Introduction

* Some sources give his birth date as 1722 rather than 1721. I here use the date given on page 17 of Schnitter (Ed.), Gestalten um Friedrich deer Grossen, Band 2. It is possible that this represents the old style date as used by the British and Germans at this time, in which case the proper new style date would be February 14th, 1722. The reason for this is that in the old style of assigning dates, the Julian calendar was eleven days behind the new style Gregorian calendar. Also, it used to be customary to use March 1st as the beginning of the New Year.

Possibly the most famous cavalry commander of the eighteenth century, Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz was born in the town of Kalkar-am-Niederhein in the Duchy of Cleves, the son of Daniel Florian, Baron von Seydlitz, a captain in the Prussian dragoon regiment of Sonsfeld. His mother was Luise von Tugendreich, descended from the noble family of Ilow, or Ilau. The Seydlitz's were by birth citizens of the country of Mecklenberg-Schwedt, which was then a Swedish possession. Although serving in a Prussian regiment, Seydlitz's father had to return to Sweden for permission when he decided to resign from the service in 1728. He then died suddenly shortly thereafter, when the younger Seydlitz was only seven. Seydlitz and his mother then moved to Freienwaldean-der-Oder, where the youngster attended school. There he learned a bit of French and Latin, although he does not appear to have learned much of the former language, since Frederick the Great was later known always to address him in German. He was brought up in a situation bordering on poverty.

At the age of fourteen, Seydlitz went to the court of the "Mad Markgraf" Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg-Schwedt, where he assumed the duties of a page. The Markgraf, who was a nephew of Frederick I of Prussia as well as the nephew of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau on his mother's side, had been his father's colonel, a fact which no doubt helped him to acquire this important post. He was also known for his high spirits whose examples of recklessness and wild living were not lost on the impressionable youth, himself already having a natural penchant for feeling his oats. It was under this mercurial Markgraf that Seydlitz acquired his love of horsemanship, tobacco, alcohol, and women.

The Markgraf was unstinting in the challenges with which he presented Seydlitz. Not only did he give the young trainee unbroken horses to mount and break; he even made him ride the wild stags in his deer park. Needless to say, under such tutelage Seydlitz soon acquired an expertise in the various aspects of horsemanship. One of his most renowned feats was his ability to ride at full gallop between the sails of a windmill, as they were turning at high speed in a stiff wind. This may indicate an early manifestation of his later celebrated coup d'oeil, or ability to size up situations and gauge distances and speeds at a glance. Unfortunately for Seydlitz, he also acquired from his mentor an inclination for sensual delights that was to prove detrimental to his health in later years.

Age 17

At the age of seventeen Seydlitz was named cornet in the Markgraf of Brandenburg-Schwedt's regiment of cuirassiers under the command of Colonel von Rochow. Unfortunately, Rochow and Seydlitz did not get along well, with Rochow harboring the belief that Seydlitz had been sent to spy on him. Seydlitz, however, would soon have bigger fish to fry, as he went on his first campaign at the age of twenty. The war in which he was about to serve was the War of the Austrian Succession occasioned by the death of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI, without male issue. His daughter, Maria Theresa of Austria, a Habsburg, had been presumed to be the agent of the Imperial succession by dint of the "Pragmatic Sanction," a document promulgated decades earlier stipulating that whosoever was Maria Theresa's husband would be the next Holy Roman Emperor.

This was an effort on the part of Charles VI to keep the crown in the family, so to speak, since the Habsburgs had been the Holy Roman Emperors for centuries. In the event, the document, to which most of the major powers of Europe had been signatories, proved to be of little practical value, as Charles Emmanuel of Bavaria was soon vetted as the new Emperor by the Bourbons, long traditional enemies of the Habsburgs. To add insult to injury, the new upstart king of Prussia, Frederick II, had also used Charles' death as a pretext for invading and annexing the Austrian province of Silesia in 1740, thus, in effect, firing the first shots of a war that was to last until 1748.

