Albert Dominicus Trip van Zoudtlandt
Encyclopedia
Jonkheer
Albert Dominicus Trip van Zoudtlandt (Groningen, October 13, 1776—The Hague
, March 23, 1835) was a Dutch lieutenant-general of cavalry who headed the Dutch-Belgian heavy cavalry brigade at the Battle of Waterloo
.
on July 1, 1791 as a cadet
in an infantry regiment. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1792, and promoted to first lieutenant on July 8, 1795. By then the Batavian Republic
had replaced the Dutch Republic. As an officer in the Batavian army, and subsequently the army of the Kingdom of Holland
he saw action in its campaigns as an ally of the imperial French army in Germany and (then Swedish) Pomerania
. During this career he switched to the cavalry and became commander of a regiment of cuirassiers.
When the Kingdom of Holland was annexed by the First French Empire
in July, 1810, all Dutch army units were incorporated in the French army under new names. Trip's regiment became the 14th Regiment Cuirassiers. With this regiment Trip took part in the French invasion of Russia
in 1812. His regiment distinguished itself (like other Dutch regiments) at the Battle of Berezina
, during the harrowing retreat of the French army from Moscow.
Trip subsequently took part in the final campaigns of the French army before Napoleon I of France
's first abdication in 1814. He distinguished himself again at the Battle of Leipzig
. After the fall of the Empire the Dutch contingents in the French army were demobilized. Trip left French service as a colonel on April 14, 1814. He entered the service of the new Dutch army (the Netherlands having regained its independence at the end of 1813) in June, 1814 with the same rank, and became aide de camp of the Sovereign Prince, William I of the Netherlands
. He was promoted to major-general on April 16, 1815, and given the command of a brigade of heavy cavalry, composed of the 1st and 3rd (Dutch) and 2nd (Belgian) regiments of (mounted) carabiniers of the new Netherlands Mobile Army of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
.
and the subsequent Battle of Waterloo as part of the Netherlands Cavalry Division (lt.-gen. J.A. Baron de Collaert) of the First Netherlands Corps under the Prince of Orange
. This Corps formed the center of the Duke of Wellington
's Anglo-Allied army at Waterloo. Trip's brigade was initially placed astride the Nivelles road, but when Trip noticed the French preparations for Marshal Ney
's great cavalry attack after d'Erlon
's failed assault on the Allied left wing, he repositioned his brigade to counter that attack to a position south-west of Mont St.-Jean. When Ney attacked the British artillery Trip's brigade joined Lord Edward Somerset
's Household Brigade in its counterattack. Both the French cuirassiers and the Dutch/Belgian carabiniers charged. The French horses (already tired from their previous exertions) could not make sufficient speed, due to the heavy ground they had to traverse, and Trip's carabiniers shattered their formation through the sheer impact of their assault. This caused a rout of the left wing of the French cuirassiers, which was exploited by other allied cavalry units. During this encounter Trips's brigade suffered severe casualties.
Despite these casualties, the brigade soon had to renew its attacks. The 2nd (Belgian) Regiment was led by the Prince of Orange personally in a charge, where he encouraged them with the cry: 'Allons, mes camarades, sabrons ces Francais, la victoire est à nous' (Come on, comrades, let's put our sabres to these Frenchmen, the victory is ours). The brigade again routed the opposing cavalry and pursued them past the road to Ohain. During these exploits the commanders of both the 1st (lt.-col. Coenegracht) and 3rd (lt.-col. Lechleitner) regiments were mortally wounded. Nevertheless, the brigade took part in the pursuit of the French army after the failed attack of Napoleon's Guard divisions finally caused its defeat, until Wellington called off the pursuit around 10 pm.
Trip was mentioned in Wellington's dispatch of June 19, 1815 for the contribution his brigade had made to the Allied victory. Trip himself was made a knight-commander in the Military William Order on July 8, 1815.
, published a book based on a survey he had made of a number of British officers, who had attended the Battle of Waterloo. In this book Siborne accused Trip personally, and the brigade as a whole, of cowardice on the basis of allegations made by Lord Uxbridge
, the British cavalry commander at Waterloo. According to this account, Uxbridge had tried to order the brigade forward in a charge at the time Somerset made his charge, as described above. According to Uxbridge, Trip had refused this order, even though Uxbridge had given him a severe reprimand (presumably in English). After Uxbridge had disgustedly ridden away (still according to Siborne) the whole brigade had bolted, even disturbing the preparations of other allied cavalry units.
This account is completely at variance with the above account of the battle, which is based on Dutch after-battle reports. Siborne gives only the "testimony" of his respondents as proof of these allegations. As a matter of fact, it is not the only allegation of cowardice Siborne made against the Dutch and Belgian units at Waterloo. In a postscript at the end of his book he even says that with very few exceptions, all Dutch troops behaved like cowards. Of course, these allegations caused a furore in the Netherlands and Belgium. Dutch general Willem Jan Knoop
soon published a semi-official refutation as did his Belgian colleague general Alexis-Michel Eenens
. The latter is especially scathing in his destruction of Siborne's argument pertaining to the Trip brigade, probably because the honor of the 2nd (Belgian) regiment of carabiniers was directly insulted.
