The New International Encyclopædia/August Wilhelm

AUGUST WILHELM, vĭl′hĕlm. Prince of Prussia (1722-58). Founder of the present reigning line of the Hohenzollerns. He was born in Berlin, the second son of King Frederick William I., and a brother of Frederick the Great. Although a man of winning personality, he lacked the independence and decision of character of his elder brother. Appointed by Frederick (in 1757) commander of the Army of Kolin, he revealed such a lack of military ability in conducting the retreat from Bohemia that he was deprived of his command, whereupon he retired permanently to his castle at Oranienburg. The accusation brought by him against Frederick in the well-known Relation über den Feldzug von 1757, which at first proved so damaging to the reputation of the great commander, was disproved by the publication in 1887 of the Politische Korrespondenz Friedrichs des Grossen. As Frederick died without issue, he was succeeded by the son of August Wilhelm, who assumed the title of Frederick William II.