Яков фон Кейт: шотландский генерал на русской службе

Scottish Prussian army general (1696–1758)

James Francis Edward Keith (in later years Jakob von Keith; 11 June 1696 – 14 October 1758) was a Scottish soldier and Generalfeldmarschall of the Royal Prussian Army. As a Jacobite he took part in a failed attempt to restore the Stuart Monarchy to Britain. When this failed, he fled to Europe, living in France, and then Spain. He joined the Spanish and eventually the Russian armies and fought in the Anglo Spanish War and the Russo Swedish War. In the latter he participated in the conquest of Finland and became its viceroy. Subsequently, he participated in the coup d'état that put Elizabeth of Russia on the throne. He subsequently served in the Prussian army under Frederick the Great, where he distinguished himself in several campaigns. He died during the Seven Years' War at the Battle of Hochkirch. He received the Black Eagle Order and is memorialised on the Equestrian statue of Frederick the Great.

Keith was born on 11 June 1696 at Inverugie Castle near Peterhead, the second son of Mary Drummond and William Keith. His father, was the 9th Earl Marischal of Scotland, was a Knight of the Order of the Thistle, and a member of the Privy Council of James Francis Edward Stuart. His mother, Mary Drummond, was daughter of James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth (1648–1716), and his first wife, Lady Jane Douglas, the fourth daughter of William Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas. His parents, committed Jacobites, named him after the Great Pretender. He and his brother George (1692/93–1778) were educated by a kinsman, the historian and bishop Robert Keith. After briefly attending the University of Aberdeen, James traveled to study at the University of Edinburgh in preparation for the legal profession. Keith was a keen freemason.

In Imperial Russian service, Keith was initially assigned to command two regiments of foot belonging to Vasily Vladimirovich Dolgorukov's brigade, he asked for a delay of three months in which he could learn the language and practices of the Russian service. He took the time not only to learn the language, but also to learn the Court and its intricate politics. His first mentor there, James Fitz James Stuart, 2nd Duke of Berwick and Duke of Liria, fell into a quarrel with both Dolgorukov and Count Matueof. His commander there, Peter Lacy, had fled Ireland after the Williamite War. He was also one of the first Freemasons active in Russia, as a master of a lodge in Saint Petersburg in 1732–34. He also participated in Elizabeth of Russia's seizure of power in Petersburg. He received the Imperial Order of St Andrew. During the Russo Swedish War of 1741–1743, Keith was briefly de facto Vice Roy of Finland and responsible for the occupying Russian forces, James Keith convened the estates of southwestern Finland on 8 (or 18) September. He proved adept as a capable and liberal civil administrator. In late 1742, Keith was succeeded in the leadership of civil administration of Finland (now based at Turku) by the new Governor General, Johannes Balthasar von Campenhausen.

During the Seven Years' War, Keith held high command in the Prussian army. In 1756, he commanded the troops covering the investment of Pirna, and distinguished himself at Lobositz. The battle at Lobositz was a particularly difficult situation. Frederick, in what was his typical manner, dismissed Austrian capability; he sent his columns directly into a valley surrounded by Croatian sharpshooters. The failure of his troops to make any headway against Lacy's troops, and indeed their apparent collapse, caused Frederick to feel the battle lost, and to leave the field. Upon his departure, command devolved to Keith. Initially Keith made no headway against the Austrian front, but when Lacy was wounded, his subordinates did not have the same command vision, and Keith was able to make some progress against the Austrian front, actually rolling up the Austrian lines to the north and south of Lobositz. The overall Austrian commander, George Browne, had never intended to make this a major battle, and so withdrew the entire force to Budin, approximately away. In 1757, he commanded at the siege of Prague and later, in this same campaign, he defended Leipzig against a greatly superior force. He was also present at Rossbach, and, while the king was fighting at Leuthen, He displayed in numerous campaigns the calm, intelligent and watchful valour which was his chief characteristic. In Finland, he met Eva Merthen. Although they never married, they had several children. Frederick was devastated by Keith's death at Hochkirch.

Many memorials were erected to him by the king, Prince Henry, and others. in which his surname is mispronounced as "Kite." He is memorialised on the Equestrian statue of Frederick the Great (1851). In 1889, the 22nd Infantry Regiment (1st Upper Silesian) was named after him. Hochkirch erected a stone tablet inscribed to Keith outside its church, to stand with others dedicated to the victims of Prussia's defeat by Austria on 14 October 1758. There is also a statue to Keith in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, which was given to the town by William I, King of Prussia, in 1868.