Juan Van Halen y Sarti (1788 – 1864) was a Spanish military officer and adventurer who had a rather colorful life. During the Peninsular War (1808-1813) he initially supported the French and served King Joseph Bonaparte of Spain, helping him escape to France in 1813. He then defected to the Spanish side but was investigated for his role during the war and sentenced to death. In 1817, he avoided death by escaping from prison and fleeing to Russia, where he was accepted into the military service and appointed a colonel in the Kavkazskii Dragoon Regiment deployed in Georgia. In 1819, Van Halen traveled to Georgia where he stayed for over a year and served under the leadership of General Alexey Yermolov. In 1821 Van Halen returned to Spain to support the revolutionaries who rebelled against King Ferdinand VII. After the revolution failed, Van Halen had to flee once again, traveling to the Caribbean. In 1830, he returned to Europe supporting the Belgian revolutionaries against the Dutch monarchy. After the new kingdom of Belgium was established, he moved to the Iberian Peninsula where he first supported Portuguese Liberals against King Miguel I and then fought against the Carlists during the First Carlist Wars in Spain. Van Halen died in El Puerto de Santa María (Cadiz, Spain), at the age of 76, in 1864.
In the late 1820s, Van Halen wrote (in Spanish) an interesting memoir describing his imprisonment in Spain in 1817-1818 and later service in the Caucasus in 1819-1821. The memoir was later translated into English and published in London in 1830.
On the morning after my arrival at the place of quarantine I entered Tiflis, and immediately proceeded to General Williaminoff’s [Ivan Velyaminov, division commander], to deliver the dispatches entrusted to me by the general-in chief [Alexey Yermolov]. I met the kindest reception from that general, who introduced me to the officers of the staff, who had remained at Tiflis, and especially to Baron Renemkamph [Paul Rennenkampf], a young Livonian. This officer insisted on my accepting an apartment in his house, and presented me to the best societies of that city.
There were several European families residing here, most of whom belonged to the Russian employes; those whom I principally visited being the governor's, General Van Howen’s [Roman Van Der Hoeven], and that of the general of artillery, General Ahuerdoff [Fedor Akhverdov]. With respect to the Georgian ladies, although I felt the greatest curiosity to be intimately acquainted with them, the attachment they still evince for their ancient Asiatic customs, and consequently their retired habits, rendered their society but little attractive.
The term of my residence at Tiflis, however, did not so much depend on my will as on that of General Williaminoff's, who, far from showing any displeasure at my sojourn, gave me a general invitation to his table, and to his library, in which he spends a great part of his time. Under such favorable auspices, Tiflis soon became for me a second St. Petersburg; but which I was shortly to quit in order to join my regiment, that was stationed at Karakhach [Karaghaji, village in the Sighnaghi municipality], one hundred and forty versts to the east of Tiflis. In this, however, I was prevented by an intermittent fever, which never left me during the eighteen months I remained in this country, and which in five weeks reduced me to a mere skeleton. I am convinced that without the unremitting attendance of Dr. Privil, physician to the government, the cares of my excellent friend Renemkamph, who treated me as if I were his brother, and the medicines and attentions of the good Father Philip, the Catholic missionary residing at Tiflis, who acted as my nurse, my fever would, doubtless, have terminated fatally. One day when it was at the highest, my negro, taking advantage of my situation, seized on my wardrobe and my purse, and proceeded, as I afterwards learned, in the company of an Armenian, to Persia, where, owing to the estimation in which they are held for certain offices in the harems, he was placed in that of the Shah; so that I was obliged to content myself with the services of two deanships [batmen], whom the colonel had just sent me from Karakhach, who could scarcely understand my bad Russian.
Two months having elapsed without any material improvement taking place in my health, and finding unavailing both the prescriptions of my doctor, and the incessant attentions of my numerous friends, I resolved to join my regiment. Accordingly I set off from Tiflis on the 16th of December, in the company of Colonel Nicolas Yermolow [Peter Nikolaevich Yermolov], cousin-german of the general-in-chief, and who commanded the regiment of grenadiers of Grousia, or Georgia [Gruzinskii Grenadier Regiment], whose cantonments were in the same direction as those of mine. I was also accompanied by a new comrade of mine, Baron Ungern, lately arrived from Europe, who was proceeding to join our regiment, in the rank of captain, and by several other officers, all on horseback, among whom was my friend Renemkamph, who rode some distance with us.
