BRIDPORT, ALEXANDER HOOD, VISCOUNT (1727–1814). Bridport was the younger brother of Admiral Viscount Samuel Hood (1724–1816). Bridport entered the British Navy in January 1741 and was appointed a lieutenant six years later. Bridport served under Hawke at Quiberon Bay on 20 November 1759 and was present at the battle of Ushant in 1778, giving evidence against Keppel in his court-martial following this action. Two years later he was promoted to rear admiral of the White and in 1794 Admiral of the Blue. At the outbreak of the war with France he was Howe’s second in command and served at the “Glorious First of June,” for which he was made Baron Bridport of Cricket St. Thomas, in Somerset, in the Irish peerage. Thereafter Bridport held independent commands.
On 23 June 1795 Bridport fought an action off Belle-Île that is much criticized. In 1796–97 Bridport directed the course of the naval war against France from London. From 1798 to 1800 he personally directed the blockade of Brest, being relieved by St. Vincent in 1800. Bridport retired from active duty shortly after.
BRIENNE, BATTLE OF. The battle of Brienne was fought on 29 January 1814. The French with 36,000 men and 128 guns, under Napoleon, engaged Blücher’s Russo-Prussian army of 28,000 men. Napoleon assumed the offensive and attacked. During the assault on the Brienne castle, Blücher was almost captured, but escaped. The battle then revolved around efforts by the Russians to recapture the castle.
On the morning of 2 February Napoleon withdrew. The battlefield was too open and he had a justifiable fear of the numerically superior allied cavalry. The battle is best described as a draw, though some claim it as a French victory. Casualty reports vary widely with the French losing as much as 73 guns, 6,000 casualties and 2,400 prisoners. Russian and Prussian losses were around 5,000.
BROUGHAM AND VAUX, HENRY PETER BROUGHAM, 1ST BARON (1778–1868). Brougham was born on 10 September 1778 in Edinburgh, educated at Edinburgh University and entered the legal profession. In 1808 Brougham left the Scottish bar for the English bar and became involved in British politics. In 1806 Fox made him secretary to a mission headed by Lord Rosslyn and Lord St. Vincent to Portugal. Fox’s death ended his immediate hopes for a political career. Brougham resumed pamphleteering, in which he bitterly attacked Pitt’s policies and joined the movement for the abolition of the slave trade. By 1810 Brougham had taken a seat in Parliament and began an attack on the notorious Orders in Council, which had provoked Napoleon’s Continental System.
In that year Brougham launched a powerful and successful attack on the conduct of Lord Chatham in the Walcheren debacle and was immediately considered as a possible leader should the Whig Party return to power. In 1812 Brougham stood for Parliament again, but was defeated. Brougham remained out of Parliament until 1816. Brougham continued an active political life and on 22 November 1830 he became chancellor and was raised to the peerage as Baron Brougham and Vaux. His chancellorship lasted four years. Brougham would receive many honors in the following years. Brougham retired to Cannes and died there on 7 May 1868 at the age of 90.
BRUNE, GUILLAUME MARIE-ANNE, MARÉCHAL D’EMPIRE (1763–1815). Brune was born at Brive-la-Gaillarde, Corrèze, on 13 May 1763. In his early life he served as a printer in Paris and at the beginning of the French Revolution he was a journalist. In 1789 Brune became a captain in the National Guard and began his climb to the rank of maréchal. During 1792 Brune served briefly on Dumouriez’s staff in the Armée du Nord, but did not remain long with the military. Brune returned to Paris where he became active in the Cordelier’s Club and on 18 August 1793 he was promoted directly from civilian life to the rank of général de brigade. Brune served at Hondschoote on 6 and 8 September. From 25 December 1793 to 2 April 1795 he served on the military committee of the Convention in Paris. In October 1796 Brune was a brigade commander under Masséna in Italy. Brune served at Arcole, San Michele and Rivoli. On 7 November 1797 he was confirmed in the rank of général de division by the Directory. In 1799 Brune was in Holland and was beaten at Zyp, victorious at Bergen, and became commander in chief of the Army of Batavia on 23 September 1799. Brune lost at Alkmaër and was victorious at Castricum. On 14 January 1800 he was named commander in chief of the Army of the West. Later in 1800 Brune returned to Italy and was victorious at the battle of Monzembano on 26 December. Brune retired from the military on 7 March 1801, but was soon made ambassador to Turkey, a position he held from 11 September 1802 to 17 December 1804. Brune was made a maréchal d’Empire on 19 May 1804 and given the Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honor on 2 February 1805.
