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Johann Friedrich von Salm-Grumbach (November 5, 1743 - September 11, 1819) belonged to the noble family of the Wild and Rhine Counts, specifically from the Salm-Grumbach lineage. He played a significant role as colonel of a legion in the service of the States of Holland and West Friesland during the mid-1780s. This period was marked by the conflict between patriots and orangists, which eventually saw the Dutch stadtholder William V of Orange solidify his position, largely due to the Prussian invasion of Holland in 1787.

Life
Johann Friedrich was born to the Rhine Count Karl Walrad Wilhelm zu Salm-Grumbach (1701-1763) and his wife Juliane Franziska, a born Countess of Prösing und Limpurg (1709-1775). He grew up in Henri-Chapelle, close to Aachen. He had numerous siblings and became co-heir of the Limpurg-Sontheim dominion, which was sold to Württemberg in 1781. prince of Salm-Kyrburg, with a “rhinegrave” being a German count ruling “the area north of a bend in the Rhine to the east of Wiesbaden”.

Military career
Johann Friedrich's military career took him into the French army, where he held the rank of Maréchal de camp. In Dutch service, he commanded a battalion of the infantry regiment "Saxe-Gotha" in 1772. However, it was his role as the commander of a legion in 1784 that marked a significant shift. He raised a force of about 1000 soldiers and 450 horsemen and in 1784, he transferred to the service of the States of Holland and West Friesland, an entity of the States General. They were dominated by the oppositional Patriot movement, which fought the quasi-monarchical position of the stadtholder in the Dutch Republic of the United Netherlands. In this struggle, the grouping allied itself with the French King Louis XVI.

Johann Friedrich played an important role as a military leader of the Dutch Republic during the era of the Patriots as a negotiator with the Austrian emperor Joseph II, to dismantle the Barrier treaties 1709-1715. As commander of the Legion of the Rhine (Legioen van de Rijngraaf van Salm), formed by Count of Salm during the Kettle War in 1784, his troops were responsible for the defense of the republic. The troops included eight companies of Cavalry (Hussars and Cuirassiers), two companies of Jaegers, and six companies of Foot, including sharpshooters. In 1786, Holland employed him to maintain an army, but six months later dismissed his regiment to save money. In Amsterdam a fund was set up to support his troops so that Von Salm, eager to replace the Stadtholder, could remain. On May 12, 1787 Johann Friedrich led the army to Utrecht, to protect the Patriot occupation of the "democratic Eldorado". De vroedschap van Utrecht stelde in verband hiermee op 7 juni 1787 kolonel Frederik rijngraaf van Salm tot generaal en bevelhebber van de troepen van de stad. On the 28 June, he marched to Woerden to capture princess Wilhelmina of Prussia, the wife of the Prince of Orange. When Frederick William II of Prussia invaded the Dutch Republic, Frederick left Utrecht three days later, without giving battle. His regiment retreated through Amsterdam to Weesp, and Frederick endured heavy criticism.

6 Juli werd op voorstel van Salm aan Vérac geschreven om fransche ingenieurs en artilleristen. 15 Juli werd Ondaatje tot generaal-adjudant van den Rijngraaf aangesteld.

the States had appointed the Rhingrave of Salm their Commander in chief, a prince without talents, without courage, and without principle. he might have held out in Utrecht for a considerable time, but he surrendered the place without firing a gun, literally run away & hid himself so that for months it was not known what was become of him. Amsterdam was then attacked and capitulated.

De rijngraaf F. van Salm deelde de Commissie van Defensie te Woerden mee, dat hij niet in staat was om Utrecht te verdedigen. Hij wilde de stad verlaten en met het leger terugtrekken naar Holland. De Commissie gaf hem op 14 September 1787 het volgende schriftelijk bevel: "omme bij aannadering van Pruisische troupes zoo dra zulks na zijn oordeel de hoogste nood vorderen mogt, met de manschappen onder zijn commando staande de stad Utrecht te verlaten en verder de garnizoenen van Vianen, Schoonhoven en Oudewater benevens alle andere posten naar zich te trekken en zich met dezelven te begeven naar de provintie Holland, op en in alle zodanige plaatsen als de rhijngrave ter beveiliging derzelve provintie zal nodig oordelen" 28. De rijngraaf vluchtte een dag later de stad uit en ging met zijn troepen naar Amsterdam. Naderhand zou de Commissie de rijngraaf ervan beschuldigen, dat hij de stad te vroeg had verlaten, waardoor de vijand de stad zonder slag of stoot kon binnen trekken.

There are different versions of what happened next. He may have remained hidden for a few months in the house of Henry Hope. Possibly, he secretly left the city of Amsterdam within a week and stopped in Jever, but as East-Frisia was Prussian, that is not very likely. He may have fled to his brother at Grumbach in the Rhineland-Palatinate In the summer of 1788, one of the leading patriots Pieter Paulus refused to admit him on a visit to Paris. In 1791, Quint Ondaatje, his personal assistant, wrote him an apology.