Sebottendorf was born in Luxembourg in the Austrian Netherlands on 17 July 1740 of parents Oberst (Colonel) Johann Moritz Sebottendorf van der Rose (d. 1760) and Maria Anna Bodek von Ellgau (d. 1791). After military studies at the Wiener-Neustadt Academy, he joined the Austrian "Waldeck" Infantry Regiment # 35 in 1758. By the time of the War of the Bavarian Succession he had risen in rank to Captain. In 1779 an inquiry acquitted him after he was accused of cowardice. He earned promotion to Major in 1784, Oberst-Leutnant in March 1787, and Oberst in October 1787.