Frederick Louis of Württemberg-Winnental



Frederick Louis of Württemberg-Winnental (5 November 1690 in Stuttgart – 19 September 1734 in Guastalla) was a German army commander of the eighteenth century.

He was the third son of Frederick Charles of Württemberg-Winnental and Eleonore Juliane of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

He learned the art of warfare in Dresden, Saxony. In 1708 he joined the Dutch Army and fought in the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1715 he returned to Saxony and fought against Sweden. In 1716 he fought under Prince Eugene of Savoy against the Turks and participated in the Siege of Belgrade (1717). In 1732 he led an army of 7,000 men for Genoa against the insurgents in Corsica.

War of the Polish Succession
In the War of the Polish Succession, he commanded an army corps on the Italian front under Marshal Claudius Florimund Mercy. They suffered a defeat in the Battle of San Pietro and Mercy was killed. Then Württemberg and Marshal Koenigsegg struggled for command, disturbing the preparations and readiness of the Austrian troops.

This contributed to a second defeat in the Battle of Guastalla, where Württemberg was killed.

On 22 October 1722 Frederick Louis married 42-year-old Ursula Catharina von Altenbockum, divorced Countess Lubomirski and one of many ex-mistresses of August II the Strong. Ursula was 10 years older than Frederick, and he married her for financial reasons. They had no children.