Johann Dietrich von Hülsen (1 June 1693–29 May 1767) was a Prussian lieutenant general of the infantry. After a lifelong officer's career in various infantry regiments, he acquired the special respect of Frederick II in the Seven Years' War as general, and was honored by him with the appointment as governor of Berlin. During the war, he became a canon to Minden and was awarded the Black Eagle Order and the Order Pour le Mérite. His name appears on the top tier of the Equestrian statue of Frederick the Great.
Family
Hülsen was a son of Johann Friedrich von Hülsen and Rosine Baroness von Königsegg and grew up in the rural surroundings of Rastenburg. He was born on 1 June 1693 in Babaziens. In Fall 1739, he married the twice-widowed Sophie Elisabeth von Kunheim. Their marriage was childless.
Military career
Hülsen's military career modeled that of other Junker sons. Many of the Junkers owned immense estates, especially in the north-eastern half of Germany (i.e., the Prussian provinces of Brandenburg, Pomerania, Silesia, West Prussia, East Prussia and Posen). Their younger sons followed careers as soldiers (Fahnenjunker); consequently, the Junkers controlled the Prussian Army.
At the age of seventeen, Hülsen entered the Prussian Infantry Regiment No. 2 under the command of Lieutenant General Otto Magnus von Doenhoff, became a Fahnrich (cadet) on 8 June 1715, and took part in the Pomerania campaign of the Great Northern War in the same year. In 1721, the regiment was stationed between Insterburg and Rastenburg. Hülsen was promoted to second lieutenant on 1 August 1722, and on 13 July 1728, to first lieutenant. His length of time as a lieutenant, 15 years, were a consequence of his lack of education and polish. Throughout his career, his manners remained rough and his profanity was legendary.
In the War of the Polish Succession, his regiment, now under the command of Field Marshall Erhard Ernst von Röder, moved to Magdeburg, and subsequently to Heidelberg, with Prince Eugene of Savoy. After the winter camp in the Münsterland, the campaign was carried out without success in 1735, and finally the regiment retreated. In Halberstadt, Hülsen was promoted to the staff captain on the occasion of a troop-show before Frederick William I; in April 1738, back in East Prussia, he was promoted to captain, and received his own company.
Wars with Austria
In July 1740, Hülsen was placed as a major in the newly-formed 36th Infantry Regiment under Major General Gustav Bogislaus von Münchow, where he remained for sixteen years. In March 1741, the regiment was deployed in Silesia, later under Reichsgeneralfeldmarschall Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau during the siege of Cosel. After the war, it was stationed in Brandenburg, where Hülsen was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 11 July 1743. In the course of the Second Silesian War, the regiment took part in numerous battles and captured the occupied Cosel on 5 September 1745; subsequently Hülsen was promoted to colonel on 9 November.
In the following peace years, Hülsen emerged above all as a good instructor. On 8 September 1754, now as major general, he was awarded the order Pour le Mérite. After the death of his predecessor, Lieutenant General Asmus Ehrenreich von Bredow, he was appointed Proprietary colonel of the 21st Infantry Regiment on 25 February 1756, which was stationed in Halberstadt and Quedlinburg. He also received an annual pension of 500 thalers.