Alfred Van der Smissen

Map of Mexico by van der Smissen in his book Souvenirs du Mexique, 1864-1867.

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

Biography He started his career in the French Foreign Legion before serving in the Belgian Legion in the Second Franco-Mexican War.

Family Alfred van der Smissen was 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 opposing the landing of the French expeditionary force of Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur de Rochambeau near Yorktown.

Issue Although van der Smissen was never married, he had a long-time relationship with one Henriette Dubois (1825–1895), and they had a son, Alfred, born in Lille on 21 July 1855. Despite this, the elder Alfred never married Henriette. In fact, their relationship was eventually characterized by significant friction; in his final testament, van der Smissen referred to his son as "the grief of my life" and ultimately disinherited him in favor of his younger brother, Adolphe. The younger Alfred survived his father by six years, dying in Paris on 15 May 1901.

It is also widely believed by historians that van der Smissen had an affair with Empress Charlotte of Mexico and that the Belgian-born French general Maxime Weygand was the result of the affair, citing Weygand's strong physical resemblance to him.

Honours and arms