Frederick Louis , Prince of Hohenlohe - Ingelfingen Frederick Louis , Prince of Hohenlohe - Ingelfingen ( ) ( 31 January 1746 – 15 February 1818 ) was a Prussian general . Biography . Frederick Louis was the eldest son of Prince John Frederick of Hohenlohe - Ingelfingen ( ; died 1796 ) . He began his military career as a boy , serving against the Prussians in the last years of the Seven Years ' War . Entering the Prussian army after the peace , he was , as a result of his princely rank , at once made a major ; and in 1775 he was elevated to lieutenant - colonel . In 1778 Frederick Louis took part in the War of the Bavarian Succession and at about the same time was made a colonel . Shortly before the death of King Frederick the Great , he was promoted to the rank of major general and appointed Chief of a Regiment . For some years the prince did garrison duty at Breslau , until in 1791 he was made governor of Berlin . In 1794 he commanded a corps in the Prussian army on the Rhine and distinguished himself greatly in many engagements , particularly in the Battle of Kaiserslautern on 20 September . Frederick Louis was at this time the most popular soldier in the Prussian army . Blücher wrote of him that he was a leader of whom the Prussian army might well be proud . He succeeded his father in the principality , and acquired additional lands by his marriage with a daughter of Count von Hoym . In 1806 Frederick Louis , now a general of infantry , was appointed to command the left wing of the Prussian forces opposing Napoleon , having under him Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia ; but , feeling that his career had been that of a prince and not that of a professional soldier , he allowed his quartermaster - general , the incompetent Oberst ( Colonel ) Christian Karl August Ludwig von Massenbach to influence him unduly . Disputes soon broke out between Hohenlohe and the commander - in - chief the Duke of Brunswick , the armies marched hither and thither without effective results , and finally Frederick Louis ' s army was almost destroyed by Napoleon at the Battle of Jena on 14 October 1806 . The prince displayed his usual personal bravery in the battle , and managed to rally a portion of his corps near Erfurt , whence he retreated into Prussia . But the pursuers followed him up closely and Marshal Joachim Murat intercepted his corps at Prenzlau . On the morning of 28 October , a fortnight after Jena and three weeks after the beginning of hostilities , Hohenlohe refused two French demands that he surrender . However , the initial fighting went against the Prussians in the Battle of Prenzlau . Massenbach , who had gone to negotiate with the French , suddenly turned up with the news that the French completely surrounded them , which was untrue . Influenced by his chief of staff and assured by Murat " on his honour " that 100 , 000 French had encircled his forces , Hohenlohe capitulated with 10 , 000 men ( in fact , Murat had no more than 12 , 000 near Prenzlau , including only 3 , 000 infantry ) . Frederick Louis ' s former popularity and influence in the army had now the worst possible effect , for the commandants of garrisons everywhere lost heart and followed his example . The capitulation of Pasewalk occurred on 29 October , the capitulation of Stettin on the night of 29 – 30 October , and Küstrin surrendered on 1 November . Before the month of November was over , the Siege of Magdeburg ended in a capitulation . West of the Elbe River , the Sieges of Hameln , Nienburg , and Plassenburg also ended badly for Prussia . After two years spent as a prisoner - of - war in France , Frederick Louis retired to his estates , living in self - imposed obscurity until his death . He had , in August 1806 , just before the outbreak of the War of the Fourth Coalition , resigned the principality to his eldest son , not being willing to become a mediatized ruler under Württemberg suzerainty . Frederick Louis died in Slawentzitz in Upper Silesia .