General Baron Hugh Halkett, GCH, CB, (30 August 1783 in

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...

– 10 December 1863 in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, Germany) was a British soldier during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

and later a general of infantry in the Hanoverian service.

Early career

Halkett was born in

, Scotland. He was second son of Major-General F. G. Halkett and brother of Lieutenant General

Colin Halkett General (United Kingdom), General Sir Colin Halkett (7 September 1774 – 24 September 1856) was a British Army officer who became Lieutenant Governor of Jersey. Family Halkett came from a military family. His father was Major General Frederick ...

. From 1798 to 1801, Halkett served in India in the Scottish Brigade, which his father had been instrumental in raising. In 1803 as senior captain, he joined the 2nd Light Infantry Battalion of the newly formed

King's German Legion The King's German Legion (KGL; german: Des Königs Deutsche Legion, semantically erroneous obsolete German variations are , , ) was a British Army unit of mostly expatriated German personnel during the period 1803–16. The legion achieved th ...

(KGL), which was under the command of his brother Colin. The 2nd Light were involved in the Cathcart's expeditions to Hanover,

Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...

and Copenhagen. During this time he was promoted to major and his bold initiative on outpost duty won a commendation. From 1808 until 1813 Halkett fought in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

, except in 1809 when he took part in the

Walcheren Expedition The Walcheren Campaign ( ) was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Sir John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham ...

. He fought at the

Battle of Albuera The Battle of Albuera (16 May 1811) was a battle during the Peninsular War. A mixed British, Spanish and Portuguese corps engaged elements of the French Armée du Midi (Army of the South) at the small Spanish village of Albuera, about south ...

Charles Alten Field Marshal Sir Charles (Carl) August von Alten (21 October 1764 – 20 April 1840) was a Hanoverian and British soldier who led the famous Light Division during the last two years of the Peninsular War. At the Battle of Waterloo, he command ...

's independent KGL brigade. When his brother was promoted to lead the brigade, Halkett took over command of the 2nd Light Infantry Battalion, KGL. At the

Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, so ...

, his battalion fought in John Hope's 7th Division. In the

Siege of Burgos At the siege of Burgos, from 19 September to 21 October 1812, the Anglo-Portuguese Army led by General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington tried to capture the castle of Burgos from its French garrison under the command of General of ...

campaign, he distinguished himself at the

Battle of Venta del Pozo The Battle of Venta del Pozo, also known as the Battle of Villodrigo by the French and Spanish, was a rear-guard action fought as part of the Peninsular War on 23 October 1812 between an Anglo-German force led by Major-General Stapleton Cot ...

. In 1813 he joined the new Hanoverian army. At the Battle of Göhrde he led a brigade of Hanoverian troops in Count

Wallmoden Wallmoden is a village and a former municipality in the district of Goslar in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 November 2021, it is part of the town Langelsheim, of which it is an ''Ortschaft''.Sehestedt Sehestedt ( da, Sehested) is a municipality in the district of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Sehestedt is south of the municipality of Groß Wittensee, Haby or Holtsee, but north of Bovenau, and west of Lindau. It ...

Waterloo and later career

At the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

, Halkett commanded four battalions of Hanoverian ''landwehr'' (militia), which were sent to the front with the regulars. These units were organised into the 3rd Hanoverian Brigade of Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton's 2nd Division. Halkett's brigade was held in reserve on the right flank for most of the battle. After the defeat of

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 ...

Imperial Guard An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops (or a member thereof) of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the Emperor or Empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial forces, in ...

, the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

sent Halkett to pursue the disintegrating French forces. He is remembered for capturing General Cambronne while his Osnabrück Battalion engaged the French Imperial Guard. After Waterloo, Halkett stayed in the Hanoverian service. He rose to be a general and inspector-general of infantry. He led a Federal Army Corps in the

First War of Schleswig The First Schleswig War (german: Schleswig-Holsteinischer Krieg) was a military conflict in southern Denmark and northern Germany rooted in the Schleswig-Holstein Question, contesting the issue of who should control the Duchies of Schleswig, ...

(also known as the Prussian-Danish War of 1848), and defeated the Danes at the Battle of Oeversee, a rear-guard action at

Sankelmark Sankelmark is a former municipality in Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. It is about 5 miles south of Flensburg. There was a battle there in the Second War of Schleswig (1864). On March 1, 2008 Sankelmark was incorporated into Oeversee. External lin ...

Halkett held many foreign orders, including the

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 ...

Order of the Black Eagle The Order of the Black Eagle (german: Hoher Orden vom Schwarzen Adler) was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg (who became Friedrich I, King ...

, the

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Or ...

and the Russian

Order of St. Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...

. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (german: Königliche Guelphen-Orden), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name ...

in 1815 and promoted to Knight Grand Cross in 1851. In 1862, he was ennobled (heritable) to a

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

(Baron) by King

George V of Hanover en, George Frederick Alexander Charles Ernest Augustus , house = Hanover , religion = Protestant , father = Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover , mother = Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , birth_date = 27 May 1819 , ...

. ----

Family

Halkett married Emilia Charlotte, daughter of

Sir James Lamb, 1st Baronet Sir James Bland Lamb, 1st Baronet (8 June 1752 – 13 October 1824), born James Burges and known as Sir James Burges, Bt, between 1795 and 1821, was a British author, barrister and Member of Parliament. Background and education Born James Bu ...

on 25 May 1810.

References

* Louis Heinrich Friedrich von Sichart von Sichartshoff: ''Tagebuch des zehnten Deutschen Bundes-Armee-Corps unter dem Befehle des Königlich Hannoverschen Generals Halkett während des Feldzuges in Schleswig-Holstein im Jahre 1848''. Hannover: Hahn, 1851. * Ernst Julius Georg von dem Knesebeck: ''Leben des Freiherrn Hugh von Halkett, K. hannover'scher General der Infanterie: nach dessen hinterlassenen Papieren und anderen Quellen entworfen von E. von dem Knesebeck''. Stuttgart: Hallberger, 1865. * Digby Smith: ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' Greenhill, 1998.

External links

* * http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organisation/c_hanlight.html
The Guard dies, it does not surrender. Cambronne surrenders, he does not die
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halkett, Hugh 1783 births 1863 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Barons of Germany British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars British Army generals King's German Legion People from Musselburgh German commanders of the Napoleonic Wars