Wolf Heinrich von Baudissin

Who was Wolf Heinrich von Baudissin?

Wolf Heinrich von Baudissin or Bauditz was a distinguished Protestant German cavalry commander who rose to the rank of field marshal during the Thirty Years' War. He was a member of the Baudissin family, an old noble family of Lusatian-Silesian origin.

Born in Luppa, Upper Lusatia, Baudissin entered Danish service when he was 28, being promoted to Oberst in 1625. He fought under Ernst von Mansfeld and led his troops after the death of Mansfeld in 1626. After the Treaty of Lübeck Baudissin entered the service of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden as a field marshal, leading Swedish forces at Werben, in Westphalia, and near Cologne. He captured Bingen, besieged Spanish troops at Nimburg, and sacked in the town of Andernach in 1633. The following year he entered the service of the Electorate of Saxony as a Generalfeldmarschall and was defeated by the Swedes at Dömitz. Baudissin was severely wounded during a siege of Magdeburg in 1636 and forced to retire. He subsequently became a Saxon diplomat to Denmark and Poland. Baudissin married Sophie von Rantzau and became part of the German nobility of Holstein. He died in Luppa.