George Fleetwood (Swedish general)

Baron George Fleetwood (1605–1667) was an Englishman who became a Swedish general and baron.

Life

He was second son of Sir Miles Fleetwood of Cranford and Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, receiver of the court of wards, and brother of Charles Fleetwood, the parliamentary general. George was baptised at Cople, Bedfordshire, 30 June 1605. In 1629 he raised a troop of horse with which he went to Germany and joined the Swedish army fighting in the Thirty Years War under Gustavus Adolphus, who gave him the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He returned to England, and having collected a regiment of foot conducted it to the scene of war in 1630. He became a Swedish knight 3 June 1632, was present at the battle of Lützen, and in 1636 was sent on a mission to England. He was commandant of Greifswald and Colberg in 1641, and having returned to Sweden in 1653 was raised to the rank of baron by Queen Christina, 1 June 1654.^[1]

In 1655 he was sent by Charles X as envoy extraordinary to Oliver Cromwell, in response to Bulstrode Whitelocke's embassy. He was accompanied by his eldest son, Gustavus Miles Fleetwood, who was enrolled among the life-guard of Charles II, and pursued his education in England. Fleetwood became a Swedish lieutenant-general in 1656, and, having left England in 1660, member of the council of war in 1665.^[1]

Family

In 1640 he married Brita Gyllenstjerna; they had four sons and two daughters. He died 11 June 1667, and was buried at Nyköping.^[1]

Notes

1. Derby 1889, p. 266.

References

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Derby, Charles Henry (1889). "Fleetwood, George (1605-1667)". In Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography 19. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 266.