Friedrich Wilhelm Rüstow

Friedrich Wilhelm Rüstow (25 May 1821 – 14 August 1878) was a Prussian-born Swiss soldier and military writer.

Rüstow was born in Brandenburg an der Havel in the Province of Brandenburg. He entered the Prussian Army and served for some years, until the publication of "Der deutsche Militärstaat vor und während der Revolution" (Zürich, 1850). He was sentenced by a court-martial to a long term of fortress imprisonment, but succeeded in escaping to Switzerland, where he obtained a military posting. By 1857 he was a major on the engineer staff.

Three years later Rüstow accompanied Giuseppe Garibaldi in the famous expedition against the Two Sicilies as colonel and chief of the staff, and to him must be ascribed the victories of Capua (September 10, 1860) and Volturno (October 1, 1860). At the end of the campaign he settled down in Zürich. At the outbreak of the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, he offered his services to Prussia, but was rejected. In 1878, on the foundation of a military professorship at Zürich, Rüstow applied for the post, and, on its being given to another officer, lost heart and committed suicide at Aussersihl near Zürich.

Two of Rüstow's younger brothers were distinguished Prussian soldiers, Alexander Rüstow and Caesar Rüstow. He was also the great-uncle of the sociologist Alexander Rüstow.

Works

Amongst Rüstow's works, which covered nearly every branch of the military art, a large number must be mentioned.

Historical

*"Heerwesen und Kriegführung Julius Casars" (Gotha, 1855; 2nd ed., Nordhausen, 1862)
*"Kommentar zu Napoleon III's Geschichte Julius Cäsars" (Stuttgart, 1865-67)
*"Geschichte des griechischen Kriegswesens" (in collaboration with Hermann August Theodor Köchly, Aarau, 1852)
*"Militar. Biographen (David, Xenophon, Montluc)" (Zürich, 1858)
*"Geschichte der Infanterie" (Gotha, 1857-58; 3rd ed., 1884)
*"Die Ersten Feldzuge Napoleons" 1796-1797 (Zürich, 1867)
*"Der Krieg von 1805 in Deutschland und Italien" (Frauenfeld, 1854)
*"Geschichte des Ungarischen Irisurrektionkrieges 1848-49" (Zürich, 1860)
*reminiscences of 1860 in Italy (Leipzig, 1861)
*monograph on the campaigns of 1848-49 in Italy (Zürich, 1849)
*monograph on the Crimean War (Zürich, 1855-56).

Critical and general

*"Allgemeine Taktik" (Zürich, 1858; 2nd ed., 1868)
*"Kriegspolitik und Kriegsgebrauch" (Zürich, 1876)
*"Militar-Handworterbuch" (Zürich, 1859)
*"Die Feldherrenkunst des 19. Jahrhunderts" (Zürich, 1857; 3rd ed., 1878-79)
*"Der Krieg und seine Mittel" (Leipzig, 1856).He also wrote "Annalen des Königreichs Italien" (Zürich, 1862-63). See Zernim, "F. W. Rüstow," in "Unsere Zeit." vol. 2 (Leipzig, 1882).

References

*1911