Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf

Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf
Friedrich von Kleist, woodcut by Hermann Scherenberg, 1863
Born	(1762-04-09)9 April 1762 Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire
Died	17 February 1823(1823-02-17) (aged 60) Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, German Confederation
Allegiance	Kingdom of Prussia
Service/branch	Royal Prussian Army
Rank	Generalfeldmarschall ("Field marshal")
Commands held	North German Corps
Wars	War of the Bavarian Succession French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars (Jena, Bautzen, Kulm, Dresden, Leipzig, Erfurt, Laon, Paris)
Awards	Knight of the Black Eagle Order of the Red Eagle, 1st Class Grand Cross of the Iron Cross Pour le Mérite Knight of the Legion of Honour Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd Class Honorary Knight of St. John

Graf Kleist von Nollendorf at the base of the monument to Frederick William III in Cologne

Friedrich Emil Ferdinand Heinrich von Kleist, granted the title Graf Kleist von Nollendorf from 1814 onwards (9 April 1762 – 17 February 1823), was a Prussian field marshal and a member of the old junker family von Kleist. He was a prominent figure in Prussian military during the Napoleonic Wars.

Biography

Kleist entered the Prussian Army in 1778 and served in the War of the Bavarian Succession and the French Revolutionary Wars. By 1799, Kleist had been promoted to major and was put in command of a battalion of grenadiers.

Kleist served in the Napoleonic Wars and fought at Jena. In 1807 he went on extended leave but by 1808 he was put in command of an infantry brigade and the next year he was made commandant of Berlin. During the War of Liberation he was given a corps with which he fought in the battles of Kulm and Leipzig. In 1814, he was given the title Count of Nollendorf (from the German name of the town Nakléřov, now part of Petrovice in the Czech Republic) for his decisive role in this battle.

After Leipzig, Kleist blockaded the fortress of Erfurt, bringing about its surrender after which, in early 1814, he marched his troops into France, where his corps was attached to Blücher's army. He then fought in the battle of Laon and in the attack on Paris. At the end of the war Kleist was promoted to the rank of General der Infanterie. During the Hundred Days, Kleist was given command of a Prussian corps (the North German Corps) which was to operate independently from Blücher's Army of the Lower Rhine; he was therefore not involved in the battles of Ligny and Waterloo.

Two years before his death he was promoted to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall ("field marshal").

References

• Meerheimb, F. von (1882), "Kleist von Nollendorf, Friedrich", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 16, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 124–127
• Günter Richter (1980), "Kleist von Nollendorf, Friedrich Heinrich Graf", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 12, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 27–28; (full text online)

Further reading

• Kleist, Georg von (2013). "Das Leben des Generalfeldmarschalls Grafen Kleist von Nollendorf". In Kleist, Sigurd von (new editor) (ed.). Geschichte des Geschlechts v. Kleist Dritter Teil – Biographien bis 1880 Fünfte Abteilung (PDF) (in German) (1887 First ed.). Bergisch Gladbach. {{cite book}}: |editor-first= has generic name (help) (PDF; 2,1 MB)]
• Pflugk-Harttung, Julius von (1911). Das preußische Heer und die Norddeutschen Bundestruppen unter General v. Kleist 1815. Gotha.
• Priesdorff, Kurt von. Soldatisches Führertum (in German). Vol. 3. Hamburg: Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt. pp. 311–320.
• Denkmal in Merseburg