Our road, though the shortest from Tiflis to our place of destination, was by no means the best, and as in this season, even in this mild climate, the country assumes the aspect of winter, (which, however, only lasts in Georgia from December till the latter end of January,) it did not much attract my attention. After three hours' ride we arrived at the tower of Prince Chalakaioff [Cholokaev/Choloqashvili], a young Georgian, who, being warned of our arrival, had made some preparations for our reception.
The prince, in his Georgian costume, and surrounded by attendants bearing torches, came out to meet us, and conducted us to a spacious apartment of an almost oval form, splendidly illuminated, around the walls of which was a wide continued bench, covered with beautiful tapestry, with cushions at the back, richly laced and embroidered, and which was to serve us both as seats and beds. The ladies and women of the tower, in our passage to this apartment, peeped, like the nuns in our convents, through the blinds, and chinks of the windows and doors; so that the prince was the only one who did the honours of the house, though in a manner which in Georgia would be considered rather as the reception from a friend than from a mere acquaintance.
As soon as we sat down we were all furnished with long pipes, according to the Russian and Georgian custom, whilst our entertainer caused a long table to be placed before us, and ordered supper to be brought, which consisted of several dishes of meat or poultry, boiled together with rice and dried fruits, with plenty of sugar, or honey, and saffron, a medley which for a European was the most strange they could present. With respect to the plate service, etc., all was in the European manner but as the noblemen of this country have no head servant, or steward, the prince was obliged to be constantly supplying the deficiencies and neglects of his awkward attendants; nor was he able to partake of the repast tranquilly until towards its conclusion, when he took his seat among us to drink, and served us the excellent wine of Kakhetia with that frugality by which these people are distinguished. We drank from the Georgian cup, which is a horn of a touri [Caucasian tur, Capra caucasica] highly polished, and mounted in silver or gold, and which one is obliged to hold in the hand, and drink continually, since it cannot be laid down until it is perfectly empty, the etiquette of this country besides requiring, that the guest should pledge his host every time he drinks.
The wine of Kakhetia resembles in taste, colour, and mild effects, that of La Mancha, and especially that of Valdepenas, which is so much in vogue at Madrid. As this wine is transported in Georgia, as in Spain, in skins, its flavour is a little spoiled; but, nevertheless, it compensated for the strange dishes with which we had been regaled, and kept up the hilarity of the company till midnight, when the table was removed, and the prince withdrew, and locked us in the saloon, where, dressed as we were, we reclined on the cushions, and resigned ourselves to sleep.
At dawn of the following day our host entered our room, and informed us that the carriage and horses of our party were ready; we took our leave of him, and pursued our way by a bad road, across glens and torrent-beds. An hour after we arrived at Zahoredsky, where the battalions of grenadiers of Georgia are encamped, and the situation of which is extremely well adapted to found a city.
The house of the colonel [Peter Yermolov] is built on an excellent plan, not only to afford entertainment to the officers of the regiment, but for the hospitality which he so prodigally lavishes on his friends, and where he invited my new comrade and myself to spend a day. Among his officers the lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, the Georgian Prince Abhazoff [Abkhazov], is distinguished for his personal qualities and military merit; even at the age of fifteen he was decorated with the Russian order of St. George, a military decoration which in the most gallant regiment is scarcely possessed by four individuals.
Colonel Yermolow, and several other officers, accompanied us as far as the meadows and stables belonging to the trains of the regiment, and soon after we arrived at the post-house of Manaba [Manavi?], which is fifty-four versts from Tiflis, and where we spent the night. Most of these houses, which are constructed of osiers and covered with clay, have only the necessary partitions for the reception of the officers, travelers, Cossacks, and horses, that may not chance to arrive.
At day-break we proceeded on our journey, followed by two Cossacks, who were our escort. The morning was cold, and the frost during the night had hardened the little snow that lay on the fields, where we occasionally saw groups of sportsmen. At ten o'clock in the morning we arrived at Dampal [Dampala], where we reposed ourselves awhile, and then proceeded to Signachsk [Sighnaghi], which is thirty-five versts from Manaba. The road between these two towns is tolerably good, except just before entering the latter, which, being situated on a hill, offers a steep ascent. The fields, however, are well cultivated, and many of the country houses and farms, which are seen scattered here and there, must present in summer, by their picturesque situation, delightful prospects.
