Otto von Moltke

Otto Magnus Ludwig Gerhard Graf von Moltke von Rantzau (13 August 1851 – 13 January 1881), also known as Otto von Moltke, was a German-Danish military officer who fought in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and, after immigrating to Chile in 1876, in the War of the Pacific in 1879. He was killed in battle in 1881, during this last war.

Moltke family

Otto von Moltke was part of the old noble Moltke family, originally from Mecklenburg, which had residents in Germany and Denmark. He was the son of Adam Friedrich Adamson Graf von Moltke (1816–1885) and Fanny Charlotte Anna Luise Gräfin zu Rantzau (1824–1866).

He had six brothers; Adam Karl Christian Graf von Moltke (1850–1892), immigrated to Chile with Otto in 1876 and married Delfina Natividad Winslow (1861–1926), with whom he had descendants in that country. Friedrich Sophus Graf von Moltke (1853–1911) Heinrich Karl Leonhard Graf von Moltke (1854–1922), was a vice admiral in the Imperial German Navy. Nancy Karoline Luise Gräfin von Moltke (1856–?) Marie Frederikke Malvine Elisabeth Fanny Gräfin von Moltke (1860–1915) Conrad Christian Ludwig Graf von Moltke (1861–1937)

He also had a half sister, from his father's second marriage to Agathe Frederikke Charlotte Olshausen (1834-1909) . It was during this part of the battle that he was mortally wounded by a gunshot to the chest, and then his body was cruelly torn to pieces on the ground by Peruvian soldiers with rifle butts and knives.

In the aftermath of the battle, Morro Solar was occupied by Chilean troops, who recovered Moltke's remnants. His body was repatriated to Valparaíso under the special concern of the Bernstein family and was later buried on 4 April in the port's dissidents' cemetery. His funeral was carried out with an impressive night torch ceremony and a large attendance of authorities and institutions of the port. His father received a letter of condolence from the Chilean government.

It is said that Moltke possessed a limited command of the Spanish language, always referring to his military orderly as "the pogopi."