Friedrich Wilhelm Rüstow (1821-1878) was a Swiss soldier and military writer.

Prussian by birth, he entered the army of his native country, and served for some years, until the publication of Der deutsche Militärstaat vor und während der Revolution (Zürich, 1850). He was sentenced by a court-martial to a long term of fortress imprisonment, but succeeded in escaping to Switzerland, where he obtained a military posting. By 1857 he was major on the engineer staff.

Three years later he accompanied Garibaldi in the famous expedition against the two Sicilies as colonel and chief of the staff, and to him must be ascribed the victories of Capua (September 10, 1860) and the Volturno (October 1, 1860). At the end of the campaign he settled down in Zürich. At the outbreak of the war of 1870 he offered his services to Prussia, but was rejected. In 1878, on the foundation of a military professorship at Zürich, Rüstow applied for the post, and, on its being given to another officer, lost heart and committed suicide.

Two of his younger brothers, both Prussian soldiers, were also distinguished men: Alexander Rüstow and Caesar Rüstow

Amongst FW Rüstow's works, which covered nearly every branch of the military art, a large number must be mentioned.

Historical:

  • Heerwesen und Kriegführung Julius Casars (Gotha, 1855; 2nd ed., Nordhausen, 1862)
  • Kommentar zu Napoleon III's Geschichte Julius Cäsars (Stuttgart, 1865-67)
  • Geschichte des griechischen Kriegswesens (in collaboration with Kochly, Aarau, 1852)
  • Militar. Biographen (David, Xenophon, Montluc) (Zürich, 1858)
  • Geschichte der Infanterie (Gotha, 1857-58; 3rd ed., 1884)
  • Die Ersten Feldzuge Napoleons 1796-1797 (Zürich, 1867)
  • Der Krieg von 1805 in Deutschland und Italien (Frauenfeld, 1854)
  • Geschichte des Ungarischen Irisurrektionkrieges 1848-49 (Zürich, 1860)
  • reminiscences of 1860 in Italy (Leipzig, 1861)
  • monograph on the campaigns of 1848-49 in Italy (Zürich, 1849)
  • monograph on the Crimean War (Zürich, 1855-56).
Critical and General
  • Allgemeine Taktik (Zürich, 1858; 2nd ed., 1868)
  • Kriegspolitik und Kriegsgebrauch (Zürich, 1876)
  • Militar-Handworterbuch (Zürich, 1859)
  • Die Feldherrenkunst des 19. Jahrhunderts (Zürich, 1857; 3rd ed., 1878-79)
  • ''Der Krieg und seine Mittel (Leipzig, 1856).
He also wrote Annalen des Königreichs Italien (Zürich, 1862-63). See Zernim, "F. W. Rüstow," in Unsere Zeit. vol. 2 (Leipzig, 1882).

Reference