Hans Ernst Karl, Graf von Zieten

Who was Hans Ernst Karl, Graf von Zieten?

Hans Ernst Karl, Graf von Zieten was an officer in the Prussian Army during the Napoleonic Wars.

Zieten was born in Dechtow in the Margraviate of Brandenburg; he was not related to the Frederician general Hans Joachim von Zieten.

During the Waterloo Campaign of 1815, Lieutenant-General von Zieten commanded the Prussian I Corps. The corps fought a holding action against the French on 15 June, and was heavily engaged against the French the next day at the Battle of Ligny, and then again two days later on June 18 at the Battle of Waterloo.

On 1 July, Zieten's I Corps participated in the Battle of Issy just outside the walls of Paris. At the end of the campaign on 7 July, his corps was granted the honour of being the first major Coalition force to enter Paris.

King Frederick William III of Prussia granted Zieten the title of Graf, or count, on 3 September 1817. At the age of 69, he was promoted to Generalfeldmarschall on 9 September 1839. Zieten died in Warmbrunn.