A member of the Württemberg nobility who entered Prussian military service in 1768 and fought in the Rhine theatre during the War of the First Coalition, commanding a division at the successful defence of Kaiserlautern against Hoche in November 1793. At 60, he was one of the Prussian Army's more youthful commanders at the start of the fighting in 1806. He led the left wing of Brunswick's army in Saxony, but his rash deployments were punished at Jena in October. After rallying defeated elements for the subsequent retreat, he was taken prisoner by pursuing French forces at Prenzlau on 28 October, and was eventually released into retirement in 1808.
Source: Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars, ed. S. Pope, London: Collins, 1999