Leopold I

Leopold I, byname The Old Dessauer, German Der Alte Dessauer, (born July 3, 1676, Dessau, Prussia—died April 7, 1747, Dessau), prince of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian field marshal and reformer and inventor of the iron ramrod; he founded the old Prussian military system that, generally unchanged until 1806, enabled Frederick II the Great to propel Prussia to the position of a European power.

Beginning his military career serving against the French in 1695, Leopold commanded the Prussian contingent in the allied forces during most of the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14). A friend of the Austrian field marshal Prince Eugene of Savoy, he fought in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and France, distinguishing himself at the battles of Höchstädt an der Donau (Bavaria; 1703), Cassano d’Adda (Italy; 1705), Turin (1706), Tournai (Belgium), and Malplaquet (France; both 1709). In 1715 he commanded the Prussian Army against Charles XII of Sweden, defeating him at Stralsund and on the island of Rügen.

The long peace that followed gave Leopold the chance to use his considerable organizational talents. Introducing the iron ramrod (wooden ones tended to break in the heat of battle), the modern bayonet (replacing the plug bayonet that had to be removed from the barrel to fire the weapon), and the uniform marching step in his own regiment in the late 1690s, he extended these improvements to the entire Prussian Army after 1715. Under his strict, often brutal tutelage, the Prussian infantry achieved the discipline and rapidity of fire that made possible Frederick II’s victories against vastly more numerous and powerful foes. In this endeavour, Leopold had the confidence and cooperation of his monarch, King Frederick William I (ruled 1713–40). As a result of his experience in the field, the Prince always favoured his own branch of the service, infantry, over cavalry and artillery.

After the succession of Frederick II in 1740, war again broke out. Leopold, by now an old man, once more took a field command. On Dec. 14, 1745, as Frederick was hurrying to his aid, the “Old Dessauer” defeated a superior Austrian and Saxon army at Kesselsdorf, Saxony, the final action of his long career.