Henri Louis La Fayette Villaume Ducoudray Holstein (born Heinrich Ludwig Villaume, on 23 September 1772 in

Schwedt/Oder Schwedt (or Schwedt/Oder; ) is a town in Brandenburg, in northeastern Germany. With the official status of a '' Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (major district town), it is the largest town of the Uckermark district, located near the river Oder ...

Uckermark The Uckermark () is a historical region in northeastern Germany, straddles the Uckermark (district), Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau. Geogra ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

– died on 23 April 1839 in Albany, New York) was a soldier in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, and an author in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Biography

Decoudray Holstein was an officer in the French Army under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

and was taken prisoner in Cádiz, Spain. In 1813 Ducoudray Holstein departed for

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

but was denied entry in the U.S. Army. In 1814 he arrived at

Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...

, where he joined

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...

and was appointed officer in the army. With the grade of colonel he was an eye witness of the crucial revolutionary years 1814-1816. In Cartagena he was first in the Corsairs of French privateer

Louis Aury Louis-Michel Aury (1788 – August 30, 1821) was a French privateer operating in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean during the early 19th century. Early life Louis Michel-Aury was born in Paris, France, around 1788. French Navy Louis Aury ser ...

, with whom he maintained a friendship, and later at militia corps of General Manuel del Castillo y Rada es , who just fought the royalists of

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...

during the liberation wars on the

Río Magdalena The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...

. As in January 1815 entered a government crisis due to several coups in a short time with continued coups, he starred opposite del Castillo y Rada, which ended the political instability militarily. Here he married the neogranadine María del Carmen. While general

Pablo Morillo Pablo Morillo y Morillo, Count of Cartagena and Marquess of La Puerta, a.k.a. ''El Pacificador'' (The Peace Maker) (5 May 1775 – 27 July 1837) was a Spanish general. Biography Morillo was born in Fuentesecas, Zamora, Spain. In 1791 ...

siege of Cartagena from late August to early December 1815, he served as General defending the fortress Boca Chica on the island of Tierra Bomba in the harbor entrance. The day before the surrender fled to Haiti with the Venezuelan officers of Bolivar on the ship of his friend, the naval commander of Cartagena, Louis Aury. He met the Liberator Simón Bolívar in January 1816 in

Port Au Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is defin ...

and joined him. Holstein took part in Les Cayes Expedition to liberate Venezuela from Spanish rule. Landing at

Margarita A margarita is a cocktail consisting of Tequila, triple sec, and lime juice often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight up). T ...

island in May 1816 support the local establishment Bolivar as commander in chief. Despite the surprising taking of

Carúpano Carúpano is a city in the eastern Venezuelan state of Sucre. It is located on the Venezuelan Caribbean coast at the opening of two valleys, some 120 km east of the capital of Sucre, Cumaná.Ocumare de la Costa Ocumare de la Costa () is a small coastal town and the capital of the Ocumare de la Costa de Oro Municipality, located 25 miles north of Aragua, Venezuela. Called simply ''Ocumare'', the colonial town sits at the skirts of the Venezuelan Coastal ...

and left on June 23, the army of Bolivar. He embarked again to Haiti where disappointed with the womanizing and totalitarian behavior of Simón Bolívar "in his eyes" who has repeatedly fled during engagements against the Spanish enemy, Ducoudray Holstein resigned in 1816, left Bolívar army and moved to Aux Cayes, Haiti in order to get by there as a bookseller and music teacher. His experience with Bolívar and with the independence wars in Venezuela are described in He later moved to the United States, settling in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, where he became a language teacher and editor of ''The Zodiac''.

Family

He married Maria del Carmen (c. 1800

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

- 1 May 1855

); they had son Lafayette Ducoudray Holstein (1 August 1826 New York - 7 April 1864).

Works

* ''Recollections of an Officer of the Empire'' * * *

Notes

References

External links