The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Knesebeck, Karl Friedrich von dem

KNESEBECK, knā'zĕ-bĕk, Karl Friedrich von dem, Prussian general field marshal: b. Karwe, near Neuruppin, 5 May 1768; d. 12 Jan. 1848. He entered the army (1782) and gained distinction in the campaigns of 1792-94 and was made captain (1799), major (1802), being on the general staff at Auerstadt (1806), when he saved the king from being taken prisoner. He drew up the plan of battle at Pultusk (1806) in the Russian campaign but retired, at the Treaty of Peace of Tilsit, to his estate. He was sent (1809) on a diplomatic mission to Austria during the Franco-Austrian War and went oa a mission to Russia in the winter of 1811-12, advising peace. He was made general-adjutant to the king in 1813 and carried on the negotiations with Austria for a coalition, failing which he took a prominent part in the plan of action, hindering the bold schemes of Blücher and Gneissenau, He was a prominent figure in the continuation of the campaign (1813-14) and in the plan of action. In 1847 he was appointed commander-general of the army of observation against Poland, and, on his retirement, was created field-marshal. His memoirs are said to be unreliable. He wrote also ‘Lob des Kriegs’ (1805), a poem which had great popularity. Consult Dunker, ‘Die Mission des Obersten von dem Knesebeck’ (in Abhandlungen zur preussischen Geschichte, Leipzig 1876); Lehmann, M., ‘Knesebeck und Schön’ (ib. 1875).