- Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff
Friedrich Heinrich Reichsgraf von Seckendorff (
5 July 1673 –23 November 1763 ) was aAustria field marshal anddiplomat in the service of the imperialHabsburg monarchy ofAustria .Family
Seckendorff was born in Königsberg,
Bavaria , into theSeckendorff family of nobility. His father was an official ofSaxe-Gotha and his nephew wasVeit Ludwig von Seckendorff . He studiedlaw in Jena, Leipzig, and Leyden.Early military career
In 1693 Seckendorff served in the allied army commanded by
William III of England , and in 1694 became acornet 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. He served underPrince Eugene of Savoy in theGreat Turkish War .In 1699 Seckendorff married and returned to Ansbach as a court officer, but the outbreak of the
War of the Spanish Succession called him into the field again as lieutenant-colonel of an Ansbach regiment, which was taken into the Dutch service. During theWar of the Spanish Succession , Seckendorff led Ansbach's regiment and, at the head of hisdragoon s, conquered 16standard s in theBattle of Blenheim . Promoted to "Oberst ", Seckendorff participated in the battles of Ramillies and Oudenaarde and the siege of Lille.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 inFlanders , fighting in the siege of Tournai and thebattle of Malplaquet . As the Polish envoy tothe Hague , he participated in the negotiations of the 1713Treaty of Utrecht ; in the same year he suppressed an insurrection in Poland. As a lieutenant general, Seckendorff commanded Saxon troops in the 1715 siege of Stralsund against KingCharles XII of Sweden .Seckendorff reentered imperial service as a "Feldmarschallleutnant" in 1717. Under the command of Eugene of Savoy, Seckendorff led two Ansbach regiments against the
Ottoman Turks atBelgrade . In 1718 he successfully fought againstSpain inSicily . Granted the title of "Reichsgraf " in 1719, Seckendorff was named "Feldzeugmeister" two years later.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 KingFrederick 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 influentialJoachim Ernst von Grumbkow , with an Austrian pension. [Ritter, p. 34] In order to avoid a potential marriage between Crown Prince Frederick and a princess of theHouse of Hanover that would have allied Prussia and Great Britain, Seckendorff manipulated Frederick William and his son so that the crown prince instead marriedElizabeth 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 theDutch Republic .Later military career
In 1734 Seckendorff returned to the imperial army and became Governor of
Mainz . As imperial general of cavalry during theWar of the Polish Succession , he led 30,000 troops against the French on20 October 1735 . In 1737 Emperor Charles VI made Seckendorf commander-in-chief and "Feldmarschall" 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 theSave River. His numerous enemies inVienna brought about his recall, trial and imprisonment atGraz as punishment for the unsuccessful war.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 Bavarian emperor, Charles VII, the rank of field marshal in the Bavarian service. As commander of the Bavarian army, Seckendorff relieved
Munich in theWar of the Austrian Succession and, by a series of battles in 1743 and 1744, forced the Austrians back intoBohemia , after which he resigned.Following the death of Charles VII, Seckendorff negotiated a reconciliation between Austria and Bavaria in the
Treaty of Füssen on22 April 1745 . Emperor Francis I reaffirmed all of Seckendorff's honors, and the diplomat retired to his estate atMeuselwitz inThuringia . In 1757 the death of his wife, for whom, harsh and unamiable as he was, he had a deep and abiding affection, broke down his already failing health. Frederick the Great directed Prussianhussar s to abduct Seckendorff from Meuselwitz in December 1758 during theSeven Years' War . After spending half a year in detention inMagdeburg , he was exchanged forMoritz 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 diplomant 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". [MacDonogh, p. 45]
Notes
References
*cite book|last=MacDonogh|first=Giles|title=Frederick the Great: A Life in Deed and Letters|year=2001|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|location=New York|pages=436|isbn=0-312-27266-9
*cite book|last=Ritter|first=Gerhard|authorlink=Gerhard Ritter|title=Frederick the Great: A Historical Profile|year=1974|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|pages=207|isbn=0-520-02775-2
*Würzbach's "Biogr. Lexikon", pt. 33, "Versuch einer Lebensr beschreibung des F. M. Seckendorf" (Leipzig, 1792-1794); Seelander, "Graf Seckendorf und der Friede v. Passau" (Gotha, 1883); Carlyle, "Frederick the Great", vols. i.-v. passim; and memoir in "Allgemeine deutsche Biographie".
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.