Johann David Ludwig, Graf Yorck von Wartenburg (26 September 1759-4 October 1830) was a general of Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars.
Biography[]
Ludwig at the Battle of Schwedt
Johann David Ludwig was born in Potsdam, Prussia (present-day Germany) and entered the Prussian Army in 1772. When he was booted from the army in 1779 after questioning the recruitment methods of his superiors, he served under the United Provinces in the 1783-1784 American Revolutionary War East Indies campaign. After the death of Frederick the Great in 1785 he was reinstated to his service and fought against the Kosciuszko Uprising in 1794 in Poland.
During the Napoleonic Wars he served as a Prussian rearguard commander and performed well at Altenzaun during the 1806 Battle of Jena. He was captured while fighting under Gebhard von Blucher at Lubeck, and when Prussia became an ally of France after the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit, Ludwig reorganized the Prussian army. He fought in the 1812 Russian Campaign of Emperor Napoleon under the command of Etienne Jacques MacDonald, and although he defeated Russian forces around Riga, MacDonald abandoned him to fight the Russians and he declared his corps "neutral" in revenge. King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia sent a messenger to deliver news of a court-martial to Ludwig, but Hans Karl von Diebitsch refused to give the messenger entry to his camp and Ludwig was absolved of all charges after Prussia re-joined the war against France.
General Ludwig played a key role in the reconquest of Europe in 1813-14, taking back Berlin on 17 March 1813 and proceeding to fight under Blucher in the German campaign at the Battle of Bautzen, Katzbach, Wartenburg, and the crowning victory of the Battle of Leipzig. In 1814, Ludwig finished his fighting after victories at Montmirail, Laon, and Paris.