HERWARTH VON BITTENFELD, hĕr'värt
fṓn bĭt'ten-fĕlt, (1796-1884). A Prussian general. He was born at Grosswerther in Prussia, and entered the army in 1811. He gained his first laurels in the War of Liberation, especially in the battle of Leipzig. In 1848 he commanded the First Regiment of
the Guards. During the war with Denmark in
1864 he acquired fame through his daring crossing
of the Sound and capture of the isle of Alsen. In the campaign of 1866 he was in command of the right wing of the army which advanced into Bohemia. He bore the brunt of the fighting at Hühnerwasser and Münchengrätz, and contributed materially to the victory of Sadowa. On the outhreak of the war of 1870 he was appointed governor of the Rhenish Provinces, and in the next year he was raised to the rank of general-field-marshal.