Page:Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia - Illustrated London News August 20, 1870.PNG



The late brilliant achievements of the Crown Prince Frederick William, only son of King William I. of Prussia, and husband of Victoria, Princess Royal of England, in his command of the third German army at Weissenburg and Wörth, give additional interest to his portrait. It may be explained that the King of Prussia holds, in person, the chief command of all the combined armies of Prussia and the other States of the North German Confederation, with those of the allied South German States, Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Baden, and Hesse-Darmstadt. The German forces which have entered France are divided into three armies; namely—1. Army of the North, seven corps d'armée each of 35,000 men, those of the Rhine Provinces, Westphalia, Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Holstein, and two reserve corps, under the command of Prince Frederick Charles, nephew to the King. 2. Army of the Centre, five corps d'armée, each of 35,000 men, the Guards, the troops of Saxony (Province), Pomerania, Prussia (Province), and Royal Saxony, under the command of the King; but actually managed by General von Steinmetz. 3. Army of the South, the Bavarians of Wurtemberg (two corps d'armée, 50,000 men), (one corps d'armée, 20,000), Baden and the troops Darmstadt (two corps d'armée, 35,000 men), Silesia, Posen, and Brandenburg (three corps d'armée, 105,000 men), making 210,000 men altogether, under the command of the Crown Prince.

The position held by the Crown Prince is thus one of great responsibility, as commander-in-chief of the South German contingents. It is a post no less important from political considerations, in keeping the several German Sovereigns up to loyalty to, the cause, a military point of view. His Royal Highness, Frederick William, Crown Prince of Prussia, was born on Oct. 18, 1831; and on his tenth birthday received his commission as Sub-Lieutenant. His elementary instruction, in boyhood, was conducted under Dr. Ernest Curtius. He then proceeded to the University of Bonn; after which, under superintendence of General von Schreckenstein (for a few months Minister of War, in 1848), he completed his military education and cultivated his mind by visits to foreign capitals. On his marriage, in 1858, to the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General, which was followed, in 1860, by his commission as Lieutenant-General and chief of the 2nd Pomeranian Corps d'Armée. His first experience of

the stern realities of war was in the campaign against Denmark in 1864; and in 1866, at the outset of the Austrian War, he was appointed to the command of the Silesian army, having his valued friend General von Steinmetz as his second in command. The important part taken by the Crown Prince in the campaign of that year, in Bohemia, at the battle of Sadowa, and in the subsequent advance through Moravia, is within the recollection of all. The Crown Prince is personally much liked and esteemed. The correspondent of a London daily journal, writing from the camp of the German army, on the day after the battle of Wörth, says "I have been the accidental and unseen witness of a little scene just now which is worth recording. A country cart was rumbling down the street with two wounded officers- young men-on their way to the station. An officer on foot beckoned to the driver to stop, and went up to the cart, the and, leaning over, entered into conversation with them for ten minutes, evidently asking after their wounds. On parting he shook each by the hand, and continued his way up the street, accompanied by two other officers. He halted at my quarters and inquired if there were any wounded inside-they had been removed, some to their resting-place-then went on, and, meeting a cart full of wounded soldiers, talked to them each in turn, and so went on, visiting the hospitals and the wounded in the most unostentatious manner. It was the Crown Prince. No wonder his men are fond of him. Many did not know him till he had passed on. He told how the soldiers, one and all, seem to their wounds, and make light of them for the sake of the cause; and there was an honest exultation in his tone at the honour of commanding such troops." After the battle of Wörth, two correspondents of the Paris journals were brought into the presence of the Crown Prince, who ordered them to be set free; and the interview is thus described by one of them :- features. He has great simplicity of manner, and affects rather a kind of bourgeois style of speaking, thinking, and general behaviour. He speaks French with great purity, without foreign accent beyond a slight German intonation and oc- casional hesitation at certain words. Do you speak German, Sir?' said he to me. 'No, Prince, not sufficiently.' 'I am sorry for it, as otherwise you would have heard in what manner our troops speak of yours, and in what esteem they hold them." 'I thank you very much for that opinion.' 'Oh! it is quite. deserved. We have all admired the tenacity and the courage which have been evinced by even the humblest of your soldiers.' Then, with much delicate consideration, and almost making excuses for mentioning the facts to us, he told us that they had taken between 3000 and 4000 prisoners, thirty guns, six mi- trailleuses, and two eagles. Among the prisoners,' said he, 'is General Raoult. I went this morning to see him at Reichshofen, where he lies wounded, his hip and thigh being broken; I fear that he is now dying. He is a brave officer, and he has given. me some addresses in Paris, to which he wishes letters to be sent. But, Prince,' I observed, 'the other prisoners also have families. I have thought of that. I have had them supplied with writing materials; the letters will be sent unsealed to our Consul at Geneva, who will forward them to France." 'Prince, we thank you on behalf of the mothers whose grief you are about to assuage.' 'I do not like war, gentlemen. If I should reign I would never make Now, despite my love of peace, this is the third campaign I have been compelled to make. I went over the battle-field yesterday. It was frightful. If it only depended upon myself this war would end here. It is your Ministers and the Emperor who would have it; it is not we who wanted it. And yet the Emperor has been very good to me and very kind to my wife. The last time I saw him was at the Tuileries on Jan. 12, when he said to me, "You know that I have found a new Minister." That was this M. Ollivier, who now makes this war against us." There are many such anecdotes and reports of the Crown Prince's is a Prince Frederick William, heir to the crown of Prussia Joability and courtesy, to when the Special Artist of this Journal, Mr. will readily bear witness from own experience, both in 1866 and in 1870.. man of stature, thin, a and placid countenance; but in the curve of his aquiline nose and his dilating nostrils there are evidences of energy, while the rapidity of his glance convinces you of his decision. A full fair beard softens the somewhat stern expression of his The Portrait of the Crown Prince is engraved from a photograph taken at St. Petersburg, and published in London by Marion and Co.