Require urgent help on Iron Cross royal decree

[Reinout]

Dear Forumites,

I'm currently looking at a matter concerning Carl von Clausewitz, the great military author who lived and battled through the Napoleonic Wars. It's not completely on topic I realise, but hopefully the medal experts here are knowledgeable enough to help me out here.

My first question is: does anyone know when Carl von Clausewitz' award of the EK II was granted? According to the biography I have (Peter Paret, Clausewitz and the state from 1976), he wrote to his wife and to Gneisenau respectively on the 21st and the 24th of July 1815 to inform them of his meagre reward (and apparently to tell them he was "less than pleased"*). Therefore I can make a case for the award being somewhere in July 1815, but a date would be helpful.

My second question is: when did the royal decree of Frederick William III regarding the temporary dominance of the EK over other Prussian bravery awards (including the Red Eagle and Pour le Mérite) except in special circumstances, come to an end? The EK was instituted 10 March 1815 and the royal decree must have come into effect instantly - but when did it end?

I'm trying to establish -even though the matter is of a rather minor importance in my thesis- whether Clausewitz had any right to be miffed. If the decree was still on, he may have had fewer grounds to complain. Perhaps he felt a Red Eagle Order was more in order for his performances in the Hundred Days' Campaign, during which he functioned as chief of staff to general Thielmann? Together they participated in the battle at Ligny where the Prussians suffered defeat. Their Corps then found itself as the rearguard, shielding the retreating Blücher who could thus go on to decisively defeat Napoleon. Thielmann and Clausewitz fought off Grouchy long enough to make that French marshal's tactical victory against them a hollow one. There were times during both battles when Clausewitz was in risk of being captured, so an EK II seems a bit low.

*= quoted from the above book by Peter Paret, p.250.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Reinout

The Iron Cross was founded 10 March 1813, not 1815.

Paragraph III of the foundation decree suspended awards of the pre-existing Military Decorations 1st and 2nd Classes for enlisted men"... werden während der Dauer dieses Krieges nicht ausgegeben", as well as awards of the Pour le Merite and Red Eagle Orders 2nd and 3rd classes "... bis auf einige einzelne Fälle in der Regel suspendiert."

It continues "Das Eiserne Kreuz ersetzt diese Orden und Ehrenzeichen..."

So the deliberate intention at creation was that the Iron Cross, bestowed (theoretically) regardless of rank and status, should replace ALL Prussian war awards for the duration of wars during which it was authorized. (Although never specified in statutes, the Iron Cross was never revived except for wars against France-- 1870, 1914, and 1939.)

Given the numbers awarded, NO "1813" Iron Cross was insignificant.

The Iron Cross 2nd Class NEVER lost preeminence as Prussia's prime bravery award for anything worn on ribbons on a medal bar. There is, of course, no direct comparision between an EK2 and a PLM.

[Reinout]

Hi Rick Research,

The Iron Cross was founded 10 March 1813, not 1815.

Yes, true. I made a typo, silly me.

"... werden während der Dauer dieses Krieges nicht ausgegeben"

That's an interesting bit. Does that refer to the 1813-14 campaign, commonly known as the War of Liberation in Germany, when Napoleon was first defeated? Or does it include the Hundred Days' Campaign of 1815? There's a huge demarcation line there. Still a Napoleonic War, the Hundred Days Campaign is also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition - very distinct from the War of Liberation. Were the EK statutes still enforced?
The efforts of Clausewitz in the 1813-14 war were in my view already worthy of an EK. He served in numerous staff functions under Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and IIRC Blücher as well, not to mention fighting in several large battles like Leipzig.

In the end this whole matter may have arisen from the king's dislike towards Clausewitz, which was to continue for years after the Napoleonic Wars and would have been more profound had not Gneisenau manifested himself as Clausewitz' protector.

According to Neal O'Connor, between 10,000 and 16,000 EK II were awarded during the 1813 war. I'm going to try and find a number for the men under arms in that war to see if the ratio of men to awards reveals more to me.

In any case, thank you very much Rick, for helping me with this. Perhaps I'll try to find the letters of Clausewitz and see if his specific wording sheds more light on the case.

Kind regards,

Reinout

[rammjaeger]

Hi Reinout,

these threads can help you a bit:

http://www.rkwetterau.de/html/hauptteil_ek_history.html

http://www.twschwarzer.de/phaleri.htm

http://www.ehrenzeichen.de/katalog/v...r_ek11813.html


VBR
Rammjaeger

[Reinout]

Thank you Hannes!

The websites were very useful, especially the one with the original founding statutes! Thanks a million.

Kind regards,

Reinout