Gustaf Otto Stenbock (17 September 1614-24 September 1683) was a Swedish general and politician who served in the Thirty Years' War and the Deluge.
Biography[]
Gustaf Otto Stenbock was born in Torpa Castle, Vastergotland, Sweden in 1614, a scion of a noble family related to the royal family. He joined the Smaland Cavalry Regiment in 1631 and served in the Thirty Years' War, fighting at the First Battle of Nordlingen and becoming colonel of the Jönköping Regiment in 1639. He was seriously wounded at the Second Battle of Breitenfeld in 1642 and returned home, after which he rose to the rank of Major-General in 1643, Lieutenant-General in 1647, and General of the Infantry in 1648. He was promoted to Field Marshal after the war with Bremen in 1654 and General Field Marshal during the Second Northern War. After 1658, he was appointed Governor General of Schonen, Halland, and Blekinge, and he was named Lord High Admiral in 1664. He was deposed in 1676 after the Swedish Navy suffered devastating losses during the Scanian War, and he was fined 200,000 thalers. He was rehabilitated by King Charles XI of Sweden a year later and was allowed to command a campaign against Norway. He died in poverty in 1683.