Seydlitz was serving as a subaltern in the Prussian army during the First Silesian War, as the first part of the War of the Austrian Succession was known in Prussia, when he first came to the attention of Frederick the Great. While serving as orderly officer during a skirmish with the Austrians, he overheard Frederick ask what was the caliber of an Austrian gun that was firing on the Prussian flank. Seydlitz impetuously rode toward the battery and, observing where the shot struck the ground, picked one up, wrapped it in his handkerchief, and presented it to the King.

Baptism of Fire

In April of 1742, Frederick the Great had withdrawn his army from Moravia into Bohemia. The Hungarian hussars did their best to take advantage of this movement by harassing the Prussians at every opportunity. The young Seydlitz received his first baptism of fire in Silesia on the 20th of May 1742, in a skirmish at Kranowitz in the proximity of Ratibor. Rochow's cuirassiers held the town of Kranowitz, where he had strongly fortified his position. Informed of the approach of some 6,000 Hungarian irregulars, Rochow decided to send Seydlitz with a small force to occupy a village in front of Kranowitz. Seydlitz was given a force of only thirty men to hold the village until relieved by some infantry that was earmarked to come to his assistance. Seydlitz initially protested this assignment citing his youth and inexperience, but then yielded, stating that he would do his duty and fight to the last extremity. Accordingly, he rode forth with his forlorn hope, arrived at the village, and had his men dismount and throw up barricades on all approaches. Then he hunkered down with his men and waited.

In due time, the enemy irregulars approached the town. They were in turn met with a flurry of Prussian small arms fire as each cuirassier fired away with his carbine at any inviting target. As the enemy force increased in size, Seydlitz's position began to be outflanked and was in serious danger of being surrounded. Nevertheless, he and his men remained at their posts, fighting away in anticipation of eventual succor from the infantry. The Prussian commanding general bestirred himself to come to Seydlitz's aid with three squadrons of heavy cavalry only to be attacked himself by some 3,000 irregulars as he attempted to cross a bridge. Forced to retreat, he was unable to rescue Seydlitz and his men.

With many of his people killed or wounded, Seydlitz was forced to come to terms with the enemy and surrender under conditions that were honorable to his men. A few companies of Prussian infantry were belatedly sent to Seydlitz's assistance, but they arrived too late to be of any use. Seydlitz himself was held briefly in the fortress of Raab. When Frederick was told of Seydlitz's capture, he is said to have declared that he would gladly exchange an Austrian captain for his gallant cornet. This was agreed to and the exchange occurred by the 11th of June of the same year.

Upon his exchange, Seydlitz was promoted to the rank of captain in Natzmer's White Hussars (Hussar Regiment #4). There are two different accounts as to how this happened. The more likely one states that upon his return, he was summoned to give a full and detailed report to the King as to the circumstances of his capture. Confirmed in his favorable impression of Seydlitz, Frederick then promoted him to captain of hussars. A more picturesque tale states that, while returning from a review in 1743 and recounting his tale of captivity to the members of the King's suite, Seydlitz blamed the fact that he was forced to fight dismounted for his capture and declared that no mounted cavalryman whose horse was fresh should ever have to surrender. Frederick, on overhearing this statement, is said to have waited until the party approached the drawbridge over the river Spree.

Ordering the bridge to be raised, Frederick reached out his hand and grabbed hold of Seydlitz, jovially shouting to all within earshot, "See, he has his horse, but he is my prisoner for all that!" Seydlitz jumped his horse over the rails of the bridge and into the river, where he swam his horse safely to the other side. In recognition of this stunt, the King is said to have promoted him to captain. One biographer, Blankenburg, is quoted as having written, "He rode into the Spree a cornet, but swam to the shore a captain." (Lawley, General Seydlitz, page 13.)

We leave it to the judgment of the reader to decide which tale is the true one.

The First Silesian War was ended by the Peace of Breslau of October 22nd 1744, recognizing Frederick's ownership of Silesia. Maria Theresa of Austria had agreed to the peace out of desperation so that she could dispose of Austria's other enemies, the Spanish, French, and Bavarians. During this brief interlude, Seydlitz went with his regiment to winter quarters in the city of Trebnitz.

Second Silesian War

The peace did not last long; before the year was out, Frederick had once more thrown his hat into the ring, and the Second Silesian War commenced. The White Hussars, under Lieutenant Colonel Schutz, formed the vanguard of a force under Lieutenant General Nassau.

