Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1772–1806)

Prince Louis Ferdinand
Louis Ferdinand Prince of Prussia (1772–1806), portrait by Jean-Laurent Mosnier, 1799
Born	18 November 1772 Friedrichsfelde Palace, Berlin
Died	10 October 1806(1806-10-10) (aged 33) Battle of Saalfeld
Full name Friedrich Ludwig Christian
House	House of Hohenzollern
Father	Prince August Ferdinand of Prussia
Mother	Elisabeth Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt

Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (Friedrich Ludwig Christian; 18 November 1772 – 10 October 1806), was a Prussian prince and a soldier in the Napoleonic Wars.

Louis Ferdinand was born in Friedrichsfelde Palace near Berlin. He was a son of Prince August Ferdinand of Prussia and Elisabeth Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt, and was a nephew of King Frederick the Great. Ludwig von Wildenbruch was the elder of two illegitimate children of Louis Ferdinand by Henriette Fromme. The 1927 German film Prinz Louis Ferdinand was a biopic of his life.

Louis Ferdinand participated in the French Revolutionary Wars and was wounded during the Siege of Mainz. In 1806, he was one of the principal advocates of resuming the war against Napoleon and the First French Empire, triggering the War of the Fourth Coalition.

He died during the opening engagement of the war, at the Battle of Saalfeld. Louis Ferdinand was in command of 8,300 men when he advanced against marshall Jean Lannes' V Corps as they attempted to break out from the passes of Thuringian Forest. In that battle, he engaged a much larger French force (12,800 men), led by Lannes himself. The French held the high ground, while the Prussians had the Saale River behind their backs, which would make a retreat difficult. When he saw his forces beginning to rout, Louis Ferdinand charged the French cavalry. He was killed in combat by Jean-Baptiste Guindey, quartermaster of the French 10th Hussars, after Louis Ferdinand refused an offer to surrender and wounded the French NCO. As a prominent leader of the Prussian court, his death was deeply felt.