Arvid Wittenberg
Encyclopedia
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
, field marshal and privy councillor
Privy Council of Sweden
The High Council of Sweden or Council of the Realm consisted originally of those men of noble, common and clergical background, that the king saw fit for advisory service...
. Born in Porvoo
Porvoo
Porvoo is a city and a municipality situated on the southern coast of Finland approximately east of Helsinki. Porvoo is one of the six medieval towns in Finland, first mentioned as a city in texts from 14th century...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, died in prison in Zamość
Zamosc
Zamość ukr. Замостя is a town in southeastern Poland with 66,633 inhabitants , situated in the south-western part of Lublin Voivodeship , about from Lublin, from Warsaw and from the border with Ukraine...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, 7 September 1657. Arvid Wittenberg preferred call himself by the original Wittenberg family name, which was Wirtenberg von Debern.
Arvid Wittenberg was born on Johannesberg in Porvoo, Finland as a son of the assessor Johannes Wirtenberg von Debern and Magdalena Schönfeld or Magdalena Johansdotter till Skinnarbacka. The title of count was given to Arvid Wittenberg in 1652. He was married twice, with Eva Margareta von Langen from 1642 to her death in 1646 and in 1648 he married Maximiliana Elisabeth von Schönburg.
Arvid Wittenberg began his military career in 1622 and participated as a Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the Battle of Nördlingen
Battle of Nördlingen (1634)
The Battle of Nördlingen was fought on 27 August or 6 September , 1634 during the Thirty Years' War. The Roman Catholic Imperial army, bolstered by 18,000 Spanish and Italian soldiers, won a crushing victory over the combined Protestant armies of Sweden and their German-Protestant allies .After...
in 1634. He was captured there but later freed. He then participated in the battles of Wittstock
Battle of Wittstock
The Battle of Wittstock took place during the Thirty Years' War . It was fought on 24 September or 4 October 1636. A Swedish-allied army under general Johan Baner decisively defeated a combined Imperial-Saxon army, led by Count Melchior von Hatzfeld and the Saxon Elector John George I...
1636 and Chemnitz
Battle of Chemnitz
The Battle of Chemnitz took place between near the town of Chemnitz, in what is now eastern Germany, during the Thirty Years' War. Swedish forces under Johan Baner inflicted a crushing defeat on the Saxon and Imperial forces led by John George The battle was a confused engagement in broken country...
1639 before being promoted to major general
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
. He later came under the command of Lennart Torstenson
Lennart Torstenson
Lennart Torstenson, Count of Ortala, Baron of Virestad , was a Swedish Field Marshal and military engineer.-Early career:He was born at Forstena in Västergötland - he always wrote his name Linnardt Torstenson...
with whom he participated in the rest of the Swedish campaign in the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
until the Torstenson resigned in 1645, including the battles of Breitenfeld
Battle of Breitenfeld (1642)
The Second Battle of Breitenfeld, also known as the First Battle of Leipzig , took place at Breitenfeld , Germany, during the Thirty Years' War— fully eleven years after the first battle at the crossroads village had unbottled the Swedish forces under Gustavus II Adolphus wherein he had...
1642 and Jankov
Battle of Jankov
The Battle of Jankau or Jankov, one of the bloodiest of the Thirty Years' War, was fought on 24 February 1645 in southern Bohemia, some 50 km southeast of Prague, between the army of Sweden and that of the Holy Roman Empire.-Prelude:...
1645, in which he on both occasions commanded the Swedish right flank. He then took command of the Swedish army until the arrival of Carl Gustaf Wrangel
Carl Gustaf Wrangel
Carl Gustaf Wrangel was a high-ranking Swedish noble, statesman and military commander in the Thirty Years', Torstenson, Bremen, Second Northern and Scanian Wars....
.
As Charles X Gustav prepared for Second Northern War
Second Northern War
The Second Northern War was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Russia , Brandenburg-Prussia , the Habsburg Monarchy and Denmark–Norway...
, Wittenberg was promoted to field marshal in 1655 and was assigned command of an army of 17,000 men to attack Poland with. He surrounded the Polish army of nobles
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
and forced it to capitulate at Ujście
Ujscie
Ujście is a town in Piła County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,888 inhabitants ....
on 25 July 1655, and conquered the voivodships of Poznań and Kalisz. He besieged Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, which capitulated 7 October 1655, and forced the Polish commander Koniecpolski
Koniecpolski
Koniecpolski is the surname of a Polish szlachta family. Because Polish adjectives have different forms for the genders, Koniecpolska is the form for a female family member.-History:...
and his army to submission. He was given the command of Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
which he defended against the Polish army under John II Casimir of Poland
John II Casimir of Poland
John II Casimir was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania during the era of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Duke of Opole in Upper Silesia, and titular King of Sweden 1648–1660. In Poland, he is known and commonly referred as Jan Kazimierz. His parents were Sigismund III Vasa and...
until the city was given up 21 June 1656. Contrary to what had been stated in the terms of capitulation, he was placed in prison in Zamość where he later died.
Arvid Wittenberg combined military skills with a hard and cruel treatment of enemies, which made him hated amongst the Poles.
In 1657, after Arvid Wittenberg had died in Polish custody, his son Leonard Johan Wittenberg (born 1646) was accommodated as a ward by Arvid's friend, Carl Gustaf Wrangel
Carl Gustaf Wrangel
Carl Gustaf Wrangel was a high-ranking Swedish noble, statesman and military commander in the Thirty Years', Torstenson, Bremen, Second Northern and Scanian Wars....
. In the summer of 1673, Leonard Johan married Wrangel's daughter Polidora Christiana.