Carl Gustaf Dücker

Count Carl Gustaf Dücker
Born	1663 (1663) Swedish Livonia
Died	3 July 1732(1732-07-03) (aged 68–69) Stockholm, Sweden
Allegiance	France Sweden
Rank	Field Marshal (Fältmarskalk)
Battles / wars	Nine Years' War Great Northern War

Count Carl Gustaf Dücker (1663 – 3 July 1732) was a Swedish field marshal (Fältmarskalk) and politician.

Early life

Carl Gustaf Dücker was born in Swedish Livonia in 1663 to Major Carl Fredrik Dücker and Anna Elisabeth Sass. His ancestors originally came from Westphalia before they immigrated to the Baltic region in the 15th century. Dücker would lose his father at a young age after he was killed in a duel.

In 1688, he joined the French Army and served in the Fürstenberg Regiment during the Nine Years' War, seeing action in the campaigns in Catalonia, Piedmont and Flanders. Originally starting out as a cadet, Dücker was soon promoted to an ensign the same year as enlisting. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1691 and then to captain aide-major in 1695. Dücker would return to Sweden following the end of the conflict.

Great Northern War

Following the outbreak of the Great Northern War in 1700, Dücker assisted in the defence of Riga after it came under siege by a Saxon Army. On 14 November, he was given the rank of adjutant general and served in King Charles XII's General Staff during the Battle of Narva, where he was wounded. During the Swedish Invasion of Poland-Lithuania, Dücker accompanied the king in a rowboat during the crossing of Düna and would serve as an intelligence officer at the Battle of Kilszów. In August 1702, he was given a diplomatic mission by Charles in which he was tasked with urging Austrian diplomat Philipp Ludwig von Sinzendorf to not visit the king whilst he was on campaign and to instead return to Kraków. Upon his return, Charles then tasked him with negotiating the surrender of the Saxon garrison in Thorn following a nearly five-month-long siege.

In 1704, he was placed in command of 1,250 strong dragoon regiment, comprising of men Dücker had himself recruited from Danzig and the surrounding area the previous year. Dücker and his regiment would go on to distinguish themselves at the Battle of Lemburg, being the first regiment to storm the town's fortifications, and at the Battle of Punitz, where they captured a Polish colonel.

In 1706, whilst Charles' main army was advancing on Grodno, Russian and Polish forces had managed to cut off Swedish lines of communication with Livonia. In response, Dücker was sent out with a small force of 900 dragoons in order to try and restore them. On 6 March, Dücker met up with a pro-Swedish Polish force and defeated a Coalition army at the Battle of Valkininkai. Following up on this victory, he then captured the city of Vilnius and seized a number of priceless valuables, ammunition and supplies left behind by the enemy. He also took part in the Battle of Kalisz.

During the Russian campaign, he led reconnaissance missions and participated in skirmishes and engagements against the Russians such as the battles of Oposhnya and Krasnokutsk–Gorodnoye. Following the defeat at the Battle of Poltava, Dücker fled with the remains of the Swedish army to the Dnieper and was amongst those who surrendered to the Russians at Perevolochna. However, after a short while in captivity, he was released in exchange for a colonel named Peter Lefort, who was being held prisoner by the Swedes.

Once released, Dücker then travelled to the town of Rastenburg before making his way to the city of Stralsund. On 31 January 1710, he was appointed to major general. In late February, Dücker met up with General Magnus Stenbock at his headquarters in Scania and would go on to serve under him at the Battle of Helsingborg. For his actions at the battle, he was given command of the Västergötland Cavalry Regiment. Dücker was then promoted to lieutenant general and tasked with defending Swedish Pomerania from enemy incursions; However, despite initial successes, he was pushed back to Stralsund where he was then sieged down by a combined Russo-Danish army. After Stenbock relieved the city, he then placed Dücker in charge of his army's vanguard. During the Battle of Gadebusch, he was severely wounded in the neck by a musket ball, and had to be taken to Lübeck to have it remove.

Following his recovery, in February 1713, Dücker attempted to try and re-join Stenbock's army besieged in Tönning. He planned to sneak into the town by disguising himself, but this was abandoned. Dücker then returned to Stralsund where he resumed command of the city as well as all Swedish forces in Pomerania. In October, after Stralsund had once again come under siege and Stettin had been captured, Dücker received orders from the Royal Council urging him to withdraw his troops back to Sweden. Dücker, however, refused these orders, saying that he would only leave on the king's orders. For the early part of 1714, Dücker then set about on building up Stralsund's defences; raising more troops and acquiring more funds, munitions and supplies. In May 1714, he managed to successfully incorporate two regiments from Holstein-Gottorp under Swedish command.

After Charles arrived at Stralsund following his exile in the Ottoman Empire, he assumed control of the city's defence and made Dücker his second-in-command. In 1715, despite the Swedes best efforts, they could prevent the Danes, Prussians and Russians from again besieging Stralsund. The situation for Stralsund's garrison was made worse when a Coalition army landed on the island of Rügen and prevented them from being supplied by sea. Charles was soon convinced by Dücker and his other subordinates to return back to Sweden. Dücker volunteered to remain in Stralsund and continued defending the city until until December, when he was finally forced to surrender.

After being taken prisoner, Dücker was allowed to go to Hamburg on a word of honour to nurse his wounds. He stayed in Hamburg from 1716 to 1717 before travelling to London and then to Gothenburg, arriving there in January 1718. In April, Dücker took command of the army stationed in Strömstad and would serve under Charles during the invasion of Norway and the sieging of the Fredriksten fortress. Following Charles' death, Dücker took part in the decision to discontinue the siege and withdraw back to Sweden. According to a story, shortly after the king's death, Dücker is said to have written a letter to Charles Frederick, the Duke of Holstein, urging him to make a claim fro the throne.