Louis Marie Baptiste Atthalin


Louis Marie Baptiste Atthalin, Baron Atthalin was a French Army officer, politician, painter, watercolorist, and lithographer. He died in Colmar on 3 September 1856. Louis-Philippe I sent Atthalin to Nicholas I of Russia to inform him of the former's accession. He was also present at the reburial of Napoleon's remains in 1840.

Military career

Baron Atthalin became a student of the École Polytechnique on 1 November 1802. He acquired the officer candidate rank of second lieutenant on 23 September 1804, appointed lieutenant 17 November 1806, and captain 16 September 1808.
Campaigning with Napoleon's Grande Armée in 1806 and 1807, Atthalin distinguished himself in military actions at Gardadeu, Molérès-M-Rey, and Wals. Atthalin also campaigned at Texel in 1810, again with the Grande Armée in 1812-1814, and was present at the Blockade of Landau in 1815.
During his time as a captain Atthalin came to the attention of Napoleon, who made him an aide de camp on 14 April 1811. Atthalin rose to battalion commander on 18 November 1813, and colonel on 15 March 1814. In this same year the Duke of Orléans, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, named Atthalin as one of his own aide de camps. On 26 April 1815, during the Hundred Days of Napoleon, he was employed as the Commandant of Engineering at Landau.
On 12 August 1830, the now King Louis-Philippe I named Atthalin, now himself a general, as Maréchal de Camp. Atthalin, though, retained his role as aide de camp. The King sent Atthalin to Russia, to officially inform the Emperor Nicholas I of his new reign.
Supported by the votes of the ministers of the King, Atthalin was elected to the fourth electoral college of Bas-Rhin on 23 January 1831. He remained as a member in what was referred to as the Chamber of Peers, until 11 October 1836. Atthalin continued to faithfully support the kingdom, and on 16 November 1840, he was promoted to lieutenant general. The subsequent fall and exile of the Orléans family, however, left him stripped of his titles. He retired on 14 August 1848 and stayed away from politics for the remainder of his life.

Honours