Mortaigne was born in 1609, to a Flemish Lutheran family. Mortaigne became a
squire of Prince Philipp, son of
Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, while he was pursuing a military education in the
Netherlands. On 17 August 1626, Philipp was killed while fighting for the Protestant side at the Battle of Lutter. Following his master's death Mortaigne entered the service of
Sweden, becoming colonel in 1637. The course of the Swedish intervention into the Thirty Years' War was abruptly interrupted in the aftermath of the 10 May 1641 death of
Johan Banér, the commander of the Swedish expeditionary force. Mortaigne became a leader of a large scale mutiny which paralyzed the Swedish army, demanding the immediate payment of their arrears. In July 1641, Mortaigne and
Adam von Pfuhl were invited into
Stockholm as representative of the mutineers. Mortaigne was promoted into
brigadier general and received land in
Pomerania, while the rest of the army was paid the sum of 486,200
thalers settling the crown's debts. During the course of 1642, Mortaigne was severely injured during an engagement in the vicinity of
Brieg and took later part in the
second Battle of Breitenfeld. In 1643, Mortaigne's forces ravaged through
Moravia. On 12 February 1645, he was captured by an
Imperial patrol outside
Borna while carrying a portfolio of important documents. He was released on ransom, later commanding the Swedish center at the
Battle of Jankau. In 1646, he returned to the
Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel with the approval of
Christina, Queen of Sweden, receiving the rank of
general-lieutenant. He led Hesse-Kassel's troops during the
Hessian War. On 10 July 1647, a cannonball crushed his left leg, gravely wounding him while he was besieging the
Rheinfels Castle. ==Notes==