Baron Von Steitencron

Natal Witness 10th april 1879
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His name was actually spelt as follows: Lieut. Baron Otto von Stietencron.
however, I've examined the family tree of the Barons von Stietencron and I can find no-one with that forename, though Otto does appear as a middle name for some men (all of whom can be accounted for and were not him).
I'm a bit puzzled.  Might he have come from a junior branch and not actually held the title?  Might he have been a foreign adventurer with no real connexion to the Austrian family at all and simply 'used' the title/surname to get himself a commission in the FLH?
In fact I can find no Austrian barony of that name; the only one is a German one.

Apparently, all German (and presumably Austrian) males of a baronial family inherit the title Baron (Freiherr) and females Baroness (Freiin) from birth. There is no primogeniture so he could conceivably have come from a cadet line.

Julian,

Given that he rode with the other imposter, Aylward, nothing would surprise me!

JY

After much searching I found him.  He was not an impostor but the real deal.  A younger brother from the senior line.  His full name was Otto Ludwig Klaus August von Stietencron (ADMIN can you change the thread title to reflect the correct spelling?).  Born 19.8.1845 in the Principality of Lippe, now in Saxony, NOT Austria.

Julian,

Still a “war criminal” against the BaPedi though.

JY

Really? Inverted commas aside, under which international treaty do you reckon that to be the case?

Yes, I believed that the baron was cited by Lanyon for atrocities committed during the Transvaal/BaPedi conflict. The baron was part of Aylward’s motley crew employed by President Thomas Francois Burgers.

JY

Well, thank goodness they weren't in the employ of the British Government!

Re Baron Otto, Freiherr von Stietencron. There was such a lot of speculation and nonsense talked abut him at one time that I decided to look him up in Austrian military records (most of which I have now forgotten).
He most certainly was  baron - his father pre-deceased him and he inherited the title. When he was killed in Zululand, a very brief Notice of Death in an Austrian paper announced that his next of kin was his mother, Baroness von Stietencron, and that she was his sole heir and would inherit his property etc.
The Imperial Austrian army lists show that he served from at least 1863, when he was a Cadet in 8th Jager Battalion and as a junior officer (never higher than Oberleutnant) in an elite Austrian cavalry regiment through the 1860s - in the 2nd Uhlans as Unterleutnant by 1866; Oberleutnant as of 1st Nov. 1868. Still in that regt. in same rank in 1872 when the regt. was at Tarnow in Galicia. So he was certainly a trained cavalry officer, but he does not seem to have had any war service (e.g. Austro-Prussian or Franco-Prussian), though this is of course possible, given the dates; he is simply being recorded in the various depots to which his regiments were posted within the Austrian empire.
What possessed him to leave what was undoubtedly a high-status life and military career and head off for the depths of South Africa is unknown - perhaps some personal or financial crisis. The noticeable lack of any serious or detailed obituaries for him in the Austrian or German press in 1879 may suggest there was something to be masked. Or perhaps it was simply a desire for something novel or a sense of adventure. We will probably never know!

lydenburg
Interesting and raises more questions than answers. Why would a German national have served in the Austrian army? Especially after (during?) the Bruderkrieg which might have placed him in a difficult position. Why did he leave the Austrian army and what was he doing in Africa?

Re von Strietencron:
There were such close links between the aristocracy in the German State and Austria that presence in an Austrian regiment is perhaps not surprising.
Why he threw it all in for South Africa is unknown.

lydenburg
I have sent you a pm!

Baron von Stietencron - I have added a few more facts to the above since I have found some of my old notes!

Thanks. Invaluable.