Johann Jakob von Wunsch

Johann Jakob von Wunsch (1717–1788) was German soldier of fortune and Prussian general of infantry, and a particularly adept commander of light infantry. The son of a Württemberg furrier, he served in several armies in the course of his lengthy career.

Shortly after he turned 18, his father enrolled him in Württemberg service. In the Württemberg Regiment, he supported the Austrians against the Ottoman Empire in 1737. Later, he served in Bavarian army during the War of the Austrian Succession. In 1748 he came to the notice of Prince Henry, and enter Prussian service for the Seven Years' War, where he led an autonomous corps in many raids and skirmishes that wrought havoc on the Austrian forces. His incursion over Prussia's border with Bohemia in 1778 was the opening action of the War of the Bavarian Succession.

In peace time, he devoted his efforts to training light infantry, developing an autonomous corps of skirmishers. Frederick the Great's successor, Frederick Wilhelm II, promoted him to general of infantry and raised him to the Prussian nobility.

Family and early military career Wunsch was born on 22 December 1717 in Heidenheim, Württemberg to a furrier and died at Prenzlau, in the Kingdom of Prussia on 18 October 1788. His grandfather, Johann Georg Wünsch, served in the Austrian military, and his father had served for a few years in the Bavarian military. While with this regiment in Vienna, he married Josephine le Roi, the daughter of a Habsburg War Commissary. They had one son.

Early military career The Duke of Württemberg's regiment supported the Austrian military in its wars with the Ottoman Empire. Between 1737 and 1739, Wunsch participated in several battles in the vicinity of Banja Luka, in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. By 1739, he realized he had prospects in neither Austrian nor Württemberg service and he entered Bavarian service as the oldest second lieutenant in the Hussar Regiment Frangipani.

Upon the death of Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor, the new Duke of Bavaria, Maximilian III Joseph, agreed to forgo any imperial aspirations. Wunsch's Bavarian regiment went into the service in the Netherlands, where it eventually liberated Brussels from the French in 1745. In the course of this service, Wunsch advanced to the rank of Rittmeister, or captain of cavalry. The subsequent Prussian successes at the battles of Breslau and Leuthen led to his promotion, this time by Frederick himself, to lieutenant colonel. The King also gave him command of an independent battalion. He acquired two cannons in the engagement. He successfully raided various towns and cities held by Austria and her allies in Franconia, Saxony, and Bohemia, capturing supplies and cannons and frequently taking many prisoners. Subsequently, Wunsch led both his corps and Finck's until they too were surrounded: Daun's army was three times the size of Finck's and Wunsch's combined force. Wunsch capitulated on 21 November 1759 and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner in Innsbruck. He lost the insignificant battle of Zuckmantel, but there were no major engagements in the war, only a series of raids in which both sides tried to deny each other access to food and fodder. After his initial foray at the Silesia border, he and his command remained at the County of Glatz, guarding the military commissary and the bakery.