Willem Frederik van Bylandt

Willem Frederik van Bylandt
Lieutenant-general W.F. count of Bylandt
Born	June 5, 1771 The Hague
Died	October 25, 1855 Prinsenhage
Allegiance	United Kingdom of the Netherlands
Service/branch	Infantry
Years of service	1783– 1802 1814 —1830
Rank	lieutenant-general
Unit	1st Brigade, 2nd Netherlands Division
Commands held	Hompesch Hussars 1st brigade, 2nd Netherlands division
Battles/wars	Battle of Ballinamuck Battle of Quatre Bras Battle of Waterloo
Awards	Knight's Cross 3rd class Military William Order

Willem Frederik count of Bylandt or Bijlandt (June 5, 1771 – October 25, 1855) was a Dutch lieutenant-general who as a major-general commanded a Belgian-Dutch infantry brigade at the Battle of Quatre Bras and the Battle of Waterloo.

Bylandt was born at The Hague, the son of major-general Alexander count of Bylandt and Anne, baroness Van der Duijn. His father was the acting-governor of the fortress of Breda who in 1793 was held responsible for the less-than-vigorous defense of that city against the French armies then invading the Dutch Republic. Alexander was court-martialed and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Bylandt first married Mary Christian (daughter of rear-admiral Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian) on June 20, 1806 at the Isle of Wight. After her death in 1818 he married Virginie Fréderique Wilhelmine Aspasia Craan (daughter of Willem Benjamin Craan) on December 22, 1825 in St. Joost ten Node (Belgium).

Bylandt was the scion of a well-known Dutch military family, both army and navy officers (a cousin became a well-known admiral of the same epoch). He first entered the service of the Dutch Republic as a cadet at age 12 in a regiment of Dragoons in 1783. In 1786 he became an NCO in the elite Gardes te paard (Life Guards of the Stadtholder), and shortly afterward shifted to the Foot Guards as a second lieutenant (as such he took part on the Orangist side in the suppression of the Revolt of the Patriots). Promoted to captain in 1790 he transferred to the Schwartz battalion in 1794. He participated in the 1792-1795 campaigns of the War of the First Coalition, fighting in the Battle of Fleurus (1794) among others.

After the fall of the Republic and the proclamation of the Batavian Republic in January, 1795 Bylandt resigned his commission and joined the Hereditary Prince (the future William I of the Netherlands) in Bremen with other émigrés, and followed the Prince to England later in the year to join a group of Orangist Dutch military men, who offered their services to the British. On November 25, 1795 he obtained a captain's commission in the regiment Hompesch Hussars that was sent to fight in the West Indies. He transferred to a regiment of chasseurs in 1796 as a major and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1797. He so distinguished himself in the assault on Trinidad that he was entrusted with the military government of Antigua. In 1800 he rejoined the Hompesch Hussars as a lieutenant-colonel to take part in the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. He participated in the Battle of Ballinamuck with distinction.