A curious passage in a book about the Second World War

"Baron Heinrich von Luettwitz was...leader of the German Olympic Equestrian Team. Because it did not win the Gold Medal, Luettwitz's career suffered, and he served in backwater posts until the invasion of the Soviet Union... Finally, Major Generel Walter Nehring... rescued Luettwitz from professional exile and gave him command of the 101st Motorized Infantry Regiment... He was abruptly relieved on orders from Berlin in January 1941. Nehring strongly protested, as did Guderian and Heopner. This led to Luettwitz being given command of the 59th Rifle Regiment of the 20th Panzer Division, which he led in Russia (1941-42). After Stalin's winter offensive was checked, Luettwitz commanded the 20th Rifle Brigade (1942), the 13th Panzer Division (1942-43), and the 2nd Panzer Division (1944). He was a very good divisional commander but was less successful commanding a corps, especially in the Battle of the Bulge, where he received the answer 'Nuts' from the American commander of Bastogne, whose surrender he had demanded."

-- Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Retreat from the Reich: The German Defeat in France, 1944