Johann Friedrich von Salm-Grumbach

Johann Friedrich von Salm-Grumbach (5 November 1743 – 11 September 1819) was a member of the noble family of Wild and Rhinegrave from the line of Salm-Grumbach. In the mid-1780s, he served as colonel of a legion of the States General of the Netherlands, then of the States of Holland and West Friesland. As the intended successor to Field Marshal Duke Louis Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who had left the Netherlands in October 1784, he played a significant role in the conflict between the Dutch Patriots and Orangists until mid-September 1787.

Supported by the Patriots, who advocated for a representative representation of the bourgeoisie, he temporarily assumed the position of de facto general and commander-in-chief of the armed forces in Holland in 1786; de jure, Albert van Rijssel was appointed. Later, he commanded several Free Corps in Utrecht until the Prussian invasion of Holland in 1787 strengthened the position of the Stadtholder William V of Orange again. Criticism of Salm's military judgment arose primarily due to the hasty evacuation of Utrecht; afterwards, he was often referred to as a "stylish failure".

For many years, Johann Friedrich von Salm-Grumbach has been confused with Prince Frederick III, Prince of Salm-Kyrburg in various writings, which have been written in several languages. Contemporaries such as the Duke of Brunswick, his former adjutant Quint Ondaatje, August Ludwig Schlözer, and General Von Pfau, as well as many other German historians, hold a different opinion.