Ludwig von Schlotheim

Ludwig Karl von Schlotheim
(22.8.1818 - 7.4.1889)
place of birth: Uthlebe, Thüringen (Thuringia)

Prussian cavalry general von Schlotheim was the son of Imperial Saxon officer Günther von Schlotheim and his wife Louise von Hopffgarten. His parents having died when he was fairly young, Ludwig spent his formative years with relatives living at Schlotheim Castle. He launched his military career in 1836 when he joined the 12th Hussar Regiment in Kölleda. In the early 1850s, he spent some time working as a IV. Army Corps staff officer under future Prussian Chief of General Staff Helmuth von Moltke the Elder.

Prior to the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, von Schlotheim was engaged as General Herwarth von Bittenfeld's chief of staff at VIII. Army Corps headquarters in Koblenz. He continued in this role during the War when Herwarth von Bittenfeld headed up the Elbarmee (Army of the Elbe). During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, he was likewise the chief of staff in Crown Prince Albert von Sachsen's Maasarmee, which fought against Napoleon III in the Battle of Sedan. After the War, he commanded 17th Infantry Division in Schwerin and in 1880 replaced General Graf von Bose as commander of XI. Army Corps in Kassel, a posting he held for the next nine years.