LESLIE, WILLIAM [SSNE 305]
Text source
William Leslie was listed as a captain in Hamburg's service. Duke Johan Adolf of Schleswig-Holstein promised him a position in Danish serVice, but seemingly as a volunteer. He was wounded at the siege of Wismar in 1676. He then became a major with Count Rantzau's dragoons. Unruly, tried at court martial and dismissed in 1676. He then entered Swedish service, where he was listed as a colonel under King Karl XI but left in 1684, wishing to return to Danish service and offered to raise, or complete a regiment for Danish service with recruits.
A corporal „Wilhelm Lesslie“, who – according to documents in the Estonian national archives - in February 1665 was plaintiff in a libel suit, may well be the same as the later colonel William Leslie. Born around 1640, he may have been a son of the merchant Alexander Leslie [SSNE 4947]. He may also have been the father of Johannes (Gustav) von Leslie, born around 1674, who from 1705 until 1738 served the Palatine Elector as major and colonel of the Guard Grenadier Regiment. This Johannes von Leslie died at Mannheim on 3 September 1752.
Sources:
Rahvusarhiiv Tartus EAA.858.2.2075 (20.02.1665); Swedish Riksarkiv, P. Sondén, Militärachefer I svenska arméen och deras skrivelser; J.C.W. Hirsch and K. Hirsch, (eds.), 'Fortegnelse over Dansk og Norske officerer med flere fra 1648 til 1814', (12 vols. Copenhagen, compiled 1888-1907), VI, vol.4; T. Riis, Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot (Odense, 1988), II, p.91; Bunz, Rainer. 2018. Von Leslie – Schottischer Adel in Deutschland und Österreich. Norderstedt: BoD – Book on Demand, pp. 127 f., 143.
This article was revised on 20 June 2020 by Rainer Bunz.
Service record
- HAMBURG, ARMY
- Arrived 1675-01-01, as CAPTAIN
- Departed 1675-12-31, as CAPTAIN
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
- DENMARK-NORWAY, RANTZAU'S DRAGOONS
- Arrived 1676-01-01, as CAPTAIN
- Departed 1676-12-31, as CAPTAIN
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
- SWEDEN, SWEDISH ARMY
- Arrived 1677-01-01, as COLONEL
- Departed 1684-12-31, as COLONEL
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MLITARY
- DENMARK-NORWAY, DANISH ARMY
- Arrived 1684-01-01, as COLONEL
- Departed 1684-12-31, as COLONEL
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY