Military Career
Baron Atthalin became a student of the École_Polytechnique on 1 November, 1802. He acquired the Officer candidate rank of Second Lieutenant (Engineering) 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 (the future king, Louis-Philippe 1), 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 (Strasbourg) 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 (known as the July Monarchy), 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.
Read more about this topic: Louis Marie Baptiste Atthalin
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