Background
Friedrick Charles was the son of Prince Charles of Prussia and grandson of King Frederick William III, was born in Berlin on the 20th of March 1828.
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Frederick Karl Charles
Edit ProfileEducation
Friedrick Charles was educated for the army, which he entered on his tenth birthday as second lieutenant in the 14th Foot Guards.
He became first lieutenant in 1844, and in 1846 entered the university of Bonn, where he stayed for two years, being accompanied throughout by Major von Roon, afterwards the famous war minister.
Career
In 1848 Friedrick Charles became a company commander in his regiment, and soon afterwards served in the Schleswig-Holstein War on the staff of Marshal von Wrangel, being present at the battle of Schleswig (April 23, 1848).
Later in 1848 he became Rittmeister in the Garde du Corps cavalry regiment, and in 1849 major in the Guard Hussars.
In this year the prince took part in the campaign against the Baden insurgents, and was wounded at the action of Wiesenthal while leading a desperate charge against entrenched infantry.
After this experience the wild courage of his youth gave place to the unshakable resolution which afterwards characterized the prince's generalship.
In this capacity he was brought closely in touch with General von Reyher, the chief of the general staff, and with Moltke.
In this post he was given the liberty of action which had previously been denied to him.
About this time (1860) the prince gave a lecture to the officers of his command on the French army and its methods, the substance of which (Eine militarische Denkschrifinear Berlin, and was buried at the adjacent church of Nikolskoe.
In 1861 Frederick Charles became general of cavalry.
He was then commander of the III (Brandenburg) army corps.
Prince Frederick Charles' work was tested to the full when von Alvensleben and the III corps engaged the whole French army on the 16th of August 1870.
In 1864 the prince once more fought against the Danes under his old leader " Papa " Wrangel.
After the storming of the Diippel lines the prince succeeded Wrangel in the supreme command, with Lieutenant-General Freiherr von Moltke as his chief of staff.
These two great soldiers then planned and brilliantly carried out the capture of the island of Alsen, after which the war came to an end. In 1866 came the Seven Weeks' War with Austria.
Prince Frederick Charles was appointed to command the I. Army, which he led through the mountains into Bohemia, driving before him the Austrians and Saxons to the upper Elbe, where on the 3rd of July took place the decisive battle of Koniggratz or Sadowa.
This was brought on by the initiative of the leader of the I. Army, which had to bear the brunt of the fighting until the advance of the II.
Army turned the Austrian flank.
After the peace he returned to the III army corps, which he finally left, in July 1870, when appointed to command the II.
German Army in the war with France.
Armies (see Franco-German War) , while his strategical mistakes seriously embarrassed the great headquarters staff.
The advance of the II.
Then came the discovery that the French were not in front, but to the right rear of the II.
Army (August 16).
Alvensleben with the III corps held the French to their ground at Vionville while the prince hurried together his scattered forces.
The prince was left in command of the forces which blockaded Bazaine in Metz, and received the surrender of that place and of the last remaining field army of the enemy.
He was promoted at once to the rank of general field marshal, and shortly afterwards the II.
Army was despatched to aid in crushing the newly organized army of the French republic on the Loire.
Here again he retrieved strategical errors by energy and tactical skill, and his work was in the end crowned by the victory of Le Mans on the 12th of January 1871.
He never ceased to improve his own soldierly qualities by further study and by the conduct of manoeuvres on a large scale.
In 1&72 and in 1882 he travelled in the Mediterranean and the Near East.
Politics
When Friedrick Charles responded that this increased force would protect Brandenburg too, they remained unmoved. This confrontation with the Estates of Brandenburg triggered the effort for which Frederick William is most famous—reducing the authority of the Estates and substantially increasing the authority of the prince—in other words, bringing absolutism to Brandenburg-Prussia.
Connections
On 29 November 1854 at Dessau Friedrick Charles married Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau. They had five children.
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Born
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Died
June 15, 1885 (aged 57) -
Nationality
German -
Religion
Catholic