The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Fink, Friedrich August von

FINK, or Finck, Friedrich August von, a Prussian soldier, born at Strelitz in 1718, died in Copenhagen, Feb. 24, 1766. He had gained experience in the Austrian and Russian service previous to entering the Prussian army as major in 1743. He was advanced by Frederick the Great to the rank of lieutenant general, and was employed in 1759 to coöperate with the king's brother in Saxony, the chief command being subsequently intrusted to him. After the capitulation of Dresden to the Austrians (Sept. 4), Fink was ordered by the king to Maxen to cut off the enemy's retreat, but was surrounded and overwhelmed by vastly superior forces, and obliged to surrender (Nov. 20). On his return from Austrian captivity he was court-martialled, and, though he had anticipated the Maxen disaster by representing to the king the inadequacy of his resources, was sentenced to a year's imprisonment in the fortress of Spandau. After his release he begged to be dismissed from the Prussian service, and in 1764 became general of infantry in the Danish army. But he felt wronged by the Prussian king's inexorable rigor, and died broken-hearted.