Hans Willem van Aylva

Hans Willem van Aylva

Hans Willem van Aylva (ca. 1633, Holwerd - 21 February 1691, near Leuven) was a Dutch soldier.

In 1667 he participated in the Dutch Raid on Medway. He was appointed a Major General in 1668 and promoted to Lieutenant General four years later.^[1] He was also Lieutenant Admiral of Friesland. He saw a great deal of service in the Franco-Dutch War during the 1670s, and was badly wounded at the Battle of Seneffe in 1674.

Following the outbreak of the Nine Years War he commanded a small Dutch army that took part in early operations around Cologne where he co-operated with German forces under Hans Adam von Schöning.^[2] At the Battle of Walcourt (1689) he led a mixed force of English and Dutch soldiers. In 1690 he arrived just too late to fight at the Battle of Fleurus, but his troops were able to allow Waldeck's defeated Allied army to retreat safely.^[3]

The following year he died after falling from his horse.

References

Bibliography

• Childs, John. The Nine Years' War and the British Army, 1688-97. Manchester University Press, 1991.