Georg Lybecker

Georg Lybecker (* unknown, † June 4, 1718 in Vårsta ) was a Swedish baron and last Lieutenant-General of the Swedish army.

Family

George was the son of the Swedish Major General and Governor of Göteborg, Kristianstad and Bohuslän Georg Henrik Lybecker and his wife Catharina Grisebach. He had a brother by the name of Hans Philip. In 1707 he was appointed by the Swedish King Charles XII. elevated to Barons.

Military Career

In 1682 was Lybecker captain in the Swedish cavalry. In the Great Northern War the first time he went into the battle of Klissow a name. In 1703 he was promoted to the rank of Major and was appointed the following year to lieutenant colonel of cavalry. In 1705 he expelled the Polish and Saxon troops from Lowicz.

After the dismissal of General Johann Georg Maydell, he was declared in 1707 as governor of Finland. His job was to protect Finland against the Russian attacks. This task proved to be difficult, because the Swedish occupation in Finland was equipped only weak and poor. 1708 Lybecker led his forces on an expedition into the Ingria with the intent to share the Russian armed forces and beating. After initial successes Lybecker was deceived by the Russian General Apraxin with a List. In a fictitious letter to a friend, wrote this that a 40,000 strong army moved directly to Lybecker. The Swedish Major General evacuated his troops by sea, without being entered into contact with the Russians. For this he was severely reprimanded by the Swedish government.

In the same year he was appointed lieutenant general and relieved of his duties as governor of Finland. His successor was Carl Gustaf of Nieroth. After his sudden death in 1712 he was re-appointed governor of Finland. Once again he proved to be very suitable for the defense of the Swedish province. He made no attempt to prevent the landing of Russian troops on the southern coast of Finland. In May 1713 defended by General Carl Gustaf Armfelt city Helsingfors fell. Lybecker, who shunned an open struggle against the Russians, still northern Finland withdrew. The capital Helsinki fell into Russian hands.

Lybecker was ordered back in the fall of 1713 to Stockholm and then brought before a court-martial. The high command of the troops in Finland took over Carl Gustaf Armfelt.

After a lengthy process in which the bishop of Turku ( Åbo Gezelius John the Younger ) testified against him, you could not prove Lybecker personal cowardice and betrayal of the Swedish people. After the return of the Swedish king from his Turkish exile, the trial of Lybecker was adjusted. In the unfinished process of Lybecker counter for damages against the bishop, it was a statement, which he said as commander in chief bishop, undoing. He said: " If the devil does not bring the King, we get no peace! "

Because of this statement Lybecker 1717 was sentenced to " loss of life, honor and property ." He was born on New Year's Day in 1718 by King Charles XII. pardoned and retired to his estate in Vårsta, where he died on 4 June in the same year.