Lt Col Alexander Wolff
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
officer who served under the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
.
Lt. Col. Alexander Joseph Wolff was born in Badon, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
in 1788. His father, an army officer, was killed at the "Battle of Lake Constance
Lake Constance
Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...
" around the year 1800. He became an orphan but was fortunate to be adopted by a British Army Officer. As a result he served in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
under the Duke of Wellington.
War campaigns
In 1801 he entered the British Army at 13 years old where he served in EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
under Ralph Abercromby
Ralph Abercromby
Sir Ralph Abercromby was a Scottish soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was noted for his services during the Napoleonic Wars, and served as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.He twice served as MP for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire, and was...
to dispossess the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
of Egypt.
Following this great battle where General Abercromby died, he was transferred under Duke Wellington where he fought in the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
that raged from 1804 to 1815. Some years after his military career he received the Military General Service Medal
Military General Service Medal
The Military General Service Medal was a campaign medal approved in 1847, for issue to officers and men of the British Army.The MGSM was approved on 1 June 1847 as a retrospective award for various military actions from 1793–1814; a period encompassing the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic...
with thirteen clasps for battles fought during this period.
Peninsular War
- 1808: Dispatched from Cork To Portugal under Duke Wellington then Sir Arthur WellesleyArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
- 1808: August 17 and 21 – fought the French RoliçiaBattle of RoliçaIn the Battle of Roliça an Anglo-Portuguese army under Sir Arthur Wellesley defeated an outnumbered French army under General Henri Delaborde, near the village of Roliça in Portugal. The French retired in good order...
and Vimeiro in Portugal - 1809: May – Crossed the Douro under Sir Arthur, defeated Marshal Soult and took Oporto from the French
- 1809: Advanced into Spain to expel the French from the Peninsula
- 1809: July – Falanera battle
- XXXX: Ferentes d'Onara to stop Marshal Massena
- 1811: May – Albrura
- 1812: January – Stormed and took Cindad Rodrigo (Wounded)
- 1812: April – Siege and capture of Radazoj (Wounded)
- 1812: July – Battle of Oparto and Salamanca (Wounded)
- 1813: June – Battle of Vittoria
Pyreness Campaign
- 1813: November – Battle Nivelles and the Nives
- 1814: February – Battle of Orthez, France (Wounded)
- 1814: April – Taking of Toulouse under Marshal Soult
Retirement
After his military service, Alexander Joseph Wolff was given a grant of land in Valcartier (Lower CanadaLower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
) with his men. When his ship docked at Halifax in 1824, he and his men made preparations for a long overland march to Quebec City in the dead of winter. On the way, several of his men died of exposure and hardship.
He established himself and his family in the small town of Valcartier. He became commander of the 11th Battalion of the Quebec Militia.
In 1826 and 1827 he was in charge of repairs to the Portage road in Témiscouata (Lower Canada). But the area where the road laid was a swamp and it became very difficult to maintain. In autumn of 1830, after a few years of scouting for a new location, he built a new road between Métis and Lac Matapédia
Matapédia
Matapédia may refer to:*in Quebec,**La Matapédia Regional County Municipality**the town of Matapédia**the Matapédia River**Matapédia , a provincial electoral district*the album Matapédia by Kate and Anna McGarrigle...
.
Family information
Alexander Joseph Wolff married Hannah Maria Ellert. They had eight children (five boys and three girls).- Dr. James John Fitzgerald Wolff (1818–1880)
- George Jacob Wolff (1819–1892)
- Anthony Henry Wolff (1823–1824)
- Caroline Amelia Wolff (1824–1895)
- Charlotte Wolff (1825–?)
- Margaret Maria Wolff (1827–?)
- Arthur Alexander Wolff (1829–1897)
- Col. Charles Stuart Wolff (1831–1909) married Isabel Neilson (1831–1895) grand daughter of John NeilsonJohn NeilsonJohn Neilson was a Scots-Quebecer editor of the newspaper La Gazette de Québec/The Quebec Gazette and a politician.- Biography :...