Carl Rudolf , Duke of Württemberg - Neuenstadt Carl Rudolf ( Neuenstadt am Kocher , 29 May 1667 – Neuenstadt am Kocher , 17 November 1742 ) was third and last Duke of Württemberg - Neuenstadt , army commander in Danish service and Field Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire . Life . Carl Rudolf was the youngest son of Frederick , who had founded the Württemberg - Neuenstadt branch in 1649 , and his wife Clara Augusta von Braunschweig . The young Duke studied in Tübingen and Strassburg . His Grand Tour brought him to Geneva , the south of France , the court of Louis XIV , London and northern Germany . Military career . Already in 1687 he raised a Württemberger Regiment , to support the Republic of Venice in their war against the Ottoman Empire in Greece . Carl Rudolf personally led a company of 150 men and fought during two years in Morea and Negroponte , until he was shot in the chest during the Siege of Negroponte . He survived , but the bullet remained in his lungs for the rest of life . When Carl Rudolf returned to Württemberg in the beginning of 1690 , the War of the Grand Alliance had already started . Carl Rudolf entered in Danish service and went to Ireland to support the Protestant William of Orange against the deposed Catholic King James II of England . The commander of the Danish troops was Carl Rudolf ' s elder brother Ferdinand Wilhelm . Both brothers fought in the victorious Battle of the Boyne . In 1692 both brothers fought the French in Flanders and participated in the battles of Steenkerke and Neerwinden . When the war ended in 1697 , the Danish King sent them to present - day Ukraine , where they supported the Polish - Saxon troops in the Polish – Ottoman War ( 1683 - 1699 ) against the Turks . In 1700 they fought in the Great Northern War against Sweden , but Denmark was forced to retreat from the war in the same year . One year later the War of Spanish Succession broke out , where France was opposed by a British - Dutch - Habsburg coalition . Denmark supported the coalition and Carl Rudolf was sent at the head of an army of 12 , 000 men to the Netherlands . For his actions in 1702 , he was awarded the highest Danish award , the Order of the Elephant . In 1704 he led the Danish troops in the Battle of Blenheim . In the Battle of Ramillies ( 1706 ) and Malplaquet ( 1709 ) he distinguished himself and played an important part in both victories . < br > By the end of the war , he was in command of the entire Danish Army . In the meanwhile , Denmark had reentered the Great Northern War and Carl Rudolf was ordered to take Stralsund from the Swedish , which he accomplished in 1715 after a long siege . Ruler in Neuenstadt . In 1716 Carl Rudolf ' s eldest brother Frederick August died . He had ruled Neuenstadt since 1682 . Because Frederick August had left no male successors , and the second brother Ferdinand Wilhelm had died in 1701 , the Duchy passed to Carl Rudolf . After 25 years in service , he left the Danish army and returned home . In 1734 he was recalled once more as Generalfeldmarschall of the Holy Roman Empire to defend the Upper Rhine against the French in the War of Polish Succession . In 1737 , the Duke of the main line of the house of Württemberg , Carl Alexander , died unexpectedly in Stuttgart . His son Carl Eugen was only 9 years old , and Carl Rudolf was appointed Regent . Carl Alexander had left the Duchy in a disastrous financial state and was hated by the population . To prevent an uprising , Carl Rudolf accused the Jewish Finance - minister , Joseph Süß Oppenheimer , and had him executed . Shortly after , Carl Rudolf passed on the Regency to Carl Friedrich of Württemberg - Oels , for health reasons . Carl Rudolf died of catarrh in November 1742 , and was buried in the Nikolauskirche in Neuenstadt am Kocher . Carl Rudolf never married , but lived together with Marie Therese de La Contry . They had no children .