Despite these refutations Siborne's allegations often are repeated in Anglophone historiography of the battle.
in the course of the Belgian Revolution
of 1830 he was wounded during the attack on Leuven
on August 12, 1831. Shortly afterward, he received the Grand-Cross in the Order of the Netherlands Lion.
Trip died, still in office, on March 23, 1835, in The Hague
.
Jonkheer
Jonkheer is a Dutch honorific of nobility.-Honorific of nobility:"Jonkheer" or "Jonkvrouw" is literally translated as "young lord" or "young lady". In medieval times such a person was a young and unmarried son or daughter of a high ranking knight or nobleman...
Albert Dominicus Trip van Zoudtlandt (Groningen, October 13, 1776—The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, March 23, 1835) was a Dutch lieutenant-general of cavalry who headed the Dutch-Belgian heavy cavalry brigade at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
.
Family life
Trip was the son of Jonkheer Jan Louis Trip van Zoudtlandt and Anna Wilhelmina, countess of Limburg-Stirum. He first married Cornelia Gijsberta Smit, and after her death, Elisabeth Gratiana, countess of Limburg-Stirum (a cousin) at The Hague on August 16, 1826.Career
Trip entered the service of the Dutch RepublicDutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
on July 1, 1791 as a cadet
Cadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
in an infantry regiment. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1792, and promoted to first lieutenant on July 8, 1795. By then the Batavian Republic
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
had replaced the Dutch Republic. As an officer in the Batavian army, and subsequently the army of the Kingdom of Holland
Kingdom of Holland
The Kingdom of Holland 1806–1810 was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom for his third brother, Louis Bonaparte, in order to better control the Netherlands. The name of the leading province, Holland, was now taken for the whole country...
he saw action in its campaigns as an ally of the imperial French army in Germany and (then Swedish) Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
. During this career he switched to the cavalry and became commander of a regiment of cuirassiers.
When the Kingdom of Holland was annexed by the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
in July, 1810, all Dutch army units were incorporated in the French army under new names. Trip's regiment became the 14th Regiment Cuirassiers. With this regiment Trip took part in the French invasion of Russia
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...
in 1812. His regiment distinguished itself (like other Dutch regiments) at the Battle of Berezina
Battle of Berezina
The Battle of Berezina took place November 26–29, 1812 between the French army of Napoleon, retreating after his invasion of Russia and crossing the Berezina , and the Russian armies under Mikhail Kutuzov, Peter Wittgenstein and Admiral Pavel Chichagov. The battle ended with a mixed outcome...
, during the harrowing retreat of the French army from Moscow.
Trip subsequently took part in the final campaigns of the French army before Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
's first abdication in 1814. He distinguished himself again at the Battle of Leipzig
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...
. After the fall of the Empire the Dutch contingents in the French army were demobilized. Trip left French service as a colonel on April 14, 1814. He entered the service of the new Dutch army (the Netherlands having regained its independence at the end of 1813) in June, 1814 with the same rank, and became aide de camp of the Sovereign Prince, William I of the Netherlands
William I of the Netherlands
William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
. He was promoted to major-general on April 16, 1815, and given the command of a brigade of heavy cavalry, composed of the 1st and 3rd (Dutch) and 2nd (Belgian) regiments of (mounted) carabiniers of the new Netherlands Mobile Army of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
.
Battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo
This brigade took part in the Battle of Quatre BrasBattle of Quatre Bras
The Battle of Quatre Bras, between Wellington's Anglo-Dutch army and the left wing of the Armée du Nord under Marshal Michel Ney, was fought near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815.- Prelude :...
and the subsequent Battle of Waterloo as part of the Netherlands Cavalry Division (lt.-gen. J.A. Baron de Collaert) of the First Netherlands Corps under the Prince of Orange
William II of the Netherlands
William II was King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Duke of Limburg from 7 October 1840 until his death in 1849.- Early life and education :...
. This Corps formed the center of the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
's Anglo-Allied army at Waterloo. Trip's brigade was initially placed astride the Nivelles road, but when Trip noticed the French preparations for Marshal Ney
Michel Ney
Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
's great cavalry attack after d'Erlon
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, comte d'Erlon was a marshal of France and a soldier in Napoleon's Army. D'Erlon notably commanded the I Corps of the Armée du Nord at the battle of Waterloo....
's failed assault on the Allied left wing, he repositioned his brigade to counter that attack to a position south-west of Mont St.-Jean. When Ney attacked the British artillery Trip's brigade joined Lord Edward Somerset
Lord Edward Somerset
General Lord Robert Edward Henry Somerset GCB was a British soldier.He was the third son of the 5th duke of Beaufort, and elder brother of Lord Raglan....
