Franz Joachim von Dewitz

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Franz Joachim von Dewitz (born October 17, 1666 in Groß Daberkow , † September 9, 1719 in Frederiksgave near Assens ) was a Danish cavalry general and governor general of Western Pomerania and Rügen during the Great Northern War .

Life

Franz Joachim von Dewitz (No. 342 of the gender census ) came from the Mecklenburg line of the von Dewitz family . He was the fifth son of Hans (Henning) von Dewitz on Groß Daberkow and his wife Dorothea von Levetzow . His younger brother Ulrich Otto von Dewitz (* 1671; † 1723) also rose to the rank of general in the Danish service.

Franz Joachim von Dewitz initially worked as a page at Christian V's court in Danish service. For some time he was in imperial service, including taking part in the siege of Ofen in 1686 . In 1688 he returned to Denmark and made a career in the Danish army . In 1688 he became a lieutenant in the body regiment on horseback and was soon transferred to the Donop cavalry regiment. With this he fought in Ireland when the Danish king troops in support of William III. sent from Orange . From 1692 to 1697 he fought in a Danish regiment in the Palatinate War of Succession in Flanders and Brabant. In 1691 he was promoted to Rittmeister , in 1693 to major and in 1699 to lieutenant colonel. In 1701 he became a colonel and commander of the Holstein cavalry regiment with whom he fought in Brabant during the War of the Spanish Succession , including in 1708 the battle of Oudenaarde . After he was brigadier in 1706 , he was promoted to major general in 1709 .

As a member of the Danish General Staff with Commander-in-Chief Christian Detlev von Reventlow , he took part in the winter campaign to Skåne in 1709/1710 . Reventlow, who fell ill during the campaign, was later replaced by Jørgen Rantzau . Under his command, Dewitz was in command of the left wing in the Battle of Helsingborg on March 10, 1710, and after Rantzau's wounding during the retreat, he was temporarily in command of the high command. Dewitz was awarded the Dannebrogden and promoted to lieutenant general in 1711 .

From 1711 to 1712 he played a key role in drawing up the plans for the Allied campaign to Pomerania and Mecklenburg. In the battle of Gadebusch he led the Danish cavalry. In addition to his military duties, he was also active as a diplomat, including as an envoy of the Danish King Frederick IV to the Russian Tsar Peter I.

After the occupation of Swedish Pomerania by Denmark and Prussia during the Pomeranian campaign of 1715/1716 , Dewitz was appointed Danish Governor General of Western Pomerania and Rügen on December 25, 1715. On January 7, 1716 he was awarded the highest Danish order, the Order of the Elephants . In April 1716 he led the siege of Wismar . Further military missions took him to Scania and Gotland , so that he was absent from Western Pomerania for a long time. The administration of Western Pomerania and Rügen was carried out by a provincial government; as governor general, Dewitz was represented by high-ranking Danish officers during his absence. As Governor General, Dewitz was also Chancellor of the University of Greifswald .

Dewitz died in 1719 on his Frederiksgave estate near Assens on Funen . His successor as Governor General of Western Pomerania and Rügen was initially the Danish General Jobst von Scholten , until the country returned to Sweden in 1721 and became Swedish Pomerania again.

family

Franz Joachim von Dewitz was married to his cousin Margarete von Levetzow (1671–1744), daughter of Lieutenant General Hans Friedrich von Levetzow (1630–1696) on Oxholm and Lucia Emerentia von Brockdorff (1640–1693).

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personal data
SURNAME Dewitz, Franz Joachim von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dewitz, Frantz Joachim von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish General and Governor General of Western Pomerania and Rügen
DATE OF BIRTH October 17, 1666
PLACE OF BIRTH Great Daberkow
DATE OF DEATH September 9, 1719
Place of death Frederiksgave at Assens