Brune served in various administrative capacities until 27 October 1807 when, in consultations with the Swedes, he accidentally referred to the “French” army rather than the armies of “His Majesty, Imperial and Royal,” Perhaps it was a “Republican” slip and perhaps a simple accident, but he was to remain unemployed until 1814 when he joined the Bourbons and became Governor of Provence and the 8th Military Division. In 1815 Brune returned to the tricolor and held Toulon against the Bourbons until arrested. On 2 August, while going to Avignon, Brune was assailed by a royalist mob, shot, stabbed over one hundred times with a sword and thrown into the Rhône.
BRUNSWICK. The possessions of the Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (Brunswick) were composed of the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, the Principality of Blankenburg, the Abbey of Walkenried and the Bailiwick of Theidinghausen in the county of Hoya.
The Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel was divided into two parts by the Bishopric of Hildesheim; the southern part was surrounded by the County of Calenburg and that of Grubenhagen, and by the Archbishopric of Corvey. The other, which is the principal part of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, was situated between the Principality of Lüneburg and Halberstadt, and the Duchy of Magdeburg. The Duchy of Blankenburg was situated between Halberstadt, Wernigerode, Hohustein and a number of other small provinces.
The Principality of Wolfenbüttel contained about 1,500 square miles and 183,000 inhabitants. Blankenburg and the Abbey of Walkenried contained about 150 square miles and 14,000 inhabitants. The Bailiwick of Thedinghausen contained about 20 square miles and 3,000 inhabitants. This gave Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel about 1,670 square miles of territory and 200,000 inhabitants.
The northern part of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel is less mountainous than the rest of the land. It is crossed by the Ocker River. Though principally agrarian, salt mines at Salz-Dahlem provided a significant income. In addition, iron, marble, slate and other minerals were mined and quarried.
The Principality of Blankenburg stood near the center of the Hartz and was, consequently, cold and mountainous. The land is not fertile, but abounds in forests and pastures. Only to the north of Blankenburg was there any attempt made to grow crops.
Braunschweig was a fortified city of 30,000 inhabitants and had a castle with a nominal garrison. Earlier, Braunschweig had belonged to the Hanseatic League and a mercantile heritage remained at this time. The Prince was calculated to have an annual revenue of 5,000,000 francs.
The country was well governed and the government was divided between the prince and the states, which, like other assemblies of the same nature, were composed of clergy, nobles, deputies from the cities and from citizens and universities. The municipal governments of the cities enjoyed many privileges and contributed much to the economic vitality of the region.
When Westphalia was formed, the lands of Brunswick were absorbed into it. Despite that, on 25 February 1809, the Duke of Brunswick returned to it and ordered the formation of a corps containing 1,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry to join the new war.
The Black Legion did not organize in time to join the Austrians before they were defeated by Napoleon. Realizing that his hostile actions would draw the attention of the full might of the French army, the Duke marched westward to escape from the continent. After a famous march through Westphalia and encounters with Westphalian forces, the Black Legion arrived on the coast at Elsfleth where it embarked for Britain between 6 and 9 August 1809.
The British incorp
orated the Branuschweig Black Legion, now called the Braunschweig-Oels, as a foreign contingent in their campaign in Spain.
When the Allies overran Westphalia in the fall of 1813, they dismembered it, reforming the original states that had been used to create it. As a result Herzog Friederich Wilhelm von Braunschweig was restored to his lands. He immediately set about reorganizing his army. On 6 November 1813 he ordered the raising of a new corps of troops. This contingent would participate in the 1814 campaign and was again mobilized for Waterloo, where it fought with great bravery.
BRUNSWICK, KARL WILHELM FERDINAND, DUKE OF (1735–1806). Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand was born on 9 October 1735 in Wolfenbüttel. He was the son of Karl, Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and a sister of Friedrich the Great of Prussia. In 1764 Karl Wilhelm married Princess Augusta, sister of the King of England.
Karl Wilhelm was raised as a soldier and commanded troops in the Prussian army during the Seven Years’ War. He distinguished himself at Hastenbeck and Bergen, where the Allies were defeated by the French, as well as at Crevelt and Minden, where the Allies won. In 1760 Karl Wilhelm commanded the allied vanguard which was defeated by the French. Despite that, he showed his not inconsiderable qualities as a general in his masterful retreat. Karl Wilhelm went on to fight at Vellinghausen, Warburg and Joannisburg.
