Louis Adolf Peter, 1st Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg-Berleburg (German: Ludwig Adolf Peter Fürst[2] zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg; Russian: Пётр Христианович Витгенштейн, romanized: Pëtr Christianovič Vitgenštejn; Pyotr Christianovitch Wittgenstein; 17 January [O.S. 6 January] 1769 – 11 June 1843), better known as Peter Wittgenstein in English, was a prince of the German dynasty of Sayn-Wittgenstein and field marshal in the Imperial Russian Army during the Napoleonic Wars. He was nicknamed the Saviour of Saint-Petersburg.
Enrolled as a sergeant in the Semyonovsky Regiment of the Imperial Russian Army at the age of 12 in 1781, Wittgenstein began actual military service as a Wachtmeister in the Life Guard Horse Regiment in 1789. In 1793 he gained promotion to Major in the Ukrainian light cavalry regiment. He fought with the unit in the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794. Promoted to the rank of colonel in 1798, and to major general in 1799, in 1800 he took command of the Mariupolski Hussars Regiment.
In the campaign of 1813 in January, he took over the command of the Russian army after Kutuzov's death in April 1813, and commanded the Russian army at Möckern, Lützen and Bautzen. But after the defeats of the Spring campaign (Lützen and Bautzen), he laid down this command and led an army corps during the Battle of Dresden (August 1813) and the Battle of Leipzig (October 1813).[3]
In the campaign of 1814, he led the 6th Corps under Schwarzenberg and was severely wounded at Bar-sur-Aube (27 February 1814).[5]
In 1823 he was promoted Field Marshal, and in 1828 he was appointed to command the Russian army in the war against Turkey. But ill-health soon obliged him to retire. In 1834 King Frederick William III of Prussia granted him the title of Fürst (Prince) zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.[3]
Family
On 27 June 1798 he married Polish noblewoman Antonia Cäcilie Snarska (1779–1855) and had in this marriage 11 children. He died on 11 June 1843 in Lemberg, where he looked after estates of his son Ludwig.
Velichko, Konstantin I.; Novitsky, Vasily F.; Schwarz, Aleksey V. von; Apushkin, Vladimir A.; Schoultz, Gustav K. von (1912). Военная энциклопедия Сытина [Sytin Military Encyclopedia] (in Russian). Vol. VI: Верещагин – Воинская повинность. St. Petersburg: Т-во И. Д. Сытина. pp. 414–415. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
