Charles William Ferdinand of Brunswick

Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel

1735–1806 ✕ Died of wounds from Auerstedt

Commander of the Austro-Prussian army who issued the Brunswick Manifesto

On 25 July 1792 at Koblenz he issued a manifesto in his name warning that Paris and its people would face severe reprisals if the French royal family were harmed.

Ruling prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, a nephew of Frederick the Great and a Prussian field marshal, he took command of the combined Austrian and Prussian armies when war began in 1792. On 25 July he issued the Brunswick Manifesto at Koblenz; it bore his name, but the text is generally attributed to émigré circles. Meant to protect the king, the threat instead hardened feeling against the monarchy in Paris. He took Longwy and Verdun, then halted at Valmy on 20 September and withdrew from France. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Auerstedt in 1806.