Frederick Augustus, Count Rutowsky (also written ''Rutowski'') (

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

19 June 1702 –

Pillnitz Pillnitz is a quarter in the east of Dresden, Germany. It can be reached by bus, ship, walking along the river or by bicycle. Pillnitz is most famous for its Baroque palace and park, the Pillnitz Castle. Pillnitz Palace consists of the Rivers ...

, 16 March 1764), was a

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

who commanded Saxon forces in the

Siege of Pirna The siege of Pirna (or Investment of Pirna) took place in 1756 as part of the Prussian invasion of Saxony during the Third Silesian War (part of the Seven Years' War). Following the occupation of the capital Dresden by Frederick the Great on ...

during 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 ...

Life

Early years

He was an illegitimate son of August the Strong, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and Elector of Saxony, and his mistress Fatima (or Fatime) who was of Turkish origin. His mother was captured during the Battle of Buda by Hans Adam von Schöning. After Fatima became the King's mistress, she was christened ''Maria Anna'' and moved to the Dresden court. The child got the name of his father, but shortly after the birth Fatima was married at the instigation of Augustus to his chamberman Johann Georg of Spiegel. Frederick Augustus moved to the estates of the Spiegel Family, but his father cared about his education, which led him among other things to go to Paris, where he found his half-sister Anna Karolina (the later countess Orzelska) and brought her to Dresden. Fatima, despite her marriage, remained a mistress of Augustus. In 1706, she gave birth to the King's second child, a daughter, called Maria Anna Katharina. However, soon Frederick Augustus and his sister became orphans: Johann Georg of Spiegel died in 1715 and their mother Fatima five years later. Augustus the Strong took the guardianship of the children, but he only recognized and legitimized them both in 1724. Shortly after, he raised both, as his right of King of Poland, with the Polish title of ''Count Rutowski'' and ''Countess Rutowska''. The coat of arms awarded to them shows a Saxon rhombus wreath as well as a Polish White Eagle. On 8 October 1724 Frederick August, now Count Rutowski, obtained of his father the highest decoration of the Wettin lands, the Order of the White Eagle, which gave him the rank of an ''Oberst'' of the Saxon Army.

Military career

After a journey to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, Rutowski arrived in February 1725 at the court of the King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy,

Victor Amadeus II Victor Amadeus II (; 14 May 166631 October 1732) was the head of the House of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 12 June 1675 until his abdication in 1730. He was the first of his house to acquire a royal crown, ruling first as King o ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, where he took command of the Piedmont regiment and was garrisoned in

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

. It is possible his enjoyment of this city prompted him to write his father, asking permission to enter in French services in order to remain in Turin. His father refused this request and demanded his return. On 26 May 1727 he became a Major-General in the Saxon Army and shortly after he served under the Prussians; however, in 1729 he returned again to the Saxon Army. During the following years, in the War of Polish Succession, he participated in the campaigns in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and on 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 ...

, becoming Lieutenant-General on 1 January 1736 and Commander of the ''Garde du Corps''. As such he was in 1737 the leader of the Saxon Contingent in the War against the Turks in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. On 21 April 1738 he became General of the Cavalry, on 9 August 1740 Governor of

and Commander of the Grenadier Guard, ''Obristhaus'' on 10 August and ''Landzeugmeister''. On 10 January 1742 he was appointed Commander of a Dragoon's Regiment. During the

First Silesian War The First Silesian War () was a war between Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia and Habsburg monarchy, Austria that lasted from 1740 to 1742 and resulted in Prussia's seizing most of the region of Silesia (now in south-western Poland) from Austria. The ...

he commanded the Saxon troops in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

and participated on the 26 November 1742 in the storming of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. Frederick Augustus commanded the troops which stayed behind in Saxony, and fought with these troops and the biggest part of the Saxon Army coming back from Bohemia the battle of Kesselsdorf near

(15 December 1745), where they suffered a crucial defeat in the Second Silesian War against the Prince Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau. On 6 January 1746 he was ranked General ''en Chef'', and on 11 January 1749, at last, he was appointed Field Marshal. During the next peace years, he did not succeed in spite of multiple efforts, to avert the cutbacks in the Saxon Army by the prime minister Brühl, which seriously reduced its effectiveness.

Siege of Pirna

At the sudden outbreak of the

, he concentrated the Saxon Army of only 18,100 men in a strong defensive position near

Pirna Pirna (; , ) is a town in Saxony, Germany and capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 37,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a ''Große ...

. He withstood a siege of 6 weeks, but had to capitulate on 16 October 1756, and became a prisoner of King

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself '' King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prus ...

. During the years of war Rutowsky stayed in Saxony and renounced all his military functions directly after the Treaty of Hubertusburg on 8 March 1763. He died one year later, aged sixty-one.

Marriage and issue

On 4 January 1739 Frederick Augustus married the Princess Ludovika Amalie Lubomirska. Their only child, August Joseph, Count Rutowsky (b. 2 August 1741) died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

in Brunswick, 17 January 1755.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutowsky, Frederick Augustus 1702 births 1764 deaths 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian military personnel Illegitimate children of Augustus II the Strong Counts in Germany Frederick Augustus Field marshals of Saxony German military personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession German people of Turkish descent Polish people of Turkish descent People of the Silesian Wars Albertine branch Sons of kings Sons of prince-electors