Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff

Friedrich Heinrich Reichsgraf von Seckendorff[1] (5 July 1673 – 23 November 1763, aged 90) was a Franconian field marshal and diplomat, in the service of the imperial Habsburg monarchy of Austria. Later he served as commander of the Bavarian army and fought Austria.

Family

Seckendorff was born in

Leyden
.

Early military career

In 1693, Seckendorff served in the allied army commanded by William III of England, and in 1694 became a cornet in a Gotha cavalry regiment in Austrian pay. Leaving the cavalry, he became an infantry officer in the service of Venice, and in 1697 in that of the Margrave of Ansbach, who in 1698 transferred the regiment in which Seckendorff was serving to the Imperial army.[2] He served under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Great Turkish War.

In 1699, Seckendorff married and returned to Ansbach as a court officer, but the outbreak of the

siege of Ryssel.[2]

Disappointed with his lack of promotion in the Netherlands and Austria, Seckendorff entered the service of King

Augustus II of Poland as a Generalmajor and commanded the king's auxiliary Saxon troops in Flanders, fighting in the siege of Tournai and the battle of Malplaquet
. As the

Seckendorff reentered imperial service as a Feldmarschallleutnant in 1717. Under the command of Eugene of Savoy, Seckendorff led two Ansbach regiments against the

Reichsgraf in 1719, Seckendorff was named Feldzeugmeister two years later.[2]

Diplomacy

In 1726, at the instance of Eugene of Savoy, Seckendorff became the imperial ambassador at the Prussian court in Berlin. He gained the trust of King Frederick William I of Prussia; king and diplomat had fought alongside one another in the War of the Spanish Succession. Seckendorff also bribed the minister of state, the influential Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow, with an Austrian pension.[3] In order to avoid a potential marriage between Crown Prince

Elizabeth Christina of Brunswick-Bevern
, a marriage more favorable to Austria.

Seckendorff's diplomatic skill also led to recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction by the courts of numerous German principalities, Denmark, and the Dutch Republic.

Later military career

Seckendorff memorial at the castle of Königsberg.

In 1734, Seckendorff returned to the imperial army and became Governor of Mainz. As imperial general of cavalry during the War of the Polish Succession, he led 30,000 troops against the French at Clausen on 20 October 1735. In 1737, Emperor Charles VI made Seckendorff commander-in-chief in Hungary, at the same time giving him the baton of Feldmarschall. Although initially successful in the Austrian-Russian

campaign against the Ottomans, he was eventually forced to retreat across the Save
River. His numerous enemies in Vienna brought about his recall, trial and imprisonment at Graz as punishment for the unsuccessful war.[2]

Empress

Maria Theresa released Seckendorff from prison in 1740, but, denied his arrears of pay, he laid down all his Austrian and imperial offices and accepted from the new Holy Roman emperor, Bavarian Charles VII, the rank of field marshal in the Bavarian service. As commander of the Bavarian army, Seckendorff relieved Munich in the War of the Austrian Succession and, by a series of battles in 1743 and 1744, forced the Austrians back into Bohemia
, after which he resigned.

Following the death of Charles VII, Seckendorff negotiated a reconciliation between Austria and Bavaria in the

Moritz of Anhalt-Dessau, who had been captured by Austrians at Hochkirch
. Returning to Meuselwitz, Seckendorff died at his estate in 1763.

Quotes

Frederick the Great despised Seckendorff, resenting the military diplomat for gaining the trust of Frederick William I and his involvement in the Prussian wedding plans. Regarding Seckendorff, Frederick wrote, "He was sordidly scheming; his manners were crude and rustic; lying had become so much second nature to him that he had lost the use of the truth. He was a usurer who sometimes appeared in the guise of a soldier, and sometimes in that of a diplomat".[4]

Notes

  1. Reichsgraf was a title before 1919, but now is regarded as part of the surname. It is translated as Count of the Empire. Before the August 1919 abolition of nobility as a legal class, titles preceded the full name when given (Graf Helmuth James von Moltke). Since 1919, these titles, along with any nobiliary prefix (von, zu, etc.), can be used, but are regarded as a dependent part of the surname, and thus come after any given names (Helmuth James Graf von Moltke). Titles and all dependent parts of surnames are ignored in alphabetical sorting. The feminine form is Reichsgräfin. Titles using the prefix Reichs- were those created before the fall of the Holy Roman Empire
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e Chisholm 1911.
  3. ^ Ritter, p. 34
  4. ^ MacDonogh, p. 45

Attribution:

  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Seckendorf, Friedrich Heinrich, Count von". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 569.

References

External links