Franz Sznayde

Franz Sznayde also François Sznajde, Franz Schneider or Franciszek Sznajde, ( born October 8, 1790 in Warsaw, † December 13, 1850 in Grenelle ) was a Polish cavalry officer, and in May / June 1849 during the Palatinate uprising commander in chief of the Palatine revolutionary army.

Life

From a young age went to the military Sznayde the Duchy of Warsaw and was involved in the Napoleonic Wars 1807-1813. 1811 to 1813 he served in the corps of the French Marshal Louis -Nicolas Davout, making 1812 the Russian campaign with. After wounding and short captivity Sznayde took part in the defense of Danzig. He was awarded for his bravery, the cross of the Legion of Honour.

From 1815, he was then to be found in the newly formed army of the Kingdom of Poland, where he was appointed Major and commander of a cavalry regiment. In the Polish November Uprising of 1830, he was commissioned by the dictator Józef Chlopicki with the formation of an elite cavalry division, becoming its commander with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was with his unit, inter alia, also involved in the Battle of Grochów and that of Ostrołęka. For his success in the battle he was promoted to colonel. On 28 July 1831 he was appointed brigadier-general and already on 21 August, he received a larger Cavalry Brigade assumed. He also received the Polish Military Merit Virtuti Militari. On September 17, 1831, he joined with his brigade as part of the 2nd Polish Corps in Austrian Galicia over as the Polish army had no chance to beat the Russian troops. Since he did not trust the assurances of the Austrian Government, Sznayde emigrated to France. On his way to Paris he was received enthusiastically in Strasbourg together with other revolutionaries. In 1846 he appeared as a member of the Polish Democratic Society in Paris in appearance and was in 1846 involved in the preparation of the Cracow uprising.

Supreme Commander of the Palatinate in 1849

On 21 May 1849 he took over the command of the associations of the insurgents in the Rhine Palatinate. These associations were incorporated later than the 6th Division in the common Baden-Palatinate revolutionary army under Ludwik Mierosławski. After the former commander in chief of the Palatine troops, Daniel Fenner of Fenneberg, on May 20, resigned his office, Sznayde was already on 21 May along with a number of Polish officers in Kaiserslautern and took over the supreme command. Sznayde had been recruited with 10 000 guilders. His plan for the defense of the Palatinate was to build three fortified camp at Homburg, Kaiserslautern and mother, but what it did not come. When the Prussian army marched into the Rhineland Palatinate on 11 June 1849 Sznayde had his few and little kamp strong troops even distributed unfavorable and the entrances to Kaiserslautern - the seat of the provisional government - were not covered. The 59 -year-old could hardly anybody in impression to leave and the reviews on it are devastating. " At a young age he might have been a capable cavalry officer, now he was old, comfortable, slowly, become a friend of the panel pleasures. " ... " A young, able general had not gained the victory, but with Sznayde at the top was a rapid defeat inevitable. "

A damning indictment of Sznayde is also narrated by Friedrich Engels, who did his revolution in the Palatinate as adjutant of August Willich.

"The General Sznayde arrived. It was a short, fat man who looked more like an aged bon vivant as like a " Rufer in dispute Menelaus ". The General Sznayde took command with a lot of dignity, let pay to report on the state of affairs and immediately issued a series orders of the day. Most of these commands covered the uniforms - the blouse, and the insignia for officers - tricolor armbands or sashes, to prompts to served cavalry and archer to provide voluntarily - prompts that had already been made ​​ten times fruitless, and the like. he himself set a good example by check immediately Attila anschaffte with tricolor cords to instill respect of the army. What was really in his orders of the day Practical and important, was limited to repeating long since adopted commands and on proposals made ​​by the few present good officers before, but had never been enforced and are only now by means of the authority of a commanding general could be enforced. For the rest, the general Sznayde relied on God and Mieroslawski and survived the pleasures of the table, the only sensible thing that could do such a totally incompetent individual. "

In the few insignificant skirmishes and its associations with the Prussians in the Palatinate Sznayde was not involved. The agreement between the Palatinate and Baden, the Palatinate associations were integrated as the 6th Division in the common revolutionary army and commanded Mieroslawski given the obvious weakness of the Palatine troops retreat to Baden to concentrate his forces. On 18 June, the Palatine troops left over the Rhine bridge at Knielingen the Palatinate. On 23 June, the Palatinate Corps denied under Sznayde - which had been amplified by the Baden troops of the line - the Battle of Ubstadt against Prussian troops. Sznayde could collect his fleeing associations only again before Bruchsal. On June 24, moved from Sznayde with his division from Bruchsal, leaving only his rear guard back there. After the battle of Ubstadt resentment had arisen among his troops. He was accused of having in his avant-garde Ubstadt supported too late with the main force of the division. This results in further speculation after which showed he was not really a Pole, but a Prussian (Franz Schneider). He would deliver his troops when the opportunity of the Prussian army. As a people's militia unit at Weingarten for this reason refused the order to Sznayde went there. He was denounced as a traitor, pulled off his horse and stripped of his French and Polish Order. Finally, he was even injured before he could be brought by prudent forces of the revolutionary army in safety. Sznayde resigned and went back to France, where he was already one and a half years later died in Grenelle in Paris and was buried at the North Cemetery in Montmartre.