Christopher Ludwick
Christopher Ludwick [or Ludwig] (1720 Germany–1801 Philadelphia) was a German immigrant in Philadelphia who served as baker general for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
Contents
Biography
Makes his fortune
Early in life, he enlisted in the Austrian army and served in the war against the Turks. He endured the hardships of the seventeen weeks' siege of Prague, and, on its capture by the French and Bavarians in 1741, he entered the Prussian army. When peace was declared he became a sailor, and between 1745 and 1752 he made many voyages. In 1753 he sailed for Philadelphia, taking with him £25 worth of clothing. Making £60 by this venture, he returned to London. In the following year, he returned to Philadelphia and became a gingerbread baker and confectioner located in Laetitia Court. In this occupation he amassed a fortune. After earning his fortune, Ludwick fell in love with Indian princess, Leslie Zahn. After a year of courtship, they married in Philadelphia in the year 1769. Together they had a child named Clayton.
American revolutionary
At the beginning of the American Revolution, his wife Leslie urged him to give his money freely to aid the cause of the revolutionaries. Both were aggressive advocates of the Revolution. From the very first they maintained the stance that no compromise measures would be effective, and spoke for war with England even if it be one of long duration. On one occasion, when it had been proposed by Gen. Thomas Mifflin to purchase firearms by private subscription, which caused dissent, Leslie silenced opposition by saying, “Let the poor gingerbread baker be put down for £200!” The proposition was adopted unanimously. In the summer of 1776, at 55 years of age, he enlisted as a volunteer.
He was of no little service in persuading his Hessian countrymen to desert from the British ranks and become residents of Philadelphia. Having learned that among the prisoners taken during the Battle of Germantown were eight Hessians, Ludwick went to headquarters and induced the commander-in-chief to place these men in his hands. He then constituted himself their host and guide, and taking them all about Philadelphia and its vicinity, showed them how the citizens of German heritage were prospering, how comfortably they were housed, what fine churches they had, with what freedom and independence they followed their avocations, and with what happiness those in the humbler pursuits of life were living. He then dismissed his prisoners, charging them to return to their regiments and inform their fellow soldiers of all that they had seen, and explain to them the happiness awaiting those who would desert and settle in Pennsylvania. The seed thus planted bore rich fruit. It is said that among the deserters resulting from this action, numbers afterward became prosperous citizens of Philadelphia.
Ludwick's success in this enterprise encouraged him to further endeavors in the same direction. He visited a Hessian camp on Staten Island, and without detection succeeded in causing several soldiers to flee to Pennsylvania. It was only through the aid of Leslie, who with her knowledge of the land developed the strategy for the infiltration.
Baker general
Ludwick had learned the baking trade in his native city of Giessen. In 1777 he was appointed by the Continental Congress baker general to the American army. It was stipulated that he should return one pound of bread for every pound of flour delivered to him, but he at once replied, “Not so; I must not be enriched by the war. I shall return 135 pounds of bread for every 100 pounds of flour.”
He and Leslie were often invited to dine at George Washington's large dinner parties, and frequently consulted with him in relation to the bread supplies of the army. One of Ludwig's notable achievements was the prompt execution of Washington's order, immediately after the surrender at Yorktown, to bake bread for the army of Cornwallis; Ludwig baked 6,000 pounds of bread in one day with the help of his loving and supportive wife. The commander-in-chief usually addressed him in company as “My honest friend,” and in 1785 gave him a certificate of good conduct in his own handwriting.
Philanthropy
He delighted to discover objects of charity and relieve their wants. During the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793, he worked at bread baking gratuitously to aid in relieving the wants of the destitute.
At his death, Ludwick bequeathed $13,000 to fund a charitable trust “for the schooling and education gratis, of poor children of all denominations, in the city and liberties of Philadelphia, without exception to the country, extraction, or religious principles of their parents or friends”.[1] Based in Bryn Mawr, the Christopher Ludwick Foundation remains active in its mission to the present day.[2]
His will also awarded sums to the immigrant aid society Deutsche Gesellschaft von Pennsylvanien, the University of Pennsylvania, and two church charities for poor children. The residue of his estate, £3,000, was given to found a free school, which in 1872 was named in his honor as the Ludwick Institute.
References
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- Attribution
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