Juan Van Halen

Juan Van Halen y Sarti (16 February 1788 – 8 November 1864) was a Spanish military officer. After fighting for the losing side in the Peninsular War, he was forced to flee to Spain. Van Halen became a military adventurer throughout Europe and went on an 18-month tenure as a colonel in the Russian Caucasus Dragoon Regiment until his removal by Tsar Alexander I of Russia.

Van Halen was born in Isla de León, Cádiz, into a family of sailing merchants who had settled there. In 1803, he left Cádiz as a Spanish Navy cadet on the frigate Anfitrite headed for La Habana, Cuba and Veracruz, Mexico. In 1808, Juan began his service for the French King of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte, later assisting him during his refuge in France in 1813.

In 1814, Van Halen defected to the opposing army. By forging the signature of Marshal Louis-Gabriel Suchet, French commanders were advised to surrender various fortresses because the documents claimed that the war was over. Fooled by the trick, the 1,900 strong French garrisons of Lleida, Mequinenza and Monzón marched out and laid down their arms in surrender. However, Louis Benoît Robert, the commander at Tortosa, was not fooled by the forged documents and continued his engagement.

When Captain Van Halen returned to Spain in 1815, he was investigated for his involvement in the Spanish War of Independence, first in Murcia, then in Madrid. As a result of his connections with a Masonic Lodge in Granada, he was imprisoned on March 21, 1817. Van Halen also had ties to General José María de Torrijos y Uriarte, who was later executed by a firing squad.

...
Wikipedia