Jean Baptiste van Merlen

Major General Jean Baptiste Baron van Merlen (Antwerp, 11 May 1772 – Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815) was a Dutch-Belgian army officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He was a Knight and Officer of the Legion of Honour.[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2][1]

Jean Baptiste Baron van Merlen

Up until 1815 van Merlen had fought in the French army, including in the Peninsular War as a cavalry commander against the British Army. In the Waterloo Campaign he fought against the French in the Duke of Wellington's army as commander of the 3rd Light Brigade in the Dutch Cavalry Division.[1]

Biography

At the Battle of Lützen on 2 May 1813, Merlen commanded the 1st Brigade in the 3rd Light Cavalry Division under Louis Pierre Aimé Chastel. The division belonged to the I Cavalry Corps led by Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg. The brigade counted only 22 officers and 520 men and included elements of the 6th, 8th, 25th and Portuguese Legion Chasseurs à Cheval and the 6th Hussars.[2]

In 1815, King William I of the Netherlands decided that his new army needed experienced officers, even if they had recently fought under Napoleon. Therefore, a number of royalists with scant battle experience lost their positions as regimental commanders.[3] Merlen joined the Royal Duch army as commander of the 3rd Light Brigade in the Dutch Cavalry Division. He fought with his brigade in both the Battle of Quatre Bras (16 June 1815) and two days later at the Battle of Waterloo where he was killed.[1]

Notes
  1. also spelt Joannes Baptista Baron van Merlen
  2. Baron de l'empire
  1. Barbero 2013, p. 46.
  2. Nafziger 1992.
  3. Develloet 2009.
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References
  • Barbero, Alessandro (2013), The Battle, Atlantic Books, p. 46, ISBN 9781782391388
  • Develloet, André (2009). "The Dutch-Belgian Cavalry at Waterloo Archives: The Dutch 6th Hussars in the Waterloo Campaign". The Napoleon Series.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Nafziger, George (1992). "French Order of Battle, Lützen or Gross-Görschen, 2 May 1813" (PDF). United States Army Combined Arms Center. Retrieved 23 July 2016.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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