Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (Ribeauvillé, Alsace, 27 February 1724 – 15 August 1767 in Schwetzingen) was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty. He was the son of Christian III of Palatinate-Zweibrücken and Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken and a member of the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. He was the father of the Bavarian King Maximilian I Joseph. Furthermore, he engaged Nicolas de Pigage to reconstruct his summer palace in Oggersheim.
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Seven Years' War
Frederick Michael was Palatine Fieldmarshal, Governor of Mannheim and finally in 1758 as Fieldmarshal of the Holy Roman Empire commander-in-chief of the Reichsarmee in the Seven Years' War against Frederick the Great.
After the Battle of Rossbach, he managed to build up the whipped imperial army again, for which he received the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. In the fall of 1758 he invaded Saxony, took the fortress Sonnenstein and besieged Leipzig. The following year, Leipzig, Torgau, Wittenberg and Dresden were conquered. He secured Marshal Daun in the Battle of Maxen and was defeated in the Battle of Strehla. 1761, he resigned from his post and handed over the imperial troops to Field Marshal Johann von Serbelloni. After the peace of Hubertusburg Friedrich Michael received the General Command in Bohemia and later became president of the secret military conference.
Family
He married Maria Franziska of Sulzbach, a granddaughter of Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine, and had five children:
Karl II August Christian (1746 – 1795)
Klemens August Joseph Friedrich (1749 – 1750)
Maria Amalie Auguste (1752 – 1828), Married Frederick Augustus I, King of Saxony
Maria Anna (1753 – 1824), Married Duke Wilhelm in Bavaria.
Maximilian I (1756 – 1825), King of Bavaria
He also had an illegitimate son by his mistress, Louise Cheveau :
Karl Friedrich Stephan (1767 – 1834), Baron of Schönfeld (1813), Count of Otting and Fünfstetten (1817). His daughter Luise married August von Senarclens de Grancy.