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Alfred van der Smissen, 2nd Baron van der Smissen (1 February 1823 - 16 June 16 1895) was a Belgian general.
Commander of the Legion of Honour
* Order of the Lion and the Sun First Class
* 
Order of the Medjidie Third Class
* 
Military Cross
* 
Order of Saint Anna, 1st class with diamonds
* 
Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle
* 
Cross of Honour 1st Class of the Princely House Order of Hohenzollern
* 
Order of Guadalupe
* 
Grand Cross of the Order of Aviz
* 
Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
* 
Imperial Order of the Mexican Eagle
* 
Knight of the Order of Leopold (Austria)
* 
2nd Class Order of the Crown (Prussia)
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, name=Coat of arms of the van der Smissen family, description=Vert, a castle open argent and masoned sable, each tower surmounted by a hand-grenade sable fired or, in each bottom canton a pile of six roundels sable., motto=''Vestigia nulla retrorsum.'', imagesize=160, coronet=A Belgian Baron's Coronet
Biography
He started his career in the French Foreign Legion before serving in the Belgian Legion in the Second Franco-Mexican War.Family
Alfred van der Smissen is the second son of Jacques Van der Smissen, 1st Baron van der Smissen fr">:fr:Jacques_Van_der_Smissen.html" ;"title="nowiki/>:fr:Jacques_Van_der_Smissen">fr a Belgian artillery officer who enlisted in 1807 in Napoleon's Grande Armée, where he obtained the rank of major. His mother was Louise Catherine Colleton Graves, daughter of Rear Admiral Richard Graves (1758-1836) and niece of Thomas Graves, 1st Baron Graves, who took part in the landing of the French expeditionary force of Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur de Rochambeau near Yorktown.Honours and arms
* Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold
The Order of Leopold ( nl, Leopoldsorde, french: Ordre de Léopold, ) is one of the three current Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the oldest and highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of its founder, King Le ...
* Commander of the Legion of Honour
* Order of the Lion and the Sun First Class
* Order of the Medjidie Third Class
* Military Cross
* Order of Saint Anna, 1st class with diamonds
* Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle
* Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III
The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III ( es, Real y Distinguida Orden Española de Carlos III, originally es, Real y Muy Distinguida Orden de Carlos III) was establ ...
* Cross of Honour 1st Class of the Princely House Order of Hohenzollern
* Order of Guadalupe
* Grand Cross of the Order of Aviz
* Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
* Imperial Order of the Mexican Eagle
* Commemorative medal of the Mexico Expedition
The Commemorative medal of the Mexico Expedition (french: Médaille commémorative de l'expédition du Mexique) was a French commemorative campaign medal established by decree of French emperor Napoleon III on 29 August 1863 to recognize milita ...
* Knight of the Order of Leopold (Austria)
* 2nd Class Order of the Crown (Prussia)
{{Infobox COA wide, image=, name=Coat of arms of the van der Smissen family, description=Vert, a castle open argent and masoned sable, each tower surmounted by a hand-grenade sable fired or, in each bottom canton a pile of six roundels sable., motto=''Vestigia nulla retrorsum.'', imagesize=160, coronet=A Belgian Baron's Coronet
Bibliography
* André Vander Mensbrugghe, « Alfred-Louis-Adolphe Vander Smissen », dans : ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'', tome 22. * Jacqueline Hons, « La légion belge au Mexique », ''Ami'', no 26, novembre 1981. * Eric Taladoire, ''Les contre-guérillas françaises dans les terres chaudes du Mexique (1862-1867)'', l’Harmattan 2016 * Charles Daubige, ''Les vestes rouges au Tamaulipas'', 1876 * Modeste Loiseau, ''Le Mexique et la légion belge (1864-1867)'', Bruxelles : J. De Cocq, 1870 * Emile Walton, ''Souvenirs d’un officier belge au Mexique (1864-1866)'', Ch. Tanera Éditeur, Paris, 1868, p. 172References