Adrian von Enkevort

Adrian was born in 1603 to Wilhelm von Enkevort, a member of the Enckevort [de] noble family, originating in the Duchy of Brabant. Adrian followed his father's footsteps entering the service of the Electoral Bavarian army. He later joined the allied forces of the Imperial Army, serving under generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein. During the course of the Thirty Years' War, Enkevort distinguished himself at the Battle of Lützen (1632). He represented the Holy Roman Empire in the course of its negotiations with Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, later joining one of Adam Erdmann Trčka von Lípa's infantry regiments in the rank of Oberstleutnant. He appears to have not been affected by an internal purge which resulted in the assassination of Wallenstein and Trčka and the subsequent persecution of their close associates. In July 1635, he was promoted to the rank of colonel and dispatched to Breisach where he joined Charles of Lorraine's campaign to reconquer his duchy from the French and the Bernhardines. In October, after an initial success the Imperial-Bavarian army operating in the region was decimated by an outbreak of Hungarian spotted fever. In 1636, Enkevort was promoted to Generalwachtmeister and sent to the north where he fought under general Ottavio Piccolomini, fighting the French in the Spanish Netherlands and Picardy as part of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–59). Enkevort fought side by side with Johann von Werth, their friendship eased the tensions between the Bavarian and Imperial armies. In October 1637, Enkevort returned to the Rhineland where the Imperialists and their Bavarian allies pushed Bernhard out of his last stronghold in Alsace.^[1]

In early 1638, Bernhard launched an unexpected counter offensive, besieging Rheinfelden. Werth and Federico Savelli collected 2,600 infantry and 4,500 cavalry from the surrounding garrisons, rushing to relieve Rheinfelden. On 28 February, the advance of the Imperialists was blocked by Bernhard's cavalry pickets outside of Beuggen, they then headed towards the west in an attempt to deploy their forces in a more favorable position. The Bavarian cavalry which had reached Karsau ahead of the rest of the army, was attacked and thrown back. Savelli arrived with the infantry in time to support the Bavarians and force Bernhard to retreat towards Bad Säckingen. Lack of any sort of pursuit allowed Bernhard to regroup in Lauffenberg, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) upstream, where he received reinforcements from the other side of the Rhine. At 7:00 a.m. on 3 March, the Imperialist scouts became aware of the enemy presence at Lauffenberg. Before they were able to fully deploy, the Bernhardines fired a musket salvo at half range accompanied by cannon fire. The Imperial and Liga infantry was still reloading their muskets when the Bernhardines charged. The Imperial infantry broke formation, engaging in a disorganized retreat, so did the cavalry. Werth's elite infantry regiment was the only one to resist until it was surrounded and forced to surrender. The Battle of Rheinfelden was disastrous, Werth, Enkevort, general Sperreuter and Savelli were captured along with 3,000 of their men, while 500 were killed. Savelli escaped soon afterwards, after the woman tasked with bringing him food freed him instead. Enkevort spent the next three years in Paris, in relative comfort, even attending society events.^[2]