Christian Graf von Forbach, then Christian Marquis de Deux-PontsDeux ponts: French for two bridges, means zwei Brücken in German. and later Christian Freiherr von Zweibrückenalso findable under Christian von Zweybrücken (20 November 1752 – 25 October 1817) was an officer of the French Army and later a general of the Royal Prussian and then of the Bavarian Army, at last in the rank of General der Infanterie.Zweibrücken (German), Pierer's Universal-Lexikon. He should not be confused with his nephew Christian Freiherr von Zweibrücken (aka Christian Graf von Forbach, 1782–1859), who was a Bavarian General of Cavalry (General der Kavallerie).Eberhard Weis: Montgelas: Der Architekt des modernen Bayerischen Staates 1799- 1838 (German), 2005, pp. 470-473.

Early life and ancestry Christian von Zweibrücken was the first of six children of Christian IV Herzog von Pfalz-Zweibrücken and Maria Johanna Camasse, Gräfin von Forbach (1734–1807). He was born in Zweibrücken. The children were unable to succeed to their father's Duchy due to the morganatic nature of their parents' marriage. The Duchy of Zweibrücken was inherited by Christian IV's nephews (Christian's first cousins), Charles August and Maximilian Joseph.

From his birth to about the American Revolution, Christian used the name Christian Gräf von Forbach. From about 1776 until the French Revolution, and while serving in the French Army, he used the name Christian, comte des Deux Ponts and was later elevated to marquis des Deux Ponts. Fleeing France for Germany during the Revolution, he was granted permission to use Christian Freiherr von Zweibrücken from 1792 forward.

Biography Due to a former business agreement from March 1751 between Louis XV of France and Christian's father, who promised to the French king to raise a battalion of infantry for France when and if needed,France and Great Britain on the Eve of American Independence - The officer corps . the Infantry Regiment "Royal Deux-Ponts" (raised on 19, 1757) of two battalions to the French crown after the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, when it was at first deployed in the Battle of Rossbach.

During the American Revolutionary War, Christian commanded the French Infantry Regiment "Royal Deux-Ponts" as Colonel-titulaire, and his brother Philippe Guillaume (later renamed to Wilhelm) was Colonel-en-second and deputy commander as part of De Rochambeau's expedition. The regiment served in the Battle of Yorktown, also called the "German Battle", on October 4, 1781.Royal Deux-Ponts Infanterie durant la Guerre d'Indépendance (French). In 1783 he married Adélaïde-Françoise de Béthune-Pologne (1761–1823). The couple had three daughters. The first of them Maria Amalia Charlotte Auguste died in her year of birth 1784. The others were Maria Amalia Charlotte Franziska Auguste Eleonore (1786–1839) and Kasimira Maria Louise Antoinette (1787–1846).Christian, Graf, Marquis de Deux-Ponts, Geneanet.

During the French Revolution, he left the French forces at the rank of a Maréchal de Camp (Major General). Titled Freiherr von Zweibrücken, he served in the Prussian Army in the rank of General-Major, where he took part in the campaigns against France during 1794 and 1797.

With the rise of his first cousin, Maximilian Joseph as Prince Elector of Bavaria, 1799, Christian served in the Bavarian Army, where he became General-Leutnant and provincial commander of the Palatinate region. In spring of 1800 he became commander of a division, merged from the brigades of Von Deroy and von Wrede, and fought under the Austrian Feldzeugmeister Kray and under Archduke John of Austria against France for the British crown.

In 1808 he became Geheimer Rat (), and in January 1811 he was promoted to the rank of General der Infanterie. Obviously Von Zweibrücken had also plans to replace von Montgelas by his son-in-law Graf Karl Ernst von Gravenreuth (1771–1826), who was married to his daughter Kasimira. He died in Munich, where he and his brother Wilhelm are buried in the Old Southern Cemetery.Mößlang: Gedenkplatte bei den Arkaden an der Außenmauer des Alten Südlichen Friedhofs. (German).

In the European Rose Garden in Zweibrücken a memorial remembers him and his brother.Preliminary Survey of Sites Associated with the Lives and Deeds of Foreign-born Heroes of the American Revolution , p. 42.

Military Service : Sous Lieutenant, Infantry Régiment Royal-Deux-Ponts, 28 April 1768Sauer, Karl Theodor. Die Namespatrone der Ingolstädter Festungswere (in German), Ganghoper Press, 1888, p. 29. Capitaine-en-second, Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment, 16 April 1771 Lieutenant Colonel, Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment, 3 July 1772Etat Militaire de France Pour l’Année 1776 (in French), p. 300 Colonel-titulaire (Colonel, commanding in the field), Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment, 1776Etat Militaire de France Pour l’Année 1777 (in French), p. 295 Served in the American Revolution in the Comte de Rochambeau's Expédition Particulière and was present at Yorktown, 1781 Mestre-de-Camp-commandant (Colonel, commanding), Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment, 1783Etat Militaire de France Pour l’Année 1783 (in French), p. 318 Brigadier, 1 January 1784Etat Militaire de France Pour l’Année 1785 (in French), p. 90 Maréchal-de-Camp (Major General), 9 March 1788Etat Militaire de France Pour l’Année 1789 (in French), p. 77

: General-Major, Prussian Army, ca. 1791Hundbuch über den Königliche Preussischen Hof und Staat für das Jahr 1798 (in German), p. 26

: General-Leutnant, Bavarian Army, 20 June 1799 General der Infanterie, 1811Hof und Staats Handbuch des Königliches Bayern 1812 (in German), p. 26

Orders and Awards : Kurpfalz-Bavarian Military Honour Award ( Militär-Ehrenzeichen, predecessor of the Military Order of Max Joseph), 24 March 1801 Military Order of Max Joseph, Grand Cross, 1 March 1806

: Military Order of Saint-Louis, Knight (chevalier), 1783

Order of the Red Eagle, Knight (Ritter, when it was a single class order), 6 June 1796

: Society of the Cincinnati, Member, 1783

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