Background
Hans Axel von Fersen was born at Stockholm of a family distinguished by long public service. He was the son of Field-Marshal Fredrik Axel and Countess Hedvig Catharina von Fersen, born Countess De la Gardie.
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(Excerpt from Diary and Correspondence of Count Axel Ferse...)
Excerpt from Diary and Correspondence of Count Axel Fersen: Grand-Marshal of Sweden Relating to the Court of France His political antagonists, on the other hand, charged him with all the worst propensities and faults of kings, and even with the foibles and vices of humanity, levity, falsehood. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Hans Axel von Fersen was born at Stockholm of a family distinguished by long public service. He was the son of Field-Marshal Fredrik Axel and Countess Hedvig Catharina von Fersen, born Countess De la Gardie.
At the age of fifteen he was sent abroad to study and spent four years in military schools at Brunswick, Turin, and Strasbourg.
He was twenty-three when he again visited Paris. Rich, well-favored, and ambitious, "le beau Fersen, ” as he was called, soon became a favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette—so much a favorite that he was regarded with some jealousy by other courtiers.
He rendered distinguished service in America. Fersen embarked with the expeditionary force at Brest in May 1780 and arrived at Newport, R. , in the following August. In October, already high in the confidence of his chief, he was sent to meet General Washington at Hartford, whither the Count of Rochambeau was to repair for their first consultation.
Thereafter he was a frequent bearer of dispatches between the two commanders. He served gallantly at Yorktown; and after the surrender of Cornwallis, he was sent secretly to hasten the embarkation of the French siege artillery, in order to elude two English frigates which might have barred their way to Baltimore.
This mission he successfully accomplished. He returned to France with the French troops in 1783. His letters to his father, frequently printed in French and in English translation, contain shrewd observations on American characteristics, interesting comments on episodes of the Revolution, notably Arnold’s treason, and illuminating accounts of the military operations which culminated in the victory at Yorktown.
His later life has no points of contact with America. In Europe, however, he had a distinguished career. He is best remembered for his daring attempt to rescue the royal French family in 1791.
It was he who arranged the ill- fated flight to Varennes, himself driving their coach through the streets of Paris. He rendered notable service to his own sovereign King Gus- tavus III, as statesman and diplomat, suffered a temporary eclipse under the regency, but was made Riksniarskcilk (imperial marshal) in 1801. He met an undeserved death in 1810 at the hands of a mob, who believed him and his sister implicated in the alleged poisoning of the newly elected King, Prince Christian Augustus.
He was also brevetted major-general in the regular army for gallant and meritorious services during- the war, and on the reorganization of that army in 1866 was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 45th Infantry.
He declined the appointment and asked to be brought before a retiring board by which he was placed on the retired list with the rank of brigadier-general. After the war Fessenden returned to Portland and resumed the practise of law with his brother.
He was not especially interested in a political career, serving only for a year as alderman and a single term as mayor (1876), declining renomination in both cases. He was an Overseer of Bowdoin College for many years. He performed a noteworthy service by collecting many of his father’s letters and miscellaneous papers, and his Life and Public Services of William Pitt Fessenden, published posthumously in 1907, is a creditable biography.
(Excerpt from Diary and Correspondence of Count Axel Ferse...)
Like most young French liberals of the day he was inspired by a passion for liberty and sought a commission in the French expeditionary force which was to go to the aid of the American colonies in their struggle for independence. Through the influence of the Queen, and of Vergennes and Breteuil, old friends of his father, he was made colonel of a French regiment and appointed aide-de-camp to the Count of Rochambeau.
He was married, on August 26, 1863, to Ellen W. Fox.
