Moltke: His Life and Character

Sketched in Journals, Letters, Memoirs, A Novel, and Autobiographical Notes

Field Marshal Graf Helmuth von Moltke

• Publisher: Normanby Press
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781787203648
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: French History
• Index: History

Originally published in 1892, this is a memoir of German Field Marshal Helmuth Graf von Moltke (the Elder), chief of staff of the Prussian Army for 30 years, compiled from numerous personal journals, letters, and notes. It also draws on his father's memoirs and one of Moltke's tales, "The Two Friends."Richly illustrated throughout with drawings by Moltke, portraits and facsimile letters."THE nature of the subject of this volume rendered it impossible that the contents should appear as if cast in one mould. This circumstance might be regarded as a defect, but its justification will be found partly in the many-sided character of a long and eventful life, which showed a rich development and a mature perfection of every human faculty, and partly in the fact that for some periods of this life original authorities were lacking. The volume is therefore intended, as was inevitable, to produce its effect by the impression it makes as a whole. Our knowledge of the Field-Marshal must be supplemented from notes regarding his family and his own life, from journals of travels, and records of the many impulses, scientific and artistic, to which his travels gave rise; further, from an attempt in the region of Belles Lettres—the novel of "The Two Friends, " in which he, the man of eight-and-twenty, paints himself true to the life; finally, from the vigorous productions of his old age, with their strivings after the highest truth, which, under the title of "Consolatory Thoughts, " form the conclusion of the volume."- Editor's Note

THE FIELD MARSHAL AND HIS SOVEREIGNS.

When on March 12th, 1822, Lieutenant von Moltke, who had just left the Danish service, received his commission as youngest second lieutenant in the Prussian 8th Infantry Regiment, he entered upon a career which, as far as human foresight could reach, did not offer him much chance of ever attaining any high position. But how high his aim was, and how steadily he pursued it from the very beginning, is known to all. He obtained, or rather conquered, the esteem, first of his superior officers, and then, when his performances rose from excellence to perfection, of his Sovereigns also. This result was honorable to himself, but to his Sovereigns in a still higher degree. Prussia’s kings have always been ready to recognize true merit, wherever it was to be found working for their good and the Fatherland’s, without regard to other considerations; and we may here be allowed to express a conviction that in this wisdom in choosing the right men for the right places, lies the chief secret of the enormous success of the Hohenzollerns, and the people committed to their care.

Moltke’s first years of military service in the Prussian army were passed under the reign of Frederick William III. At the present time we should call his promotion very slow, but it was sure. The first sign of his rise, which was a purely formal one, but yet of great significance, was the bestowal of the Order of the Knights of St. John.{68} It was conferred upon him when he was first lieutenant in the General Staff on the anniversary of the coronation in 1835; another proof of royal favor was a Cabinet Order issued the same year, which, as we see by his “Letters” (p. 69), he sent, full of joy, to his mother. When returning late in the autumn of 1839 from the East, he received the order “Pour le Mérite” as a mark of distinction, which, from its first institution by the “Great King” to the present day, has been the dream of every Prussian officer, but the acquisition of few. Thus the first king whom Moltke served had, shortly before his death, conferred upon him a signal proof of his favor.

The reign of King Frederick William IV., his second sovereign, was for Moltke a period of apprenticeship to high office, a period during which he showed his ability to bear the heaviest responsibilities. We have already seen how the young officer at Berlin attracted attention in high quarters, but it was not till he returned from the East, with a character strengthened by experience and tested in action, that he could rightly be charged with important duties of the most comprehensive character. Thus in 1840 we find him appointed to the General Staff of the 4th Army Corps, which was commanded by Prince Charles, the king’s brother, and thus brought into touch with the royal family and the court. In 1845 he was aide-de-camp to Prince Henry in Rome, and after he had been for some time chief of the staff of the 4th Army Corps (then at Magdeburg), we find him, in 1855 senior aide-de-camp to the heir to the throne, Prince Frederick William. At what time his third sovereign, the Emperor William, formerly Prince of Prussia, came into closer contact with him is not exactly known. The penetrating eye of the prince had no doubt for years been watching, with great attention, the development of this great talent.{69}

His appointment as senior aide-de-camp to Prince Frederick William is the first striking mark of the confidence the Prince of Prussia placed in him. For an office like this, to be the military Mentor of a future ruler, an only son, a young prince whom his talents entitled to the greatest hopes, only a man of sterling worth, of great military knowledge and ability could be chosen. Moltke also accompanied Prince Frederick William to Breslau, where the latter was for a year Commander of the 11th Infantry Regiment (now Grenadier Regiment of the Crown Prince Frederick William [2nd Silesian], No. 11). Soon after his return to the capital the valued Chief of the General Staff of the Army, General von Beyher, died (October 7th, 1857), and a few days later (on October 23rd) the Prince of Prussia was summoned to take the place of his brother the King, who was ill, and to occupy the high position of Regent till the death of Frederick William IV.

One of the first official acts of the new Regent was the appointment of a Chief of the General Staff of the Army. How much depended upon this appointment later events have shown. The choice fell upon Moltke, who, on the 29th of October, received the following Cabinet Order:

CABINET ORDER.

I hereby release you from your duties as senior aide-de-camp to his Royal Highness Prince Frederick William of Prussia, and charge you with the direction of the General Staff business of the army. You are to see in this a special proof of my personal confidence in you, and my expectation is that you will justify this confidence, and discharge the important functions delegated to you in the best interests of the army. The War Department will allow you, from the revenues attached to the vacant office, the same salary as you have hitherto received, with an addition of 1200 thalers (1800l.).

By command of his Majesty,

COUNT WALDERSEE,

Prince of Prussia.

To Major-General Baron v. Moltke.

Berlin, October 29th, 1857.

The time was now come when, to the salvation of his king and country, Moltke was to enter upon the lifework assigned him by Providence, for which he was fitted, more than any other man, by his gifts of intellect and character, by the extensive range of his activity, by his rich experience, and the mature development of his unique personality.

This is not the place to describe in detail the work he performed, or to speak of his success in organizing and perfecting the General Staff, and in his conduct of the army. But this much must ...