Karl August, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

Karl August Friedrich of Waldeck and Pyrmont (September 24 1704 - August 29 1763), was Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Commander of the Dutch forces in the War of Austrian Succession.

He was the second son of Friedrich Anton Ulrich of Waldeck-Pyrmont and Louise of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld.
In 1728 his father and his elder brother Christian Philip died, and so he became Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont .

The Waldecks had a tradition of military service in the Dutch Army.
Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck had already led the Dutch army in the War of the Grand Alliance.

In the War of Austrian Succession, he was appointed as commander of the Dutch Army by the States-General of the Netherlands, as counterbalance to William IV, Prince of Orange, who relied completely on his brother-in-law the Duke of Cumberland.

The Dutch army under Waldeck's command was defeated in the Battle of Fontenoy, the Battle of Rocoux and the Battle of Lauffeld.

in 1746 he became Fieldmarshal of the Holy Empire.

Marriage and children

Karl August married in Zweibrücken, on August 19 1741, with Countess Christiane Henriette of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (1725-1816), daughter of Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, and had seven children :

*Charles (1742-1756)
*Friedrich Karl August, (1743-1812), Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont
*Christian (1744-1798), a Field Marshal in the Portuguese army
*George (1747-1813), Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, married Princess Augusta of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
*Caroline (1748-1782), married Peter von Biron, last Duke of Courland and Semigallia
*Louise (1751-1816), married Prince Federick August of Nassau-Usingen
*Louis (1752-1793), killed in action near Kortrijk

References

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* [http://genealogy.euweb.cz/waldeck/waldeck4.html Genealogy Euweb]