Claude Frédéric t'Serclaes, Count of Tilly

Claude Frederic T'Serclaes, Count of Tilly, was a soldier and later general in the Dutch States Army. He was born in 1648 to Jean Werner T'Serclaes Tilly Marbais and Marie Françoise de Montmorency Robecq. He was a younger brother of Albert Octave who would make a brilliant career with Philip V of Spain. The relation of these brothers to the Tilly of the Thirty Years War was that their grandfather was a younger brother of him.

Claude Frédéric t'Serclaes, Count of Tilly
Claude Frederic T'Serclaes, duke of Tilly, painted by Johann Valentin Tischbein, ca 1750
Born	July 1648 Brussels, Spanish Netherlands
Died	April 1723 (aged 74–75) Maastricht, Dutch Republic
Buried	Basilica of Saint Servatius, Maastricht
Allegiance	Dutch Republic
Service/branch	Dutch States Army
Years of service	1667 – 1723
Rank	Field marshal
Battles/wars	War of Devolution Franco-Dutch War Nine Years' War War of the Spanish Succession

In 1667 Tilly entered Spanish service, but switched to Dutch service in 1672, even though he was a Catholic. In the Dutch army he took part in the Franco-Dutch War, Nine Years' War and the War of Spanish Succesion. In the War of Spanish Succession he, together with the Lord of Slangenburg commandeded a small surrounded Dutch army at the Battle of Ekeren which broke out and defeated a much larger Franco-Spanish force. When field marshal Lord Overkirk died in 1708, Tilly became the supreme commander of the Dutch army in the Netherlands. While he was already made field marshal in 1701 by Leopold I, the Dutch States General didn't officially gave him that position, because that would offend the Frisians who wanted their stadtholder, the Prince of Orange in that position. Together with Malborough and Eugene of Savoy, Tilly as head of the Dutch forces defeated the French at Malplaquet, although the Dutch army suffered very heavy losses that day.

Tilly would marry Anne Antoinette d'Aspremont-Lynden countess of Reckheim. Anne would often stay with him in the field.