Boyneburg zu Lengsfeld und Weiler, Georg Philipp von
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Boyneburg zu Lengsfeld und Weiler, Georg Philipp von
Franconian General-Feldwachtmeister (1704-1710), Feldmarschall-Lieutenant (1710-1723), Feldzeugmeister (1723-1732)
born 1664/1666 ?
died 1732
Description
Georg Philipp von Boyneburg was descended from a widespread family of Knights of the Empire (Reichsritter) and was incorporated into the Franconian Canton Rhön-Werra. He belonged to the so-called “Black Flag” branch of the family. Little is known about him, not even the exact date of birth. His parents were Ludwig von Boyneburg and Martha Elisabeth von Hundshausen. He had four sisters, one of whom died young, and nine brothers, five of whom lived to adulthood. His brother Wilhelm Rudolph made it to Würzburg captain of dragoons, Hans Ernst and Eitel Rudolph have been captains in Franconian regiments according to Biedermann, but there is no evidence of them both in the muster-lists.
Boyneburg married Catharina Elisabetha Charlotta von Reinach. The pair had one daughter and three sons, one of them, Wolfgang Leopold, died in 1734 as a Nuremberg lieutenant.
In 1682/83, Boyneburg does not appear in the Franconian contingent marching out to the Great Turkish War. For the first time he is mentioned in a muster-list in January 1691 as a captain of a Würzburg company in the Franconian regiment Schönbeck (ex Brandenburg-Ansbach). Some of his relatives around 1690 were officers with the Franconians too: Georg Wilhelm Ansbach lieutenant of cuirassiers, Georg Friedrich Bamberg lieutenant and Johann Philipp volunteer in Nuremberg 1713 and 1714.
Boyneburg‘s further career can only be traced vaguely, same as many of the Franconian generals around 1700. We know that he was made major before November 1692 and lieutenant-colonel between 1697 and 1701. In May 1703 he was granted the title of colonel, after he had applied in vain for one of the new regiments raised in 1703 (Zollern, Jahnus, Tucher). So for a short time there were two colonels in the regiment Ansbach/Mohr. Boyneburg remained in the regiment one rank lower than the officer, whose successor he was to be, Johann Friedrich Mohr von Waldt.
With the regiment, Boyneburg probably was present at the battles of Friedlingen (1702) and Höchstädt (1703).
Some of Boyneburg’s missions during the war are known. In April 1703, he was sent by Limpurg-Styrum to reinforce the troops laying siege to the Bavarian Fortress Rothenberg near Nuremberg. Later he occupied a position at the so-called Weißen Hund (lit. White Dog) or Entmersberg five km northeast of the fortress, to form part of a defensive line against Bavarian attempts to relieve the fortress. On 24 May 1703, under the command of Franconian Major-General Jahnus, he took part in a battle en miniature at Krottensee (few km northeast of Velden and some 50 km of Nuremberg). The small Franconian contingent succeeded in repelling and shattering Bavarian General Maffei‘s troops, so the siege could continue (until 19 September). Boyneburg was one of three officers mentioned honorably in Jahnus‘ report.
After Mohr von Waldt had died from his wounds after the storming of the Schellenberg in 1704, Boyneburg at last attained his promotion to major-general (Generalfeldwachtmeister) and the regiment. With 13 years between captaincy and general, Boyneburg had been rather lucky, other generals like Thüngen or Erffa having to wait 19 years and more. His adjutant was one of his sons (Wolfgang Leopold?) who resigned in 1713, being replaced by the Nuremberg lieutenant Johann Andreas Viatis.
In 1704, Boyneburg‘s regiment took part in the sieges of Ulm and Landau; in 1705 it was present in the capture of Pfaffenhofen (28 August), Drusenheim (24 September) and Hagenau (5 October). If he himself was with his regiment is not yet researched.
In 1707, Boyneburg is mentioned in orders of battle from the Upper Rhine area.
In October 1710, Boyneburg was promoted Feldmarschallieutenant, an act of grace obviously, as there was no predecessor who had been promoted or had died, so Boyneburg didn’t succeed as it was usual just by seniority.
The last years of the war were not very eventful regarding the Reichsarmee; so Boyneburg doesn‘t appear prominently in contemporary documents.
Around 1715, Georg Philipp von Boyneburg had enough means to build the so-called “New Castle” in Gehaus, a small town between Fulda and Gotha; he had already sold his manor of Wolfershausen in 1711.
On 27 May 1723, Boyneburg was promoted Feldzeugmeister.
Boyneburg died in 1732. His successor as proprietor of the regiment was the Brandenburg-Bayreuth officer Helmut Otto von Bassewitz.
References
Biedermann, Johann Heinrich: Geschlechts-Register der reichs-frey unmittelbaren Ritterschaft... Rhön-Werra, Nürnberg 1748. Taff. XLVII C and XLIX A.
Muster-lists from the Bavarian state archives, Bamberg.
Humbracht, Johann Maximilian/Helwich, Georg: Die höchste Zierde Teutsch-Lands und Vortrefflichkeit des Teutschen Adels…, Frankfurt/Main 1707, p. 233.
Willax, Franz: Der Kampf um die Veste Rothenberg. Schnaittach 1992, pp. 56-72, p. 281 (summarizing most of the known biographical facts and extensively describing the siege and Krottensee).
Acknowledgement
Klaus Roider for the initial version of this article