When the war ended Karl Wilhelm returned to Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and assumed his duties as the new duke. Karl Wilhelm served in the War of the Bavarian Succession and in 1787, still holding the rank of generalleutnant in the Prussian army, he assumed command of the Prussian invasion of Holland. In 1780 Karl Wilhelm succeeded his father as Duke of Brunswick and was a model sovereign.
A field marshal in 1792, Karl Wilhelm was nominated general-in-chief of the First Coalition against France. Karl Wilhelm led the Prussian armies into France and, after their defeat at Valmy, withdrew them to the Rhine.
With the withdrawal of Prussia from the alliance against France Karl Wilhelm returned to his domains until 1806. Karl Wilhelm suffered no damage to his reputation by the Valmy campaign and in 1806 was recalled to Prussian service. At the battle of Auerstädt, fought on 14 October 1806, where his forces greatly outnumbered those of Marshal Davout, he was soundly beaten, his army scattered and he was mortally wounded. Karl Wilhelm would die on 10 November 1806 in Ottensen, near Hamburg.
Karl Wilhelm was succeeded by Wilhelm Frederich von Braunschweig-Oels who also served as a general in the Prussian army. Wilhelm Frederich raised a corps of partisans in 1809, but had to flee to England after the battle of Wagram. In 1813 Wilhelm Friedrich returned to Brunswick, raised a new force which he led to Waterloo in June 1815, where he was killed.
BUCHAREST, TREATY OF. Signed on 28 May 1812 by the Russians and Ottomans. This treaty ended the Russo-Turkish War that had begun in December 1806 when the Russians invaded Wallachia and Moldavia. The treaty took seven months to negotiate and it fell short of Russian hopes. By the treaty Russia agreed to abandon Wallachia and Moldavia. It established a new Russian border on the Prut River and the northernmost stream of the Danube delta, allowing Russia to absorb Bessarabia. The treaty also contained a Turkish promise to grant autonomy to Serbia. The Ottomans were able to hold the stronger hand because they knew that the French were preparing to invade and that the Russians needed to disengage their forces from the war with the Turks. In anticipation of a French victory and with the knowledge that the Russians could not intervene under any circumstances, the Turks ignored their promise of autonomy for Serbia and reconquered it.
BÜLOW, DIETRICH HEINRICH, FREIHERR VON (1757–1807). Bülow entered the Prussian army in 1773 and served for 16 years. However, during that time he began a literary career in which he specialized in military and tactical topics. Bülow was openly contemptuous of the existing Prussian system in his works, which brought him the enmity of the Prussian establishment Bülow was arrested for being insane, but was proven sane. Bülow was then imprisoned at Colberg, where he was harshly treated. Bülow passed into Russian hands where he died in prison in 1807.
Bülow’s writings were subsequently reevaluated and exonerated. Bülow had become an enthusiastic supporter of the methods adopted by the French revolutionary generals, covering columns with clouds of skirmishers and a system that was adopted by the Prussians in their 1812 regulations. Bülow is now considered the father of modern tactics.
BÜLOW, FRIEDRICH WILHELM, FREIHERR VON, COUNT OF DENNEWITZ (1755–1866). Bülow was born on 16 February 1755 in Falkenberg. Like his brother, D. H. Bülow, Friedrich entered Prussian service at the age of 13 in 1768. In 1792 Bülow became the military instructor for Prince Louis Ferdinand von Preussen. During the 1792–94 campaign, he fought at Kaiserlautern, Eschweiler, Meckenheim, Roth, Herzogenbusch, Altdorf, Fischingen and the siege of Mainz. During the 1806 campaign Bülow fought at Watlersdorf. At the end of the 1806 campaign he joined Lestocq’s command. In 1812 Bülow became governor-general of East and West Prussia. Bülow fought at Möckern, captured Halle, and defended Berlin against the advance by Oudinot. In the fall of 1813 he served under Bernadotte in the Army of the North, commanding a corps at Gross-Beeren. Bülow defeated Ney at Dennewitz, and fought at Leipzig. In 1814 Bülow led the allied advance into the Lowlands. After the disasters in early February his forces were absorbed into those of Blücher, under whom he fought at the Prussian victory at Laon. During the 1813–15 campaigns Bülow fought at Zehdenick, the storming of Halle, Luckau, Lützen, Dennewitz, Leipzig, Laon, and Waterloo.
