Allegiance Orange Years of service 1813–1851 | Name Antonie Jan Rank Lieutenant general | |
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Battles/wars Battle of LeipzigFrench invasion of RussiaBattle of WaterlooBattle of Quatre-Bras Battles and wars | ||
Antonie Frederik Jan Floris Jacob Baron van Omphal (2 May 1788 – 8 July 1863) was a Dutch lieutenant-general and extraordinary aide-de-camp to William III of the Netherlands. He was awarded a knighthood in the Military William Order among other honors.
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Family background
Antonie Frederik Jan Floris Jacob van Omphal was born on 2 May 1788 in Tiel in the Dutch Republic. He was a son of Diederik van Omphal, lord of IJzendoorn (1752–1813), and his second wife Wilhelmina Anna Cornelia de Pagniet (1765–1806). His father and grandfather were officers in the service of the Staten-Generaal. His ancestor Jacob von Omphal (1500–1557) was ennobled by the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. Van Omphal himself was made a baron in 1834; he died, unmarried, in 1863, and his line came to an end.
Military career
Van Omphal excelled in the service of the French during the Battle of Leipzig (16–18 October 1813); at the time he was a first lieutenant for the second regiment of lancers of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I. He also served in combat at Ciudad Real, and during the French invasion of Russia. He was awarded the Military William Order in 1815, as a captain. Van Omphal was aide de camp for three kings: William I, Willem II, and William III. He was present at the Battle of Waterloo and the Battle of Quatre-Bras; on 1 November 1825 he was promoted to captain, as aide de camp of lieutenant-general David Hendrik Chassé. On 1 September 1831 he was made a lieutenant colonel, and after promotion to colonel in 1837 he commanded the first regiment of cuirassiers. He was honorably discharged from the army on 1 August 1851 with a pension and the grant of the rank of lieutenant general without objection from the Treasury, and in 1852 the king honored him by assigning him to attend the funeral of the Duke of Wellington, with whom he had a friendship of many years; Wellington had held an annual banquet every June 18 commemorating Waterloo, which Van Omphal had always attended.
Van Omphal was made a knight in the Military William Order, Grand Cross (1849) and commander (1857) in the Order of the Oak Crown, a knight of the Legion of Honour, a commander of the Royal Guelphic Order and the Order of the Dannebrog, a knight of the Order of St. John, of the Order of St. Anna second class with diamonds, of the Order of the Red Eagle second class, of the Order of the Sword with grand cross and of the Order of Saint Stanislaus first class, and a Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold (1859). After his discharge he served among other posts as director of the fund for the widows and orphans of Army officers.
He died in The Hague on 8 July 1863, and was buried there at Eik en Duinen cemetery.