Schutz had made a name for himself in the art of partisan warfare and he also seems to have shared many of the barbaric traits that came to be attached to the irregulars during this time. He had a tendency to force Silesian peasants, who were now Prussian subjects, to act as guides, and, when they were of no further use, he would kill them lest they be spies. Needless to say, this sort of behavior is not inclined to win many friends, and Seydlitz intervened on behalf of the hapless civilians on many occasions. He did it in a diplomatic fashion, however, so as not to incur the wrath of his high-strung commander. Fortunately, Schutz lost his life in the following campaign, sparing the emotions of many a would-be widow or orphan.

Seydlitz met with his first major military setback on May 22' , 1745, near the town of Landshut. The Austrians, who had been falling back before the Prussian cavalry, had occupied the town of Reich-Hennersdorf. Colonel Soldau commanded the first line of Prussians, and the White Hussars were in the second line. Impetuously, the White Hussars made their way through the intervals of the first line and proceeded to attack the Austrians. They met with initial success in dislodging the Austrians and were preparing to renew the attack against ten additional enemy squadrons when Soldau sounded the recall. At this time, according to the instructions for the Prussian cavalry, disordered troops were to reform with their backs to the enemy. (One is here inclined to pause and wonder: what were they thinking?)

As Seydlitz's troopers fell back, they became disordered and reformed as described, facing the rear. The Austrian hussars in turn pursued them and hit Seydlitz's men from behind to the great advantage of the Austrians and extreme prejudice of the Prussians. At the suggestion of Seydlitz, a general order was promulgated the following year mandating that henceforth, disordered cavalry were to reform facing the front. (Duffy, The Army of Frederick the Great, page 108.)

Seydlitz's reputation emerged unscathed from this incident, mainly due to his bravery, not a little helped by his good standing with General Winterfeldt, one of Frederick's close friends and advisors.

Seydlitz's next exploit was at the battle of Hohenfriedberg, June 4th, 1745. Here he fought on the right wing of the Prussian army and was fortunate to capture personally the Saxon General von Schlichting. On the heels of this victory, Seydlitz was promoted to the rank of major at the tender age of twentyfour.

Seydlitz led his White Hussars again at the battle of Soor, September 30th, 1745. Here he received his first wound, being struck in the left arm by a ball from a carbine. Fortunately, it wasn't dangerous, and Seydlitz continued to participate in the rest of the campaign. Later in the year, Seydlitz and Warnery surprised the Austrian rear guard under Count von Burghausen near Zittau and routed them. With the signing of the Peace of Dresden, after the Prussian victory of Kesselsdorf, the Second Silesian War had ended and Seydlitz again returned to quarters at Trebnitz.

The peacetime years were spent drilling and perfecting the Prussian cavalry, which, rather poor at the beginning of the War of the Austrian Succession, had improved continually, and, by the end of the Second Silesian War, were the equal of the Austrian horse. Seydlitz also used the end of hostilities to attain further conquests, this time of an amorous nature. It was at this time in his life, if not before, that he contracted a social disease that was to hamper his health in later years. It was said that he acquired syphilis in Silesia from the "...society of a lady of high birth but low conduct." (Ibid, page 46.)

Lt. Colonel and Colonel

In the fall of 1752, Seydlitz was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the White Hussars, but he only held this rank for a brief period of time before Frederick chose him to be the new commander of the dragoon regiment of Prince Friedrich von Wurttemberg (Dragoon Regiment #2). Dissatisfied with that regiment's performance, Fritz decided that Seydlitz was just the man to shake them into a well-disciplined unit. Seydlitz's term, however, was to prove again short, as he was next transferred to the cuirassier regiment of Rochow (Cuirassier Regiment #8) in early 1753. His service with the three branches of the cavalry was to serve him well, as he was given the opportunity to learn the duties and drill of all three types of mounted troops. In the summer of 1755, he was promoted to the full rank of colonel.

Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Seydlitz (February 3, 1721 - November 3, 1773)

Introduction
1756 and 1757
1758 and 1759
1760, 1761, and 1762
Post War

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