Alfred van der Smissen

Alfred van der Smissen, 2nd Baron van der Smissen (1 February 1823 – 16 June 1895) was a Belgian general.

[2] He started his career in the French Foreign Legion[3] before serving in the Belgian Legion in the Second Franco-Mexican War.

[4] Alfred van der Smissen is the second son of Jacques Van der Smissen, 1st Baron van der Smissen, 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.

[5][6]

Map of Mexico by van der Smissen in his book Souvenirs du Mexique, 1864-1867. [ 1 ]
Death announcement of Alfred van der Smissen.