Friedrich Wilhelm Rüstow (25 May 1821 – 14 August 1878) was a Prussian-born Swiss soldier and military writer.
Rüstow was born in Brandenburg an der Havel in the Province of Brandenburg. He entered the Prussian Army and served for some years, until the publication of Der deutsche Militärstaat vor und während der Revolution (Zürich, 1850). He was sentenced by a court-martial to a long term of fortress imprisonment, but succeeded in escaping to Switzerland, where he obtained a military posting. By 1857 he was a major on the engineer staff.
Three years later Rüstow accompanied Giuseppe Garibaldi in the famous expedition against the Two Sicilies as colonel and chief of the staff, and to him must be ascribed the victories of Capua (September 10, 1860) and Volturno (October 1, 1860). At the end of the campaign he settled down in Zürich. At the outbreak of the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, he offered his services to Prussia, but was rejected. In 1878, on the foundation of a military professorship at Zürich, Rüstow applied for the post, and, on its being given to another officer, lost heart and committed suicide at Aussersihl near Zürich.
Two of Rüstow's younger brothers were distinguished Prussian soldiers, Alexander Rüstow and Caesar Rüstow. He was also the great-uncle of the sociologist Alexander Rüstow.
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Amongst Rüstow's works, which covered nearly every branch of the military art, a large number must be mentioned.
He also wrote Annalen des Königreichs Italien (Zürich, 1862-63). See Zernim, "F. W. Rüstow," in Unsere Zeit. vol. 2 (Leipzig, 1882).