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SECKENDORF, FRIEDRICH HEINRICH, COUNT...

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 569 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SECKENDORF, See also:FRIEDRICH HEINRICH, See also:COUNT VON (1673-1763) , See also:German soldier, See also:nephew of See also:Veit See also:Ludwig von Seckendorf (q.v.), was See also:born at See also:Konigsberg in See also:Franconia. His See also:father was an See also:official of See also:Saxe-See also:Gotha. In 1693 he served in the allied See also:army commanded by See also:William III. of See also:England, and in 1694 became a See also:cornet in a Gotha See also:cavalry See also:regiment in See also:Austrian pay. Leaving the cavalry he became an See also:infantry officer in the service of See also:Venice, and (1697) in that of the See also:margrave of Anspach, who in 1698 transferred the regiment in which Seckendorf was serving to the imperial army. In 1699 he married and returned to Anspach as a See also:court officer, but the outbreak of the See also:War of the See also:Spanish See also:Succession called him into the See also:field again as See also:lieutenant-See also:colonel of an Anspach regiment, which was taken into the Dutch service. He distinguished himself at Oudenarde (1708), and was severely wounded at the See also:siege of Ryssel. Disappointed of promotion in See also:Holland and See also:Austria, he entered the See also:Polish-Saxon army as a See also:major-See also:general, and fought as a volunteer at the siege of See also:Tournai and the See also:battle of See also:Malplaquet. He continued to serve in See also:Flanders to the end of the war, acted in a See also:diplomatic capacity in the See also:peace negotiations, and in 1713 suppressed an insurrection in See also:Poland.. In 1715, as a lieutenant-general, he commanded the Saxon contingent at the siege of See also:Stralsund, defended by See also:Charles XII. of See also:Sweden. In 1717 Seckendorf once more entered the service of the See also:emperor, with the See also:rank of lieutenant field See also:marshal, and he was See also:present at the siege of See also:Belgrade by See also:Prince See also:Eugene. In 1718 and 1719 he fought in See also:Italy; and in the latter See also:year he was made a count of the See also:empire. In 1726, at the instance of Prince Eugene, he was made the Austrian representative at the court of See also:Prussia.

He remained at See also:

Berlin, with See also:short intervals, up to 1735, and for the greater- See also:part of this See also:time exercised a strong See also:influence over See also:Frederick William II. He was deeply involved in the See also:family quarrels which embittered the lives of Frederick William, his See also:queen and the See also:crown prince (Frederick the See also:Great), which culminated in the prince's condemnation to See also:death by court See also:martial, and is presented by See also:Carlyle (Frederick the Great, vol. ii.) as a See also:cold, passionless intriguer, taciturn, almost stolid, and absolutely unscrupulous in the furtherance of Austrian See also:political aims. In 1726 Seckendorf was appointed general of cavalry of the army of the See also:Holy See also:Roman Empire, and served with such distinction as was to be gained in a war of positions in the See also:Rhine See also:campaigns of the War of the Polish Succession (1734-35)• His dissensions with Prince See also:Leopold of See also:Anhalt-See also:Dessau (q.v.)—the " old Dessauer " was Seckendorf's declared enemy at the Prussian court—made the conduct of operations impossible, and, after placing the Austrian and German armiesin favourable positions, Seckendorf departed to See also:Hungary to See also:report on the See also:state of the Austrian army there—a task which brought him fresh enemies. In 1737 the emperor Charles- VI., however, made Seckendorf See also:commander-in-See also:chief in Hungary, at the' same time giving him the See also:baton of field marshal. The new commander began well, but failed at the end, and his numerous enemies at See also:Vienna brought about his recall, trial and imprisonment. He remained a prisoner till 1740, and was then reinstated by See also:order of Maria See also:Theresa; but being denied his arrears of pay he laid down all his Austrian and imperial offices and accepted from the emperor Charles VII., elector of See also:Bavaria, the rank of field marshal in the Bavarian service. His last campaigns were those of 1743 and 1744 in the Austrian Succession War (q.v.), and, after the death of Charles VII. and the See also:election of Maria Theresa's See also:husband to the imperial dignity, he became reconciled with the Austrian court. From 1745 his See also:life was spent more or less in retirement at Meuselwitz, near See also:Altenburg. In 1757 the death of his wife, for whom, harsh and unamiable as he was, he had a deep and abiding See also:affection, See also:broke down his already failing See also:health. He See also:fell into the hands of a Prussian See also:hussar party in See also:December 1758, and was for five months held prisoner by Frederick the Great, who had little love for him either as his former court enemy or as his unsatisfactory ally in the first Silesian war. He died at Meuselwitz on the 23rd of See also:November 1763. See Wurzbach's Biogr.

Lexikon, pt. 33, " Versuch einer Lebensbeschreibung See also:

des F. M. Seckendorf " (See also:Leipzig, 1792-1794) ; Seelander, See also:Graf Seckendorf and der Friede v. See also:Passau (Gotha, 1883) ; Carlyle, Frederick the Great, vols. i.-v. passim; and memoir in Allgemeine deutsche Biographie.

End of Article: SECKENDORF, FRIEDRICH HEINRICH, COUNT VON (1673-1763)

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