[1] Winterfeldt entered the cuirassier regiment of his uncle, Major General von Winterfeld, where he served until 1720; he was promoted cornet after two years service.

He was fortunate enough, by his stature and soldierly bearing, to attract the notice of Frederick William I, who transferred him to the so-called giant regiment of grenadiers as a lieutenant.

This intimacy, in view of his personal relations with the king, made Winterfeldt's position very difficult, for Frederick William and his son were badly estranged over the Katte Affair; eventually the prince was brought before a court-martial by his father, on the charge of attempting to desert, and was condemned to death.

He then commanded a grenadier battalion with great distinction at the Battle of Mollwitz, and won further glory in the celebrated minor combat of Rothschloss, where the Prussian hussars defeated the Austrians on 17 May 1741.

One month later, Winterfeldt was made a colonel, as also was Zieten, the cavalry leader who had actually commanded at Rothschloss; the latter, as the older in years and service, resented the rapid promotion of his junior.

[2] In the short peace, he was in constant attendance upon the king, who employed him again, when the war was resumed, in the same capacity as before, and, after he had been instrumental in winning a series of successful minor engagements.

At the Battle of Hennersdorf, Zieten repulsed the sudden and unexpected assault of the united Austro-Saxon force; Winterfeldt arrived on the field in time to take a decisive part in the victory.

During the ten years peace that preceded the next great war, Winterfeldt was in constant attendance upon the king, except when employed on confidential missions in the provinces or abroad.

After the defeat of Kolin, however, Winterfeldt, whom Frederick seems to have regarded as the only man of character whom he could trust to conduct the more delicate and difficult operations of the retreat, found himself obliged to work in close contact with the king's brother, Prince William, Zieten and others of the men who considered him their enemy.

[4] The operations which followed may be summarized by the phrase everything went wrong; after an angry scene with his brother, Prince William retired from the army, and when Frederick gave Winterfeldt renewed marks of his confidence, the general animosity reached its height.