Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt (15 April 1659 – 12 February 1719) was a
Swedish general
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...
, particularly known for his participation in the
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swe ...
.
Biography
He was born on 15 April 1659 in a Swedish
fortified camp near Copenhagen. He attended
Lund University
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion [Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state ...]
,
Wittenberg
Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of ...
and
Uppsala
Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019.
Located north of the ca ...
, he originally pursued a career in the diplomatic arena, but found this occupation quite undesirable. He then became a soldier, served in the
Austrian Army
The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria.
The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 0.74% of nat ...
against the
Turks, and later in the
Dutch Army
The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutc ...
under
William III in
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
. He returned to Sweden in 1697. When the
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swe ...
broke out, he was placed in command of a newly created regiment of
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...
. He was one of the few successful commanders against the Russians in the Baltic region while
King Charles XII was on
campaign in Poland and Saxony. In 1705, Lewenhaupt won the
battle of Gemauerthof and was appointed
Governor of Riga. In 1708, he was ordered to march east with a supply column, to support Charles's primary
invasion
An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing ...
force in Russia. This led to the
battle of Lesnaya
The Battle of Lesnaya (russian: Битва при Лесной, Bitva pri Lesnoy; sv, Slaget vid Lesna; pl, Bitwa pod Leśną) was one of the major battles of the Great Northern War. It took place on between a Russian army of between 26,500 a ...
(1708), in which he was defeated and forced to abandon his supplies. In 1709, after having connected with the King's army, Lewenhaupt was given command of the infantry at the disastrous
battle of Poltava
The Battle of Poltava; russian: Полта́вская би́тва; uk, Полта́вська би́тва (8 July 1709) was the decisive and largest battle of the Great Northern War. A Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter I defeat ...
(1709) and the
surrender at Perevolochna. He was kept a prisoner in Russia, and he lived in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
until his death on 12 February 1719.
Legacy
His memoirs, edited by his son-in-law, were published at
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...
in 1757.
References
1659 births
1719 deaths
People from Copenhagen
Swedish Army generals
Swedish nobility
Swedish people of German descent
Military personnel of Bavaria
Caroleans
Swedish military personnel of the Nine Years' War
Swedish military personnel of the Great Northern War
Battle of Poltava
17th-century Swedish military personnel
Austrian military personnel
{{Sweden-mil-bio-stub