Henri La Fayette Villaume Ducoudray Holstein

Henri Louis La Fayette Villaume Ducoudray Holstein (23 September 1772 in Schwedt/Oder, Uckermark, Brandenburg, Prussia – 23 April 1839 in Albany, New York) was a soldier in France and South America, and an author in the United States.

Decoudray Holstein was an officer in the French army under Napoleon and was taken prisoner in Cadiz Spain. In 1813 Ducoudray Holstein departed for Philadelphia but was denied entry in the US army. In 1814 he arrived to Venezuela where he joined Simon Bolivar and was appointed officer in the army. With the grade of colonel he was an eye witness of the crucial revolutionary years 1814-1816. Disappointed with the cowardice, the womanizing and totalitarian behavior of Simon Bolivar who has repeatedly fled during engagements against the Spanish ennemy, Ducoudray Holsein resigned in 1816, left Bolivar and moved to Aux Cayes, Haiti.

His experience with Bolivar and with the independence wars in Venezuela and Bolivia are described in

He later moved to the United States, settling in Albany, New York, where he became a language teacher and editor of The Zodiac.

Family

He married Maria del Carmen (c. 1800 Colombia - 1 May 1855 Albany, New York); they had son Lafayette Ducoudray Holstein (1 August 1826 New York - 7 April 1864).

Works

• Recollections of an Officer of the Empire

See also

• Ducoudray Holstein Expedition

References

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External links

• Spanish version of Memoirs of Simon Bolivar, ISBN 978-958-44-6124-7