Melchior Graf von Gleichen und Hatzfeldt (

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish ...

, 20 October 1593 – Powitzko, 9 January 1658) was an Imperial Field Marshal. He fought in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

first under

Albrecht von Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...

and

Matthias Gallas Matthias Gallas, Graf von Campo und Herzog von Lucera (Count of Campo, Duke of Lucera) (Matteo Gallasso; 17 October 1588 in Trento – 25 April 1647 in Vienna) was an Austrian professional soldier during the Thirty Years' War. He distinguished hi ...

, then received an independent command in Westphalia. Usually successful with a smaller corps on this secondary front and victorious at

Vlotho Vlotho () is a town in the district of Herford, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Vlotho is located along the Weser river, south of the Wiehengebirge, bordering on the Ravensberger Hügelland in the west, Lipperland in the south, an ...

and

Dorsten Dorsten (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Dössen'') is a town in the district of Recklinghausen (district), Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and has a population of about 75,000. Dorsten is situated on the western rim of ...

, he lost at

Wittstock Wittstock/Dosse is a town in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district, in north-western Brandenburg, Germany. Geography It is located in the eastern Prignitz region on the Dosse River near the confluence with its Glinze tributary, about east of Pritzwal ...

and Jankau in his brief intermezzos as commander of major armies.

Biography

He was the second of five sons of Sebastian von Hatzfeldt and Lucie von Sickingen. His younger brother was

Franz von Hatzfeldt Franz von Hatzfeld (13 September 1596 – 30 July 1642) was the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg from 1631 to 1642 and the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg from 1633 to 1642. Franz von Hatzfeld was born in Crottorf, near Friesenhagen, on 13 September ...

, Prince-Bishop of Würzburg. Designated for an ecclesiastical career, Melchior visited the Jesuit

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. History ...

and studied at different universities in Germany and France. However at the outbreak of the

he became a soldier and entered the Imperial Army. First serving under the Protestant commanders

Julius Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg Julius Henry (9 April 1586 – 20 November 1665) was duke of Saxe-Lauenburg between 1656 and 1665. Before ascending to the throne he served as Field Marshal in the imperial army. Life Before regency Born at Wolfenbüttel, he was a son of Duke ...

and Adolf of Holstein-Gottorf, he participated at the victory of

Stadtlohn The city of Stadtlohn ( nds, Stadlaun), which has 20,746 inhabitants (Dec. 2020),
Stadt Stadtlohn, accessed ...

in 1623. Entering

Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...

's army in 1625, he became Lieutenant Colonel in the regiment of Franz Albrecht of Saxe-Lauenburg and subsequently fought in Lower Saxony, Hungary, Denmark and Mantua. After the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631, he rapidly advanced through the ranks; he obtained his own regiment and became Colonel in 1632, then was promoted to

Feldmarschalleutnant Lieutenant field marshal, also frequently historically field marshal lieutenant (german: Feldmarschall-Leutnant, formerly , historically also and, in official Imperial and Royal Austrian army documents from 1867 always , abbreviated ''FML''), was ...

in 1633. After the murder of Wallenstein in February 1634, he entered the service of

. For his contribution to the capture of

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...

in 1635, he was promoted to Field Marshal. Following the Peace of Prague in the same year, he supported the Saxon Elector John George I with an Imperial corps against the Swedes. After he captured

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

from them, he suffered a defeat in the

Battle of Wittstock The Battle of Wittstock took place during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). It was fought on 24 September (Julian calendar) or 4 October (Gregorian calendar) 1636. A Swedish-allied army commanded jointly by Johan Banér and Alexander Leslie ...

against the Swedish forces under

Johan Banér Johan Banér (23 June 1596 – 10 May 1641) was a Swedish field marshal in the Thirty Years' War. Early life Johan Banér was born at Djursholm Castle in Uppland. As a four-year-old he was forced to witness how his father, the Privy Councillou ...

and

Alexander Leslie Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven (15804 April 1661) was a Scottish soldier in Swedish and Scottish service. Born illegitimate and raised as a foster child, he subsequently advanced to the rank of a Swedish Field Marshal, and in Scotland be ...

on 4 October 1636. More successful on the Westphalian theatre of the war, he was victorious in the

Battle of Vlotho The Battle of Vlotho was fought on 17 October 1638. It was a victory for the Imperial Army under the command of Field Marshal Melchior von Hatzfeldt, and ended the attempt by Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine, to recapture the Electoral Palatinat ...

in 1638 and again at the

Siege of Dorsten In the siege of Dorsten (german: Belagerung von Dorsten), an Imperial force under Melchior von Hatzfeldt besieged the Hessian garrison in the town of Dorsten from 16 July 1641 to 19 September 1641 during the Thirty Years' War. The garrison ca ...

in 1641. In 1643, he aided the Bavarians under

Franz von Mercy Franz Freiherr von Mercy (or Merci), Lord of Mandre and Collenburg (c. 1597 – 3 August 1645), was a German field marshal in the Thirty Years' War who fought for the Imperial side and was commander-in-chief of the Bavarian army from 1643 to 164 ...

in their successful attack on the French army in their winter quarters at

Tuttlingen Tuttlingen (Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia eas ...

. On 6 March 1645 Hatzfeldt was taken prisoner by the Swedes during the

Battle of Jankau The Battle of Jankau, also known as Jankov, Jankow, or Jankowitz, took place in central Bohemia, on 6 March 1645. One of the last major battles of the 1618 to 1648 Thirty Years' War, it was fought between Swedish and Imperial armies, each contai ...

, but released shortly after. He retired in 1646, but was recalled to service in 1657 as

Generalfeldmarschall ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; en, general field marshal, field marshal general, or field marshal; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several ...

, to support the King of Poland at the head of an army of 16,000 men against

Charles X Gustav of Sweden Charles X Gustav, also Carl Gustav ( sv, Karl X Gustav; 8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660), was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. Afte ...

. He took Kraków on August 30 but soon was forced to retire because of his health. He died a few months after his return home. His body was buried in Prausnitz, and his heart at

Laudenbach (Weikersheim) Weikersheim is a town in the Main-Tauber district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Town rights were granted to Weikersheim in 1313. As the one of the seats of the House of Hohenlohe, until 1756 Weikersheim's town center was dominated by ...

. Both tombs were constructed by Achilles Kern (1607–1691).

In fiction

He is a major character in ''1635: The Wars for the Rhine'' by Anette Pedersen, part of

Eric Flint Eric Flint (February 6, 1947 – July 17, 2022) was an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures. His works have been listed ...

's ''1632'' series.

External links

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatzfeldt, Melchior von German people of the Thirty Years' War 1593 births 1658 deaths Field marshals of the Holy Roman Empire Military personnel of the Thirty Years' War House of Hatzfeld