
Johann von Werth (1591-16 January 1652) was an Imperial German cavalry general who fought in the Thirty Years' War.
Biography[]
Johann von Werth was born in Buttgen, Duchy of Julich, Germany in 1591. He left home in 1610 to become a mercenary cavalryman in Ambrogio Spinola's army in the Spanish Netherlands, serving in the War of the Julich Succession before he moved to Bohemia to fight for the Imperial general at the start of the Thirty Years' War. Von Werth served under Baltasar Marradas at the Battle of White Mountain, at the Battle of Fleurus, served as a cavalry officer in the Bavarian army during the 1630s, and distinguished himself at the 1634 First Battle of Nordlingen, after which he was ennobled and made a Lieutenant Field Marshal by the Elector of Bavaria. In 1636, he participated in the invasion of France, and he fought along the Rhine frontier during the late 1630s. He was instrumental to Franz von Mercy's surprise victory at the 1643 Battle of Tuttlingen, fought at the 1644 Battle of Freiburg, and played a decisive role at the Second Battle of Nordlingen. The end of the war was uneventful for Von Werth. He died at his estate at Benatek in 1652.