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.Biography
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 colonel of horse, fighting in the Polish campaign of 1627-29, where he was captured by the Poles and later exchanged.
With his cavalry regiment he accompanied Gustavus Adolphus to Germany in 1630, and led a contingent of Swedish forces at Werben in 1631, in Westphalia, and near Cologne. He captured Bingen, besieged Spanish troops at Drachenfels Castle, and sacked in the town of Andernach in 1633, rising to general-leutnant of cavalry in Swedish service. After disagreements with various Swedish commanders he left Swedish employ and 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.
