Career
Leopold was Captain in the 2nd Regiment Orange-Nassau. During the French occupation, he was also the governor of The Hague. After the French troops, under the command of Charles-François Lebrun, 1st Duke of Plaisance, had fled the country, he took over the rule of the Netherlands, together with Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp and Frans Adam van der Duyn van Maasdam.
They were called the Driemanschap.
In this temporary government, count Leopold was Minister of War and thus responsible for preventing anarchy and also making sure the Netherlands wouldn"t be annexed to Prussia or England. The three statesmen invited the almost forgotten prince William VI of Orange, the later King William I, to The Hague to establish the monarchy.
On November 30, 1813 Limburg Stirum welcomed the prince on the beach of Scheveningen and on December 6 the provisional government offered him the title of King. William refused, instead proclaiming himself "sovereign prince".
He also wanted the rights of the people to be guaranteed by "a wise constitution".
He became king William I of the Netherlands in 1815. He confirmed count Leopold as governor of The Hague and named him lieutenant general. In 1828 he became general of the infantry.
They had four children:
Wilhelmina Frederica Sophia, countess van Limburg Stirum (born 1784, died 1870);
Otto January Herbert, count van Limburg Stirum (born 1789, died 1851).
Frederik Govert, count van Limburg Stirum (born 1790, ka Leipzig 1813). They had one daughter who died at the age of 5:
Marie Johanna Leopoldine, countess van Limburg Stirum (born 1803, died 1808).