Karl Philipp von Wrede

Karl Philipp von Wrede was born in Heidelberg and entered public service in the Electoral Palatinate as a legal and administrative official while still young. After the outbreak of the Revolutionary Wars, he was appointed a civil commissioner attached to Austrian forces in the field, serving first with the corps of Prince Hohenlohe and later as a Palatine senior commissioner with the army of Wurmser during the early coalition campaigns against France. He returned to civil office after the peace but, when war resumed in 1799, organized a Palatine volunteer corps and received a commission as Oberst.

In the campaigns of 1799–1800 he served with coalition forces operating in southern Germany and, after the defeat at Hohenlinden (3 December 1800), took part in covering the Austrian withdrawal. Following the reorientation of Bavarian policy and military organization in the early 1800s, he participated in the reform and reorganization of the Bavarian army and rose in rank, being promoted to Generalleutnant in 1804. In the campaign of 1805 he commanded the Bavarian advance guard and was involved in operations connected with the Austrian occupation and evacuation of Munich; the Bavarian contingent did not fight at Austerlitz, but Wrede’s command participated in engagements in Moravia and Bohemia during the same campaign.

Illness kept him from field service for part of 1806, but in 1807 he assumed command of Bavarian troops operating in Poland in support of French forces. During the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809, he commanded a Bavarian division in the Danube theatre and conducted operations both in the campaigns along the Inn and in Tyrol, where Bavarian and allied forces faced sustained insurgent warfare. He also served in the principal Austrian campaign of that year, with Bavarian units engaged in actions leading up to, and including, the Battle of Wagram.

Under the Franco-Bavarian alliance, Wrede held high field command and, in 1811, was promoted to General der Kavallerie. In 1812 he commanded Bavarian troops serving with the Grande Armée in Russia, operating in the northern sector with VI Corps under Gouvion Saint-Cyr and fighting in the actions around Polotsk. The losses of the Bavarian contingent in the Russian campaign were severe; Wrede remained with the army through the retreat and, in February 1813, received authorization to return to Bavaria.

In autumn 1813 he played a central role in Bavaria’s change of sides. He conducted negotiations that led to the Treaty of Ried (8 October 1813), aligning Bavaria with Austria and the coalition while safeguarding Bavarian sovereignty and territorial position. Given command over Bavarian and attached Austrian forces, he advanced into Franconia and secured key positions, including Würzburg, before attempting to intercept Napoleon’s retreat after Leipzig. At the Battle of Hanau (30–31 October 1813), Wrede commanded a mixed Austro-Bavarian force intended to block Napoleon’s line of march; in the fighting around the Kinzig crossing he was wounded.

After recovering, he resumed field service in the 1814 invasion of France, operating alongside coalition armies and taking part in Major engagements on the Aube, including La Rothière (1 February 1814), Bar-sur-Aube (27 February 1814), and Arcis-sur-Aube (20–21 March 1814). In recognition of his wartime service, he was raised to the rank of Fürst in 1814. Following Napoleon’s return in 1815, Bavarian troops under his command were assigned duties on the coalition’s operational flank during the renewed campaign; he also represented Bavarian interests in coalition diplomacy during the settlement period, including at the Congress of Vienna.

In the postwar kingdom, Wrede remained a leading military and political figure. He held senior command appointments in the Bavarian army, became associated with the constitutional reordering of the state, and served as the first president of the upper chamber of the Bavarian parliament (Kammer der Reichsräte). In 1822 he was appointed head of the Bavarian armed forces, holding the rank of Generalfeldmarschall. He died at Ellingen in 1838.

Sources

• Deutsche Biographie: Wrede, Karl Philipp Fürst von
• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Karl Philipp, prince von Wrede
• Fondation Napoléon (English): WREDE, Carl-Philip, prince (1767–1838)
• Bavariathek (Geschichte des Bayerischen Parlaments): Wrede, Karl Philipp Fürst von
• Wikisource (German): ADB: Wrede, Karl Philipp Fürst von
• Wikipedia (English): Karl Philipp von Wrede