Walter Leslie (1607–1667)

Walter Leslie (Fetternear House, Aberdeenshire, 1607 – Vienna, 4 March 1667) was a Scottish Soldier and diplomat. He gained the positions of Imperial Field Marshal, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Governor on the Croatian-Slavonian Military Frontier, Imperial Ambassador to Naples, Rome in 1645 and to Constantinople in 1665-1666.

Walter Leslie was born to a prominent Scottish noble family from the Clan Leslie. His father William was the 10th Baron of Balquhain and his mother Joan was a daughter of John Baron of Gogar. In 1647, he married Anna Francesca von Dietrichstein, daughter of Count Maximilian von Dietrichstein. They had no children. He was succeeded by his nephew, Count James Leslie, who continued the Leslie line at the family castle, Nové Město nad Metují.

In 1624, Walter Leslie crossed the North Sea to fight with the Protestant Army of the United Provinces. By 1628, he was in Stralsund in Northern Germany fighting for either the Danes or the Swedes. In 1630, he transferred to the Imperial Army and fought alongside his countryman John Gordon that summer in War of the Mantuan Succession in Northern Italy, under the command of General Albrecht von Wallenstein. Wallenstein was recalled from Italy in 1631. In December 1631 Leslie followed the General to fight in Northern Germany against the Swedes.

By July 1632, Leslie had risen to the rank of oberwachtmeister, or sergeant in the infantry ranks of Count Adam Erdmann Trčka, Wallenstein's brother-in-law, and was still under John Gordon, then lieutenant colonel. The military relationship between Leslie and Gordon would become increasingly important as they became closer to Wallenstein. Leslie fought under Gordon at Bentheim in lower Saxony and at Freistadt in upper Austria. Both men were captured at Freistadt by the Swedes after having had joint command of 1000 Scottish and Irish musketeers. After that, Gordon rose to commander of a regiment and Leslie became his spokesman in court. This was the first time Leslie was put in such a position, although it would not be the last. In November 1632 Leslie fought with Gordon at the Battle of Lützen. That was a Protestant victory, but cost the life of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. After that, they captured Eger and Leslie was again commissioned as Gordon's second in command.

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