1 year, 6 months ago
Was the Count of Deuxponts who fought at Yorktown related to the Duke of Zweibrücken and if so how?
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M$1 Answer
Wow... it would seem that Duke Christian IV of Zweibrücken (translates in German as "two bridges") was instrumental in the battle that occurs a Yorktown both in victory and in some obscure reference, defeat. The Royal Deux-Ponts (translates in French to "two bridges") was a regiment founded for the purpose of assisting in the American Revolutionary War.
The regiment was most noted for their attack on Redoute 9 (a fort) in the battle of Yorktown in 1781 under the command of Christian's sons Wilhelm and Christian, Counts of Forbach.
This one stumped me for a second until I discovered that only the French call Zweibrücken by "Deux-Ponts".
Historically speaking, since Christian later become Count of Zweibrücken, the answer could end there.
Technically speaking however, Deux-Ponts MOST references the Royal Deux-Ponts that fought in the American Revolution, The sons of then Duke Christian IV were the leaders of the regiment and in their own rights, each a Count. So by these standard, they would be the only applicable answer:
Yes, the Count(s) of Deux-Ponts are related to the Duke of Zweibrücken by both being his sons.
The regiment was most noted for their attack on Redoute 9 (a fort) in the battle of Yorktown in 1781 under the command of Christian's sons Wilhelm and Christian, Counts of Forbach.
This one stumped me for a second until I discovered that only the French call Zweibrücken by "Deux-Ponts".
Historically speaking, since Christian later become Count of Zweibrücken, the answer could end there.
Technically speaking however, Deux-Ponts MOST references the Royal Deux-Ponts that fought in the American Revolution, The sons of then Duke Christian IV were the leaders of the regiment and in their own rights, each a Count. So by these standard, they would be the only applicable answer:
Yes, the Count(s) of Deux-Ponts are related to the Duke of Zweibrücken by both being his sons.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
ah! rock on... yeah, the next duke high-tailed it from Zweibrücken because of the French Revolution. He was hard to follow. I ran with the first sound answer. Heh. It was Christian IV that started the force that layer assist America so I thought that was the one you were looking for.
Great! You supplied the missing piece that threw me off: Duke Christian IV. What a convoluted dynasty! The Battle of Yorktown took place in 1781. Duke Christian had died in 1775. So I was looking at Duke Charles II August, who was Duke at the time of the battle and a French general. It turns out that Duke Christian had a Morganatic marriage, so his sons could not inherit the Duchy! So it went to Charles, his nephew. So, at the time of the battle the Count and the Duke were first cousins. That's the literal answer to my question. A few years later when Duke Charles died his younger brother inherited, Maximilian, who was therefor also first cousins with the Count. Maximilian went on to become the first King of Bavaria.
Why, you may have been wondering, would I care about any of this? For some time I've been noting the strange and persistent relationship between America and Bavaria, as part of my interest in German-American heritage. This is one spot I have been looking at from time to time. The story, put together, explains why a later King of Bavaria had a huge historical painting of this American Revolutionary War battle done for one of his castles. At that later date, Zweibruecken was part of Bavaria, and the colonel of the sort-of-Bavarian troops fighting with Washington was his cousin.