Pappenheim, GOTTFRIED HEINRICH, COUNT VON

Pappenheim, GOTTFRIED HEINRICH, COUNT VON, an imperial general of great note in the Thirty Years' War, was born at Pappenheim, in Middle Franconia, Bavaria, 29th May 1594, of a very ancient Swabian family, in which the dignity of Marshal of the Empire became hereditary about the 13th or 14th century, and many of whose members had greatly distinguished themselves in the wars of the middle ages. At twenty he went over to the Roman Catholic Church, and thenceforth signalled himself by his fiery zeal in its cause. After serving under the king of Poland in his wars with the Russians and Turks Pappenheim joined the army of the Catholic League, and in the battle of Prague (1620) stayed the flight of the Austrian cavalry, and by a well-timed and furious charge turned the tide of battle against the Bohemians. In 1623 he received from the emperor the command of a cavalry regiment of the famous 'Pappenheimer Dragons.' In 1625 he became general of the Spanish horse in Lombardy; but in 1626 he re-entered the Austrian service, and after suppressing a dangerous revolt of the peasants of Upper Austria, in which 40,000 of the peasants perished, he joined the army which was opposed to the Protestant League, and, in association with Tilly, carried on many campaigns against the Danes, Swedes, and Saxons. It was Pappenheim who induced Tilly to attack Magdeburg (q.v.), and on his head rests in great measure the guilt of the ferocious massacre. His reckless bravery involved Tilly against his will in the disastrous battle of Breitenfeld; but to some extent he retrieved his character by his heroic efforts to remedy the loss and protect the retreat of the army. After Tilly's death he served under Wallenstein, who detached him with eight regiments to protect Cologne, but, on hearing of the advance of Gustavus, sent an urgent order for his return. Pappenheim arrived at Lützen at the moment when Wallenstein's army was on the point of being completely routed, and at the head of his cuirassiers he charged the left wing of the Swedes with such fury as to throw it into confusion, and for a moment change the fortune of the battle. He was mortally wounded in the last charge, and died a few hours afterwards at Leipzig, November 7, 1632, with a smile on his countenance, after learning that Gustavus Adolphus was dead. 'God be praised!' he said: 'I can go in peace, now that that mortal enemy of the Catholic faith has had to die before me.'