Count Philip Wilhelm soon took him as a cornet to his regiment, and he fought as a second lieutenant in the War of Spanish Succession. He had been promoted to first lieutenant by the time of the sieges of Kaiserswerth and Venlo. From 1702 he became general adjutant of Dubislav Gneomar von Natzmer. With Natzmer's help, Platen became a deputy in the Gensdarmes' regiment.
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After a three-hour combat, the Prussians drove Milhaud's troopers off, but not before the French despoiled supplies collected for their hungry opponents at the Schloss Boitzenburg. Hearing the sounds of battle, Murat marched north with Grouchy's dragoons. At Wichmannsdorf, three French dragoon regiments got into a brawl with the Gensdarmes Cuirassier Regiment # 10. Murat wiped out the Prussian unit but Hohenlohe managed to slip past him toward Prenzlau.
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Born on his family's estate, Friedersdorf, near Seelow, district of Küstrin; †he entered the cavalry regiment Gensdarmes at the age of 17 and was promoted to commander over the years. In the Battle of Zorndorf he led his regiment with distinction and was promoted to major. He was even awarded the highest decoration of Prussia, the Pour le Mérite. In the battle of Hochkirch he fought and led his troops with success.
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Chandler, p 37 Grouchy's division missed the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt but became deeply involved in the pursuit of the defeated Prussian armies. At Zehdenick on 26 October, Grouchy's division crushed a 1,300-man Prussian brigade, decimating the Königin Dragoon Regiment Nr. 5.Smith, p 227 The next day, the Gensdarmes Cuirassier Regiment Nr. 10 blundered into Grouchy's marching column at Wichmannsdorf near Boitzenburg. Three of Grouchy's regiments attacked the Prussians, trapping them against a marsh and forcing their surrender.
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After entering Dutch service as a youth, Natzmer joined the army of Brandenburg-Prussia in 1677 as a lieutenant in Oberstleutnant Joachim Ernst von Grumbkow's Elite-Eskadron-Dragonern. Natzmer took part in the siege of Stettin and other battles against Sweden, at times as the adjutant of Georg von Derfflinger. Promoted to Stabshauptmann in 1680, he participated in the Great Turkish War in 1686, after which Elector Frederick William named him Generaladjutant. Natzmer formed a new regiment of German nobles known initially as the Grands Mousquetaires and later as the Gensdarmes.
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Near the end of the Seven Years' War Prussian troops conquered the elector of Saxonys hunting lodge, Hubertusburg, near Leipzig. The castle was given to Marwitz by the Prussian king Friedrich II., together with the order to sack it thoroughly. This was intended to be King Frederick's revenge for the sacking of Charlottenburg Palace by Russian, Austrian, and Saxon troops in 1760, depriving him of his highly beloved collection of antiques. Given the order to sack the castle, von der Marwitz replied to his king, "This is unbefitting to an officer of His Majesty" ("es würde sich allenfalls für den Offizier eines Freibataillons schicken, nicht aber für einen Kommandeur Seiner Majestät Gensdarmes") and resigned his commission.
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After a three-hour action, Hohenlohe drove off the French light cavalry brigade, but not before Murat's dragoons captured most of the Gensdarmes Cuirassier Regiment Nr. 10 which was acting as a flank guard.Petre, 241–242 On 28 October, Murat finally ran Hohenlohe to earth at the Battle of Prenzlau. General of Division Emmanuel Grouchy's 2nd Dragoon Division cut a swath through the Prussian column of march, after which General of Division Marc Antoine de Beaumont's 3rd Dragoon Division captured the rear guard. With 3,000 of Lannes' infantry on hand in addition to Lasalle and the dragoons,Petre, 242–246 Murat bluffed Hohenlohe into surrendering his remaining 10,000 troops by falsely claiming that the Prussians were surrounded by overwhelming forces.
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