Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg was born in German in 1661. Schulenburg was a nobleman and general who was involved with the Prussian and Venetian armies early in the 1700s.
The Turks were on the move in 1716, and set up a siege of Corfu. If the Turks had won that battle - supposedly the seventh between the two sides - they might have gone on to take over Venice and large portions of the rest of Europe. The Turkish side had 71,000 troops and 71 ships, while the defenders of the island numbered only 2,500. A variety of other countries, from Tuscany to Portugal and Spain, send ships to help.
Schulenburg was organizing defenses, and the first thing he did was to stop the panic. Many had been trying to leave the island by any means, and that ended. that thought. The Turks arrived on July 8, and stayed until August 22. The two sides were involved in some big battles. But Corfu received a huge break when a terrible storm broke on August 20, destroying ships and killing soldiers. That was the ballgame. About 800 members of the Corfu side died, but they had saved their island and maybe the continent.
Schulenburg earned a nice pension for his efforts. What's more, a statue was made of him ... while he was alive to see it. That's a truly rare honor, particularly at that time. Here are more details for those interested.
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