Willem Frederik van Bylandt Willem Frederik count of Bylandt or Bijlandt ( June 5 , 1771 – October 25 , 1855 ) was a Dutch lieutenant - general who as a major - general commanded a Belgian - Dutch infantry brigade at the Battle of Quatre Bras and the Battle of Waterloo . Biography . Family life . Bylandt was born at The Hague , the son of major - general Alexander count of Bylandt and Anne , baroness Van der Duijn . His father was the acting - governor of the fortress of Breda who in 1793 was held responsible for the less - than - vigorous defense of that city against the French armies then invading the Dutch Republic . Alexander was court - martialed and sentenced to life imprisonment . Bylandt first married Mary Christian ( daughter of rear - admiral Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian ) on June 20 , 1806 at the Isle of Wight . After her death in 1818 he married Virginie Fréderique Wilhelmine Aspasia Craan ( daughter of Willem Benjamin Craan ) on December 22 , 1825 in St . Joost ten Node ( Belgium ) . Early career . Bylandt was the scion of a well - known Dutch military family , both army and navy officers ( a cousin became a well - known admiral of the same epoch ) . He first entered the service of the Dutch Republic as a cadet at age 12 in a regiment of Dragoon s in 1783 . In 1786 he became an NCO in the elite " Gardes te paard " ( Life Guards of the Stadtholder ) , and shortly afterward shifted to the Foot Guards as a second lieutenant ( as such he took part on the Orangist side in the suppression of the Revolt of the Patriots ) . Promoted to captain in 1790 he transferred to the Schwartz battalion in 1794 . He participated in the 1792 - 1795 campaigns of the War of the First Coalition , fighting in the Battle of Fleurus ( 1794 ) among others . After the fall of the Republic and the proclamation of the Batavian Republic in January , 1795 Bylandt resigned his commission and joined the Hereditary Prince ( the future William I of the Netherlands ) in Bremen with other " émigrés " , and followed the Prince to England later in the year to join a group of Orangist Dutch military men , who offered their services to the British . On November 25 , 1795 he obtained a captain ' s commission in the regiment Hompesch Hussars that was sent to fight in the West Indies . He transferred to a regiment of chasseur s in 1796 as a major and was promoted to lieutenant - colonel in 1797 . He so distinguished himself in the assault on Trinidad that he was entrusted with the military government of Antigua . In 1800 he rejoined the Hompesch Hussars as a lieutenant - colonel to take part in the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 . He participated in the Battle of Ballinamuck with distinction . After the Peace of Amiens Bylandt was paid off by the British and returned to the Batavian Republic to manage his estates near Breda . Only after the Netherlands regained its independence in 1813 did he again enter military service , this time as a lieutenant - colonel of the new Battalion " Landmilitie " ( Militia ) No . 12 ( which was renumbered No . 8 in 1814 ) . He was promoted to colonel of the regiment in 1814 . On April 21 , 1815 he was put in charge of the First Brigade , Second Netherlands Division ( Perponcher ) as a major - general . Battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo . On the evening of June 15 , 1815 Bylandt ' s brigade was ordered by general Jean Victor de Constant Rebecque , chief of staff of the Netherlands Mobile Army , to take up position at the cross roads of Quatre Bras , because a French attack by Marshal Michel Ney was expected . Bylandt deployed a skirmish line of his 27th Jager Battalion and awaited developments . The next day the expected French attack came , and the Dutch troops ( still without British support at this time ) were hard pressed . Bylandt ' s brigade was concentrated around the Gemioncourt farm and the nearby woods . The farm changed hands several times and especially the 5th Militia Battalion suffered heavy casualties . The Dutch troops were finally relieved by the arrival of general Thomas Picton ' s Fifth British Division and the 3rd Dutch Light Cavalry Brigade ( general Van Merlen ) around 3 pm . After a hard - fought battle the Allies were left in command of the battlefield . Bylandt ' s brigade was now ordered to the vicinity of Waterloo . What happened next is the subject of some controversy . The Duke of Wellington placed his allied army in two lines and a reserve " behind " a ridge on the north side of what would become the battlefield . The ridge was supposed to offer some cover for the Allied troops against artillery fire . At first , however , Bylandt ' s brigade was placed " in front of " this ridge , fully exposed to any opening bombardment . The controversy concerns the question whether this tactical error ( the result of sloppy staff work ) was remedied in time . In many accounts of the battle it is asserted that the brigade ( already depleted by the heavy losses at Quatre Bras ) in fact remained deployed in this exposed position and therefore suffered terribly during Napoleon ' s opening artillery barrage . But this is doubtful , because the after - battle report by the chief - of - staff of the 2nd Division ( then captain ) Van Zuylen van Nyevelt states that the brigade was in time moved to a safer position . The famous map of the battlefield by Bylandt ' s future father - in - law Willem Benjamin Craan and his appended explanatory note , also place the brigade in this safer position . Craan ' s 1816 history of the battle therefore does not mention heavy casualties for Bylandt ' s brigade as a consequence of Napoleon ' s opening barrage of 80 guns , but instead blames the infantry charge by d ' Erlon ' s divisions on the sector of the Allied front that the brigade occupied for these indeed heavy casualties . As the Dutch troops received several point - blank volleys , and because they were deployed in a thin line ( to cover as much terrain as possible according to Craan ) the French broke through their line and the remnants of two of the Militia battalions retreated in haste , until they were rallied by the 5th Militia Battalion , that was placed in reserve . During this enemy action Bylandt himself was wounded and the command of the brigade was taken over by the commander of the 8th Militia Battalion , lt . - col . W . A . de Jongh . After the battle Bylandt received the Knight ' s Cross Third Class of the Military William Order for his gallantry . Later career . After the return of the army to the new Kingdom of the United Netherlands Bylandt was appointed military governor of South - Brabant ( which contained Brussels ) . He was military governor of that city when in 1830 the Belgian Revolution started . Because he acted less than decisively the situation soon got out of hand . He was blamed for this and put on non - active status on November 24 , 1830 . In the following years he published several pamphlets to defend his good name . He retired from the service in 1840 but was nevertheless promoted to lieutenant - general in 1843 . Bylandt died aged 84 on his estate at Prinsenhage , near Breda , in 1855 .