Jørgen Rantzau, was a Danish military officer, who fought several campaigns under John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...

.

He already fought under Marlborough in 1691 during the War of the Grand Alliance

War of the Grand Alliance

The Nine Years' War – often called the War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Palatine Succession, or the War of the League of Augsburg – was a major war of the late 17th century fought between King Louis XIV of France, and a European-wide coalition, the Grand Alliance, led by the Anglo-Dutch...

. In 1701, he became brigade-commander and in 1705 general-major.

At the Battle of Blenheim

Battle of Blenheim

The Battle of Blenheim , fought on 13 August 1704, was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV of France sought to knock Emperor Leopold out of the war by seizing Vienna, the Habsburg capital, and gain a favourable peace settlement...

 he commanded the 4th Jydske Horse Regiment. At the Battle of Oudenaarde in 1708, he commanded the cavalry in the vanguard under Cadogan

William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan

William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan KT PC was a noted military officer in the army of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough during the War of the Spanish Succession...

 and played an important role in the early stages of the battle.

The collaboration between the older and more experienced Rantzau under the younger, less experienced Cadogan is an example of the congruence in Marlborough's multinational army.

In 1709, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 reentered the Great Northern War

Great Northern War

The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...

 against Sweden

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....

 and Rantzau returned to Denmark to participate as lieutenant-general in the invasion of Scania

Scania

Scania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...

 under Christian Detlev Reventlow

Christian Detlev Reventlow

Christian Detlev, Count von Reventlow was a Danish diplomat and military leader.He was the son of Conrad, Count Reventlow, chancellor of Denmark and brother of Anne Sophie Reventlow, queen consort of Denmark after her marriage to Frederick IV of Denmark. Father of Louise Stolberg.Christian was...

. This led to the Battle of Helsingborg (1710)

Battle of Helsingborg (1710)

The Battle of Helsingborg was Denmark's failed and final attempt to regain the Scanian lands, lost to Sweden in 1658.On the Ringstorp heights northwest of Helsingborg, 14,000 Danish invaders under Jørgen Rantzau were decisively defeated by an equally large Swedish army under Magnus...

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Just prior to the battle, Reventlow was taken ill and had to yield command to Jørgen Rantzau. The battle was a great defeat and Rantzau was blamed.