of Demmin, after which he was again deployed against the Russians in the Stolp area.[2]
On 12 May 1759, Platen was promoted to lieutenant-general, and was given command of the cavalry in the army of Prince Heinrich in Saxony. The prince sent Platen on a marauding expedition with Frederick William von Kleist to the Bamberg area, and from there Platen joined the King's army for the Battle of Kunersdorf. In May 1760, he was sent, with General Friedrich Wilhelm Quirin von Forcade de Biaix to Pomerania and to the Neumark, with instructions to halt the progress into Prussia of the Russian General Gottlieb Heinrich Totleben. Subsequently, Platen was ordered to Landsberg an der Warthe to block the entry of the Russians and Austrians into Silesia and, most importantly, the city of Breslau. In October 1760 the Russians under Totleben and Ivan Chernyshyov were able to occupy Berlin with the Austrians under Lacy.[2]
After the withdrawal of the Russians Platen rejoined the king's army and fought on 3 November at the Battle of Torgau. On 10 September 1761, he marched with the army to Poland to attack the Russian supply depots. He destroyed the Russian magazine in Köblin. On 15 September, he met a large Russian group of 5,000 wagons and 4,000 men near a monastery in Göstin. Together with the battalions "von Rothenburg", "von Arnim", "Görne" and "von Wunsch" he was able to conquer the crossing and capture the large magazine. From there, he proceeded to Posen, where he also captured another magazine on 17 September.[2]
Meanwhile, the Russians were successful in cutting off the Kolberg fortress from Prussian relief, in a battle at Landsberg. In the process, Warthe Bridge was destroyed, so, still trying to reach and relieve Kolberg, Platen's troops crossed the river with the help of pontoons and rafts. At Körlin, on 30 September, he was able to recapture an intact bridge over the Parsęta river from the Russians, taking 200 prisoners. From here he went along the Persante to reach the besieged fortress. Short of Kolberg, the Russian forces commanded by Pyotr Rumyantsev stopped him at the village of Spie in a three-hour battle.[2] On 17 October he tried to break through to Gollnow with 5500 men to secure supplies from there, but the Russian general, William Fermor, stopped him at the bridge over the Ihna, in an artillery duel. Ultimately, when he could not relieve the fortress, Kolberg had to capitulate on 16 December 1761.[2]
In January 1762, Platen returned to Saxony to the army of Prince Henry. Here his regiment was stationed at Pegau and in Zeitz and had no part in the fighting of the year.[2]
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War of the Bavarian Succession
In the War of Bavarian Succession, he commanded a corps in the army of Prince Heinrich, with whom he advanced on Prague, Peterswalde, Leitmeritz, and Budin an der Eger. In September 1786 received from Frederick William II the Black Eagle Order. At the same time the King appointed him as governor of Konigsberg, an office which Platen did not want, but to which he was persuaded to accept.[2]
On 20 May 1787 he became general of the cavalry and died shortly on 7 June 1787. His name was perpetuated on the front of the Rheinsberg obelisk and on one of the honorary plates on the Equestrian statue of Frederick the Great.[2]
References
- 1 2 Unpartheyische Geschichte des bayerischen Erbfolgekrieges etc. 2., Kummer, 1781, von Platen.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bernhard von Poten, Dubislaw Friedrich von Platen . Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, herausgegeben von der Historischen Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Band 26 (1888), S. 249–251, Digitale Volltext-Ausgabe in Wikisource, (Version vom 13 January 2017, 20:15 Uhr UTC)