Melchior von Hatzfeldt (20 October 1593-9 January 1658) was an Imperial Field Marshal who served in the Thirty Years' War.
Biography[]
Melchior von Hatzfeldt was born in Westerwald, Holy Roman Empire in 1593, the older brother of Prince-Bishop Franz von Hatzfeldt of Wurzburg. He entered the Reichsarmee at the start of the Thirty Years' War, and he fought at the 1623 Battle of Stadtlohn before entering Albrecht von Wallenstein's 1625. He became a colonel in 1632, a Lieutenant-Field Marshal in 1633, and a Field Marshal in 1635. He was victorious at the Battle of Vlotho in 1638, took part in the decisive victory over the French at the 1643 Battle of Tuttlingen, and was captured by the Swedish at the Battle of Jankau in 1645. He retired in 1646 and was recalled in 1657, supporting Poland-Lithuania against Sweden during the Second Northern War. He captured Krakow before falling ill and dying in 1658.