COUNT VON KURT CHRISTOPH

See also:

• SCHWERIN
• COUNT VON KURT CHRISTOPH SCHWERIN (1684–1757)

SCHWERIN (1684–1757)  , Prussian general field marshal, was born at Lowitz in 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 Walsmuhlen on the 6th of 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 1722/3 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 of Prussia (afterwards Frederick the Great) 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 . 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 (April loth, 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 (r744-1745) Schwerin commanded the army which, marching from Glatz, met the king's army under the walls of Prague, and in the siege and capture of that place he played a distinguished part (September loth, 1644) .

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 the 6th of 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 . Frederick erected a statue on the Wilhelmsplatz 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 has borne his name . See Varnhagen von Ense, Biographische Denkmale, vol. vi . (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1873), and Leben Schwerins (Berlin, 1841) ; Wollner, Ein Christ and ein Held, oder Nachrichten von Schwerin (Frankfurt a . O., 1758) ; Pauli, Leben Grosser Helden, i . (Halle, 1759) ; Gollmert, Gesch. des Geschlechts von Schwerin (Berlin, 1878) ; Schwebel, Die Herren and Grafen von Schwerin (Berlin, 1885) .