Stutterheim: brave soldier, troubled man

Baron Richard von Stutterheim was a courageous officer on the battlefield, but his love of luxuries and gambling brought him to bankruptcy. Graham Jooste tells us about the man after whom the Eastern Cape town is named.

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Richard Carl Gustav Ludwig Wilhelm Julius von Stutterheim was born into nobility in 1815 in the German state of Prussia, and attended a military school in Cologne.

After completing his education, he was posted to a Hussar Regiment stationed at Düsseldorf, with the rank of lieutenant.

After killing a fellow officer in a duel, Von Stutterheim fled to England and served with the British Legion in the Carlist Wars between 1835 and 1838. These were a series of civil wars fought by the followers of Don Carlos of Spain (Carlists) against the Christinos, supporters of Maria Christina, the Queen Mother of Isabel II.

Von Stutterheim distinguished himself in battle, winning several medals, and was promoted to captain.

After three years in the British Army, Von Stutterheim returned to Prussia to continue his interrupted military career, under the flag of Brunswick, a duchy in what is now Germany. He also married Marie von Lauingen, the daughter of a high-ranking forester, through whom he became related to the cream of society. His future in Brunswick seemed promising.

THE FIRST SCHLESWIG

The 'Schleswig-Holstein the major question - and conflict-of that time. It centred around whether the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were Danish or German. In 1848, the German population of these areas rebelled against the king of Denmark and the German Confederation declared its support for them, leading to the First Schleswig War (1848-51).

Von Stutterheim fought in the Brunswick contingent against Denmark, but then had a fierce quarrel with William, Duke of Brunswick over the politics of the war. He resigned his commission, thereby closing a chapter in his life that had hardly begun.

He immediately entered the service of Schleswig-Holstein, as it continued fighting Denmark, and towards the end of the conflict was promoted to chief-ofstaff of the Schleswig-Holstein army.