On 30 May 1814 Bülow was made general der infanterie and given the title Count Bülow von Dennewitz. During the short peace before Waterloo he served as commander in chief in Prussia, but returned to the field in June 1815. Bülow was not present at Ligny, but headed the flank attack on Napoleon at Waterloo that decided the battle. He marched into France at the end of the Waterloo campaign and died suddenly on 25 February 1816.
BURDETT, SIR FRANCIS (1770–1884). Burdett was born on 25 January 1770 and was in Paris when the Revolution began. In 1793 Burdett married an immensely rich heiress and in 1796 became a member of Parliament after purchasing his seat from the representatives of the 4th Duke of Newcastle. In 1797 Burdett succeeded his grandfather as the 5th baronet. In Parliament Burdett denounced the war with France, and the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, and rose to prominence. In 1806 Burdett fought a duel with James Paull, the radical candidate for Westminster, and was wounded.
In 1810 Burdett denounced the actions by the House when it sent a radical named John Gale Jones to prison. The House voted his publication of a revised version of his denunciation a breach of privilege and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Burdett barred himself in his house and defied authorities behind a mob of his London supporters. An armed conflict was narrowly avoided and Burdett was taken into custody. Burdett was shortly released and brought actions against the speaker and the sergeant-at-arms, but the courts upheld parliament’s actions. Burdett denounced corporal punishment in the army and worked against official corruption. Burdett pressed for parliamentary reform until 1828 and worked on behalf of the Catholics, being successful in 1829. In 1820 Burdett censured the government’s action at Peterloo, and was prosecuted, fined and sent to prison for three months. By 1837 Burdett had lost confidence in his colleagues and began voting for the Conservatives in Parliament until his death on 23 January 1844.
BYRON, LORD GEORGE GORDON (1788–1824). Byron was born in London, at 16 Holles Street, Cavendish Square, on 22 January 1788. The Byrons were of Norman stock and could trace their ancestry to the 1066 invasion by William the Conqueror. On his mother’s side he traced his ancestry to James I of Scotland. Because of his mother’s Scottish ancestry, Byron spent his early years in Aberdeen. Byron was lame from birth, his right leg and foot, possibly both feet, were contracted by infantile paralysis. In October 1805 Byron went to Trinity College, Cambridge. In April 1808, while still a minor, Byron succeeded to the barony and inherited Newstead Abbey, the family seat in Nottinghamshire.
Byron’s education was classical and having no need for employment, not that it was appropriate for a man of his ancestry, he turned to poetry. His first satirical poems appeared in 1809, shortly before he began a tour of Spain, Portugal, Malta and the Ottoman Empire, including Greece. Byron was received by Ali Pasha at Tepelene in October 1809 and stayed in Athens until April 1811. He grew to identify with the Greeks and their suffering under Ottoman tyranny. On 14 July 1811 Byron returned to England and assumed his seat in the House of Lords. Here he made his famous speech condemning the death penalty for the destruction of machinery. On 10 March 1812, barely 11 days after this speech, the first two cantos of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage were published and he found himself instantly famous. Five thousand copies were sold in three weeks. Despite his position in English society, Byron was a radical and an admirer of Napoleon. This did not sit well with his peers.
The Giaour (June 1813) and The Corsair (February 1814) followed quickly, The Corsair selling 10,000 copies on the day it was released.
Byron married Anne Isabella Milbanke on 2 January 1815. On 10 December she gave birth to Byron’s only child, Augusta Ada. The marriage was not, however, successful. Byron’s behavior was harsh, violent and eccentric, so that his wife believed him insane. On 15 January 1816 Byron ordered his wife to leave their home and she returned to her father’s home, demanding a separation from Byron. It is probable that Byron had an incestuous relationship with his half-sister, Augusta Leigh, and this may be what had provoked the separation. His standing in society ruined, Byron left England and his subsequent travels inspired the third canto of Childe Harold. The final canto was written in Venice in 1817, where he also wrote Don Juan. After spending several months in Ravenna and Pisa, in August 1823 he traveled to Greece to join the Greek revolutionaries seeking to free their land from the Ottoman Empire. While in Missolonghi, he contracted rheumatic fever and died on 19 April.
Historical Dictionary of the Napoleonic Era Page 10
