Frederick William, Baron de Woedtke [SEP] conflict
Frederick William, Baron de Woedtke
Frederick William, Baron de Woedtke (c. 1740 - July 28, 1776) was a Prussian officer who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
Woedtke came to the new United States after the beginning of the American Revolution. He was said to have served for several years under Frederick II of Prussia, even though he was only twenty-six years old. Congress granted him a commission on 16 March 1776 as a brigadier general and assigned him to the army under
General Philip Schuyler in New York.
En route to serve his new commission in April 1776, Woedtke accompanied Benjamin Franklin, who was on a diplomatic mission to Canada. Charles Carroll, a congressman from Maryland on the same mission, wrote that Frederick William was "not the best bred up by his Prussian Majesty." This may have been a reference to Woedtke's alcoholism.
Baron de Woedtke broke company with the diplomatic mission after reporting to General Schuyler. The two generals joined Brigadier General John Thomas and set out