Count Kurt Christoph von Schwerin
(26 October 1684 - 6 May 1757) was a
Prussian
Generalfeldmarschall, one of the leading commanders under
Frederick the Great.
Biography
He was born in
Löwitz,
Pomerania, and at an early age entered the Dutch army, with which he served at the
Schellenberg and at
Blenheim.
In 1707 he became a
lieutenant-colonel in the army of the duke of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and was present at
Ramillies and
Malplaquet, and with the Swedish commander
Stenbock at
Gadebusch. In 1713 he was with
Charles XII of Sweden in his captivity at
Bender, and in 1718 was made
major-general.
In 1719 he opposed the Hanoverian army which invaded
Mecklenburg (in the course of which he fought a brilliant action at
Walsmühlen on 6 March 1719), and in the following year entered the service of the king of Prussia. At first he was employed in diplomatic missions, but in January 1722-1723 he received the command of an infantry regiment. In 1730, as a major-general, he was a member of the court martial which tried the crown prince Frederick for desertion, and in 1733, at the head of a Prussian army, conducted with great skill the delicate and difficult task of settling the Mecklenburg question.
thumb|left|In the following year he became lieutenant-general and in 1739
general of
infantry. During the life-time of
King Frederick William, Schwerin was also employed in much administrative work. Frederick the Great, on his accession, promoted Schwerin to the rank of general field marshal and made him a count. At the
battle of Mollwitz (10 April 1741) he justified his sovereign's choice by his brilliant leading, which, when the king had disappeared from the field, converted a doubtful battle into a victory which decided for the time being the fate of
Silesia.
After the conclusion of the war he was governor of the important fortresses of
Brieg and
Neisse. In the
Second Silesian War (1744-1745) Schwerin commanded the army which, marching from
Glatz, met the kings army under the walls of Prague, and in the siege and capture of that place he played a distinguished part (10 September 1744).
Some time afterwards, the king being compelled to retreat from
Bohemia, Schwerin again distinguished himself, but, resenting a real or fancied slight, retired to his estate, to which, and its inhabitants, he devoted his energies during the years of peace.
He reappeared on the field at the outbreak of the
Seven Years' War (1756), and during the first campaign conducted the war on the Silesian side of Bohemia; and in 1757, following the same route as in 1744, again joined Frederick at Prague. On
6 May followed the
battle of Prague. Leading on a regiment of the left wing to the attack with its colour in his hand, the old field marshal was shot dead.
Commemorations
Frederick erected a statue on the
Wilhelmplatz (today part of
Wilhelmstraße) to his foremost soldier, and a monument on the field of Prague commemorates the place where he fell. Since 1889 the
14th (3rd Pomeranians) Infantry of the German army had borne his name.
