Ulrich Friedrich Woldemar von Löwendal


Ulrich Friedrich Woldemar von Löwendal
Ulrich Friedrich Woldemar de Lowendal
Born(1700-04-01)1 April 1700
Free Imperial City of Hamburg
Died27 May 1755(1755-05-27) (aged 55)
Paris, France
Allegiance
Service / branchFrench Army
Years of service1707–1755
RankMarshal of France
Battles / wars

Ulrich Friedrich Woldemar Graf[1] von Löwendal (Russian: Ульрих Фридрих Вольдемар граф фон Левендаль, tr. Ulrikh Fridrikh Vol'demar Graf fon Levendal'; 1700–1755) was a German officer and statesman.

Life

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Graf von Löwendal served first under German Emperor Charles VI in the Imperial Army. He joined the Danish Army for a short time, then he returned to the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire. Later he served Augustus II the Strong, who made him Feldmarschall and Generalinspektor of the Saxon Infantry. 1734 to 1735 he commanded the troops of Saxony at the Rhine. Later, like so many Germans, he served in the Imperial Russian Army, fighting the Turks 1739 by Khotyn.

From 1740 until 1743 he was Generalgouverneur of Estonia. 1741 Augustus III, who was Reichsvikar, granted him the title of "Reichsgraf".

French Army

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From 1744 to 1755 he served in the French army. Born in Hamburg, he served in the armies of several countries, and from 1740 to 1743 acted as Governor-General of the Ostsee governorates of the Russian Empire. But he is best known for his service in the French army during the War of the Austrian Succession. In the French campaign in the Austrian Netherlands against the Pragmatic Army he served as a subordinate to Maurice de Saxe. He led French forces that captured Ghent in 1745[2] and Bergen-op-Zoom in 1747.[3] The King of France, Louis XV, made him a Marshal of France for his success in capturing Bergen op Zoom.

In 1755 Louis XV gave Lowendal instructions to act as a Plenipotentiary in negotiations with Prussia, designed to prevent the Seven Years' War from breaking out. However Lowendal died before he could carry out his orders and was replaced by Louis Jules Mancini Mazarini, Duc de Nivernais.[4]

Death

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Marshall Ulrich Friedrich Woldemar Graf von Löwendal died on 27 May 1755 in Paris. He had been married twice (first since 23 January 1722 to Theodora Eugenia von Schmettau, daughter of German General Gottlieb von Schmettau; since 13. November 1736 to Barbe Madeleine Gräfin von Szembek) and was father of eight children.

References

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  1. ^ Regarding personal names: Until 1919, Graf was a title, translated as 'Count', not a first or middle name. The female form is Gräfin. In Germany, it has formed part of family names since 1919.
  2. ^ Browning p.219
  3. ^ Browning p.319-21
  4. ^ Dull p.42

Bibliography

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  • Browning, Reed. The War of the Austrian Succession. Alan Sutton, 1994.
  • Dull, Jonathan R. The French Navy and the Seven Years' War. University of Nebraska, 2005.
  • Lodge, Sir Richard. Studies in Eighteenth Century diplomacy 1740–48. John Murray, 1930.
  • Boucher, Jean-Jacques. Le comte de Lowendal, Ulrich-Frédéric Woldemar, Maréchal de France, 1700-1755. Éditions Lanore, 2012