Wilhelm Bergholtz was a German military officer from Holstein

Holstein

Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....

. He moved to the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 in 1709 at the rank of major-general, and spent five years there. After his arrival and the beginning of his service to the Russian Empire, 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...

 broke out. During this time he distiguished himself at the Siege of Vyborg

Siege of Vyborg (1710)

The Siege of Vyborg took place in the spring of 1710 during the Great Northern War , as a second attempt by the Russians to capture the fortress town of Vyborg after a failed attempt in 1706. After the outbreak of the war, Swedish forces had fortified themselves in the port of Vyborg...

 in 1710 and in a repulse of Ottoman forces during the ultimately unsuccessful Pruth Campaign.