Charles Emil Lewenhaupt the Elder (March 28, 1691 – August 4, 1743) was a Swedish general.

Biography

He was born on March 28, 1691 to Count and Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

 Carl Gustaf Löwenhaupt and Countess Amalia Wilhelmina von Königsmarck. At the age of 16, Lewenhaupt entered Dutch service where he was promoted to the rank of Captain in 1709. The year later he entered Swedish service. Lewenhaupt was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel

Lieutenant colonel

Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

 and participated at the Battle of Gadebusch

Battle of Gadebusch

The Battle of Gadebusch was Sweden's final great victory in the Great Northern War. It was fought by the Swedes to prevent the loss of the city of Stralsund to Danish and Saxon forces.- Prelude :...

 in 1712. In 1722 Lewenhaupt was 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...

. At the diet

Riksdag of the Estates

The Riksdag of the Estates , was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King...

 of 1741 he was a factor in the decision to wage war against Imperial Russia.

Following the war, on June 20, 1743, Lewenhaupt was sentenced to death on grounds of poor performance and conduct in the war. The execution was set to 20 July, and later postponed to 30 July. Lewenhaupts' son and a small party managed to free him, but Lewenhaupt was re-arrested when aboard a vessel in the Stockholm archipelago bound for Danzig

Gdansk

Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...

. On August 4, 1743 Lewenhaupt was decapitated at Norrtull in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

.

Personal life

In 1720 Lewenhaupt married Beata Cronhielm. The couple had one son, Charles Emil Lewenhaupt the Younger (1721–1796).

Further reading

• Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon, 1906 (available online at Project Runeberg
  Project Runeberg
  Project Runeberg is an initiative patterned after Project Gutenberg that publishes freely available electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries...
  
    http://runeberg.org/sbh/b0042.html)