Ulrich Friedrich Woldemar Graf von Löwendal (, tr. ; 1700–1755) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

and

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

Life

Graf (; feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title ...

von Löwendal served first under German Emperor Charles VI in the Imperial Army. He joined the Danish Army for a short time, then he returned to the Imperial Army of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. Later he served

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...

, who made him Feldmarschall and Generalinspektor of the Saxon Infantry. 1734 to 1735 he commanded the troops of Saxony at the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. Later, like so many Germans, he served in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

, fighting the Turks 1739 by

Khotyn Khotyn (, ; , ; see #Name, other names) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Dnistrovskyi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine, located south-west of Kamianets-Podilskyi. It hosts the administration of Khotyn urban hromada, one of th ...

. From 1740 until 1743 he was ''Generalgouverneur'' of

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. 1741

Augustus III Augustus III (; – "the Saxon"; ; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Augustus II (). He w ...

, who was Reichsvikar, granted him the title of "Reichsgraf".

French Army

From 1744 to 1755 he served in the French army. Born in

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, he served in the armies of several countries, and from 1740 to 1743 acted as Governor-General of the Ostsee governorates of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. But he is best known for his service in the French army during the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...

. In the French campaign in the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

against the

Pragmatic Army The Pragmatic Army was an army which served during the War of the Austrian Succession. It was formed in 1743 by George II, who was both King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and consisted of a mixture of British, Hanoverian, Dutch and Au ...

he served as a subordinate to

Maurice de Saxe Maurice, Count of Saxony (, ; 28 October 1696 – 20 November 1750) was a notable soldier, officer and a famed military commander of the 18th century. The illegitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania ...

. He led French forces that captured Ghent in 1745 and

Bergen-op-Zoom Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the Brabantian dialect, local dialect) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southwestern Netherlands. It is located in the Province ...

in 1747. The King of France,

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

, made him a

Marshal of France Marshal of France (, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to General officer, generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1793–1804) ...

for his success in capturing Bergen op Zoom. In 1755

gave Lowendal instructions to act as a

Plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...

in negotiations with

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, designed to prevent the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

from breaking out. However Lowendal died before he could carry out his orders and was replaced by Louis Jules Mancini Mazarini, Duc de Nivernais.Dull p.42

Death

Marshall Ulrich Friedrich Woldemar Graf von Löwendal died on 27 May 1755 in Paris. He had been married twice (first since 23 January 1722 to Theodora Eugenia von Schmettau, daughter of German General Gottlieb von Schmettau; since 13. November 1736 to Barbe Madeleine Gräfin von Szembek) and was father of eight children.

References

Bibliography

* Browning, Reed. ''The War of the Austrian Succession''. Alan Sutton, 1994. * Dull, Jonathan R. ''The French Navy and the Seven Years' War''. University of Nebraska, 2005. * Lodge, Sir Richard. ''Studies in Eighteenth Century diplomacy 1740–48''. John Murray, 1930. * Boucher, Jean-Jacques. ''Le comte de Lowendal, Ulrich-Frédéric Woldemar, Maréchal de France, 1700-1755''. Éditions Lanore, 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Woldemar, Ulrich Frederic, Comte De Lowendal 1700 births 1755 deaths Imperial Army (Holy Roman Empire) personnel Members of the French Academy of Sciences