Sir Charles August von Alten (21 October 1764 – 20 April 1840), better known as Charles, Count Alten, was a German army officer and politician who led the

Light Division The Light Division is a light infantry Division (military), division of the British Army. It was reformed in 2022, as part of Future Soldier (British Army), Future Soldier reforms. Its origins lay in "Light Companies" formed during the late 1 ...

during the last two years of the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. At the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

, he commanded a division in the front line, where he was wounded. He later rose to the rank of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

in the

Hanoverian Army The Hanoverian Army (German: ''Hannoversche Armee'') was the standing army of the Electorate of Hanover from the seventeenth century onwards. From 1692 to 1803 it acted in defence of the electorate. Following the Hanoverian Succession of 1714, thi ...

. Alten was the son of August Eberhard von Alten (1722–1789), a member of an old Hanoverian family, and Baroness Henriette Philippine Marie Hedwig von Vincke-Ostenwalde. Alten's older brother, Victor Alten (1755–1820) commanded a cavalry brigade in Wellington's army. Unlike his brother Charles, Victor is described as "unsatisfactory".

Early career

Alten entered the service of the elector as a page at the age of twelve. In 1781 he received a commission in the Hanoverian guards, and as a captain took part in the campaigns of 1793–1795 in the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

, distinguishing himself particularly on the Lys in command of

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

. In 1803 the

was disbanded, and Alten took service with the

King's German Legion The King's German Legion (KGL; ) was a formation of the British Army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Consisting primarily of expatriate Germans, it existed from 1803 to 1816 and achieved the distinction of being the on ...

(KGL) of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. In command of the KGL's light infantry, he took part with

Lord Cathcart Earl Cathcart is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1814 for the soldier and diplomat William Cathcart, 1st Viscount Cathcart. The Cathcart family descends from Sir Alan Cathcart, who sometime bet ...

in the

Hanover Expedition The Hanover Expedition, also known as the Weser Expedition, was a British invasion of the Electorate of Hanover during the Napoleonic Wars. Coordinated as part of an attack on France by the nations of the Third Coalition against Napoleon by W ...

of 1805. He also fought at

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

in 1807.

Peninsular War

Alten was with John Moore in Sweden and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He commanded the 2nd Flank Brigade in Moore's campaign though he missed the

Battle of Corunna The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a Briti ...

. He participated in the disastrous

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

expedition in the summer of 1809. He was soon employed once more in the Peninsula, and 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 sou ...

he commanded an independent KGL brigade. An incident in the battle highlights both the abilities and the limitations of Alten. In April 1812 Arthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington placed him at the head of the famous

, which consisted of the 1/43rd and 1/52nd Light Infantry,

95th Rifles The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

, and 1st and 3rd Portuguese Caçadores. In this post he worthily continued the records of Moore and

Robert Craufurd Major-General Robert Craufurd (5 May 1764 – 23 January 1812) was a British Army officer. After a military career which took him from India to the Netherlands, in 1810 in the Peninsular War he was given command of the Light Division, com ...

at the battles of

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

Vitoria Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória ( ...

, the Pyrenees, the Nivelle, the Nive,

Orthez Orthez (; ; , ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, and region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the small village of Sai ...

and

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. His officers presented him with a sword of honour as a token of their esteem. Wellington called Alten, "the best of the Hanoverians". Comparing him with Craufurd,

Charles Oman Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman, (12 January 1860 – 23 June 1946) was a British Military history, military historian. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering. ...

writes:

Waterloo and later career

In 1815 Alten led Wellington's 3rd Division during the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days ( ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition (), marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII o ...

. This command included Maj-Gen

Colin Halkett 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 Godar Halkett and his ...

's 5th British Brigade, Col Christian Ompteda's 2nd KGL Brigade and Maj-Gen Friedrich Kielmansegge's 1st Hanoverian Brigade. Parts of the division were heavily engaged at the

Battle of Quatre Bras The Battle of Quatre Bras was fought on 16 June 1815, as a preliminary engagement to the decisive Battle of Waterloo that occurred two days later. The battle took place near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras and was contested between el ...

. At the

, the 3rd Division held the front line throughout the day and suffered very heavy losses. Severely wounded in the battle, Alten's conduct won for him the rank of Count von Alten. Von alten garten sst

When the

ceased to exist, Alten was given the command of the Hanoverians in France. In 1818 he returned to Hanover, where he subsequently became minister of war and foreign affairs, and rose to the rank of

. At the same time, he was retained on the British

Army List The ''Army List'' is a list (or more accurately seven series of lists) of serving regular, militia or territorial British Army officers, kept in one form or another, since 1702. Manuscript lists of army officers were kept from 1702 to 1752, the ...

as Major-General Sir Charles Alten, GCB. He died in 1840. A memorial to Alten has been erected at

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

. He is buried in the Neustädter Kirche.

References

Sources

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External links