Robert Scipio von Lentulus

Lentulus initially refused Frederick's request, but left the Austrian army to go to Bern. After the peace settlement of 1745, Prince Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau intervened with Lentulus and convinced him to enter the Prussian army. Lentulus entered the Prussian army in 1746 as a cavalry officer with a major's commission. Frederick appointed him as a wing adjutant and revised his officer's patent (commission) to the date of the surrender of Prague.^[2] Lentulus married Elisabeth Luise Henriette Auguste Sophie, a daughter of the Minister of State and Count Frederick Albert von Schwerin; upon their marriage Frederick addressed an ode to the couple.^[2][1]

During the Seven Years' War, Lentulus served at the royal headquarters and was sent on several diplomatic missions; and after the Battle of Lobositz, he delivered the victory message to London. He then fought at the Battle of Prague and, subsequently, at the Battle of Kolin. He particularly distinguished himself at the Battle of Rossbach when he pursued the fleeing French army. Subsequently, Lentulus led a brigade formed by the Garde du Corps Cuirassier Regiment Nr. 13 and the Gens d'Armes Cuirassier Regiment Nr. 10. In the Battle of Leuthen, under command of Major General Hans Joachim von Zieten, he again distinguished himself in the attack on the Austrian left flank, and Frederick gave him a reward of a thousand thalers. In 1757, Lentulus was promoted to major general.^[2]

In 1758, Lentulus was named proprietor of Leibregiment zu Pferde Cuirassier Regiment Nr. 3, an office that he would hold until 1778.^[5] In April 1758, he took part in the Siege of Schweidnitz with seven cuirassier regiments and then moved with Frederick's army to Moravia. In the battles of Zorndorf and Hochkirch, he again led by example. In 1759 he served in Silesia. In 1760, he fought at the head of two dragoon regiments in the Battle of Liegnitz, and commanded the post roads in Silesia in the following winter. The end of his service in this war was, for Lentulus, the Battle of Reichenbach on 16 August 1762.^[2]

In 1767, Frederick appointed Lentulus lieutenant general, and in 1768, he was appointed governor of Neuchâtel in Switzerland, then under Prussian rule.^[3] He was officially governor of the city following the Gaudot Affair, a series of demonstrations against the change in tithing and tenancy regulations.^[6] Lentulus gave up the office in 1779.^[2]

As during his entire career in Prussia, Lentulus often belonged to the king's closest circles, especially during the years after the war, where he was valued because of his education and intelligence. As early as 1752 Lentulus was present at the wedding of the brother of King, Henry, with the Hessian Princess Wilhelmine. In 1769, Lentulus was present in Neisse at the meeting of Frederick II with Austrian Emperor Joseph II. Following the First Partition of Poland, Frederick sent him to East Prussia in 1773 to take possession of the newly-acquired province and to establish Prussian rule.^[2]

In 1778–79, Lentulus took part in the service of Prince Henry during the War of Bavarian Succession, but retired because of his old age.^[2] Upon his retirement, Lentulus returned to Bern, where he headed the military system. On the recommendation of Lentulus, the city and the Republic of Bern had already formed the first three Jäger companies in 1768 from good marksmen of the upper regiments.^[2]

Lentulus died in 1786 on his estate at Parc de Mon Repos near Bern, where his grave is located on the highest point of the Lentulus hill, named after him. Nearby, a street was named after Lentulus.^[1]

He was Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle.^[2] In 1851, his name was included on the Equestrian statue of Frederick the Great, among the other men who helped to found the modern Prussian state.^[7]