's Household Brigade in its counterattack. Both the French cuirassiers and the Dutch/Belgian carabiniers charged. The French horses (already tired from their previous exertions) could not make sufficient speed, due to the heavy ground they had to traverse, and Trip's carabiniers shattered their formation through the sheer impact of their assault. This caused a rout of the left wing of the French cuirassiers, which was exploited by other allied cavalry units. During this encounter Trips's brigade suffered severe casualties.
Despite these casualties, the brigade soon had to renew its attacks. The 2nd (Belgian) Regiment was led by the Prince of Orange personally in a charge, where he encouraged them with the cry: 'Allons, mes camarades, sabrons ces Francais, la victoire est à nous' (Come on, comrades, let's put our sabres to these Frenchmen, the victory is ours). The brigade again routed the opposing cavalry and pursued them past the road to Ohain. During these exploits the commanders of both the 1st (lt.-col. Coenegracht) and 3rd (lt.-col. Lechleitner) regiments were mortally wounded. Nevertheless, the brigade took part in the pursuit of the French army after the failed attack of Napoleon's Guard divisions finally caused its defeat, until Wellington called off the pursuit around 10 pm.
Trip was mentioned in Wellington's dispatch of June 19, 1815 for the contribution his brigade had made to the Allied victory. Trip himself was made a knight-commander in the Military William Order on July 8, 1815.
The Siborne controversy
In 1844, almost thirty years after the battle, a British military historian, William SiborneWilliam Siborne
William Siborne, Sibourne or Siborn was a British officer and military historian whose most notable work was a history of the Waterloo campaign.-Early life:...
, published a book based on a survey he had made of a number of British officers, who had attended the Battle of Waterloo. In this book Siborne accused Trip personally, and the brigade as a whole, of cowardice on the basis of allegations made by Lord Uxbridge
Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey
Field Marshal Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, KG, GCB, GCH, PC , styled Lord Paget between 1784 and 1812 and known as The Earl of Uxbridge between 1812 and 1815, was a British military leader and politician, now chiefly remembered for leading the charge of the heavy cavalry against...
, the British cavalry commander at Waterloo. According to this account, Uxbridge had tried to order the brigade forward in a charge at the time Somerset made his charge, as described above. According to Uxbridge, Trip had refused this order, even though Uxbridge had given him a severe reprimand (presumably in English). After Uxbridge had disgustedly ridden away (still according to Siborne) the whole brigade had bolted, even disturbing the preparations of other allied cavalry units.
This account is completely at variance with the above account of the battle, which is based on Dutch after-battle reports. Siborne gives only the "testimony" of his respondents as proof of these allegations. As a matter of fact, it is not the only allegation of cowardice Siborne made against the Dutch and Belgian units at Waterloo. In a postscript at the end of his book he even says that with very few exceptions, all Dutch troops behaved like cowards. Of course, these allegations caused a furore in the Netherlands and Belgium. Dutch general Willem Jan Knoop
Willem Jan Knoop
Willem Jan Knoop was a Dutch lieutenant-general, military historian, and politician...
soon published a semi-official refutation as did his Belgian colleague general Alexis-Michel Eenens
Alexis-Michel Eenens
Alexis Michel Eenens was a Belgian lieutenant-general, military historian, and politician.-Family life:Eenens was the son of a wealthy merchant in textiles, Louis Eenens, and Anne-Marie Carlier...
. The latter is especially scathing in his destruction of Siborne's argument pertaining to the Trip brigade, probably because the honor of the 2nd (Belgian) regiment of carabiniers was directly insulted.
Despite these refutations Siborne's allegations often are repeated in Anglophone historiography of the battle.
Later career
Trip was promoted to lieutenant-general of cavalry on November 24, 1816. He was appointed commander-in-chief of Dutch cavalry on March 22, 1831. During the Ten days campaignTen days campaign
The Ten Days' Campaign was a failed attempt to suppress the Belgian revolution by the Dutch king William I.- Prelude :...
in the course of the Belgian Revolution
Belgian Revolution
The Belgian Revolution was the conflict which led to the secession of the Southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium....
of 1830 he was wounded during the attack on Leuven
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
on August 12, 1831. Shortly afterward, he received the Grand-Cross in the Order of the Netherlands Lion.
Trip died, still in office, on March 23, 1835, in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
.
Sources
(1901) "Elisabeth Gratiana, gravin van Limburg Stirum", in: Adelsarchief: jaarboek van den nederlandschen adel. 1900-1904 (2e jaargang), pp. 201–202 (contains short biography of her husband, A.D. Trip van Zoudtlandt)External links
Cavaleriehistorie, Quatre-Bras and Waterloo- The Cowards at Waterloo Trip van Zoudtlandt by Michel Damiens on Larousse.fr