Signachsk [Sighnaghi], which in the insurrection of 1812 suffered dreadful depredations, is the capital of the province of Kakhetia, and is considered an important point on account of its proximity to the Lesghi Tartars, who inhabit the country on the opposite bank of the river Alazann [Alazani]. It has a population of about three thousand inhabitants, who are protected by a garrison more or less numerous, according to the peaceable or hostile conduct observed by their neighbours. The elevation on which Signachsk stands forms a part of a chain of mountains, which on one side extends towards Tielaw [Telavi], the second city of Kakhetia; and on the other towards Tzarskoi'e, a mountainous district, which runs parallel to the Caucasus, from which it is separated by extensive plains, fifteen and twenty versts wide, covered with forests watered by the Alazann [Alazani], which empties itself into the Koura [Kur/Mtkvari], at one hundred and fifty versts from Signachsk to the southern extremity of the province.
Tielaw [Telavi], far wealthier than the capital on account of its vineyards, forms with the latter a barrier against the Lesghis. The richest lands in that district belong to Tchitchivaze [Chavchavadze], a Georgian prince, educated in Europe, who, though serving in our regiment with the rank of colonel, had succeeded, without neglecting his military duties, in improving his valuable inheritance in such a manner that few Georgian nobles can cope with him in wealth. The grapes of Tielaw [Telavi] are larger, more succulent and delicate, than those gathered on the coast of Malaga. There is also throughout this province a great abundance of wild grapes, which, though they by no means bear a comparison with the others, are nevertheless very good. The wine of Kakhetia, therefore, is so plentiful, especially as it is not at all exported from Georgia, that the daily consumption at Tiflis, is from two to four bottles per person.
Mr. Makachew, the commandant-at-arms of Signachsk [Sighnaghi], to whom we addressed ourselves to obtain quarters for the night, invited us to pass it at his house, from the gallery of which we had a view of the Caucasus, the most magnificent I ever beheld. The atmosphere of Georgia, at all times so pure, was on this night doubly so, on account of the north wind which prevails during the winter season, and together with the brightness of the moon, whose rays illuminated the snowy summits of that varied chain of mountains, produced a most picturesque and brilliant effect, surpassing all I have ever seen both in the Alps and the Pyrenees.
On the following morning we set off on our journey in a carriage belonging to our colonel, which was returning empty to the Karakhach, and to the use of which we were entitled. From Signachsk [Sighnaghi] the descent is so precipitous, that we were obliged to alight, and walk for nearly five versts, in the space of which we met, from distance to distance, water-mills, which, though very imperfect in their construction, furnish sufficient flour for the garrison and resident Europeans, except in times of extraordinary drought.
Having descended the heights of Signachsk [Sighnaghi], we proceeded through fertile and beautiful valleys, which extend along the borders of the river Alazann [Alazani] to beyond Karakhach. The twenty-seven versts between Signachsk and this place are accounted very dangerous, owing to the proximity of the Lesghis, who, though acknowledging the Russian government, occasionally commit acts of depredation which can only be repressed by an armed force, and are in the habit of lying in ambush to surprise travelers, and especially the officers, for whose ransom they demand large sums.
As the Russian etiquette requires that when an officer arrives at an encampment or at a garrison, he should present himself in full uniform, and as, moreover, we were to alight at our colonel's quarters, we travelled from Signachsk as if we were going to the parade; so that our plumes and uniforms were doubly attractive for the mountaineers, had any been on the alert, particularly as we proceeded without an escort, depending wholly upon our arms. Immediately on our arrival we presented ourselves to our chief, Colonel Klimonskoie [Klimenskii?], who, though he had been an aid-de-camp of the Grand Duke Constantine during the campaigns of 1813 and 1814, did not understand a single word of any other language than that he had learned from his nurse; a circumstance not very common in Russia among the class to which he belonged, and which naturally confined our conversation to a few words; but his good humour compensated for this inconvenience, which was shared by another chief, Mr. Soltikoff [Saltikov], who was my colleague, and by one or two more officers. This inspired me with the hope that I should make a greater progress in the Russian language than I had hitherto done, the knowledge of it being absolutely necessary to enable me to fulfill my duties under the banners I served; but notwithstanding my good will, the deplorable state of my health prevented me from applying myself closely to this study.
[A lengthy discussion of Russian military organization follows]
Our colonel, who was a true officer of the spur, and zealous for the improvement of his corps, always presided at our occupations and amusements, which in the morning consisted of exercises on horseback or on foot, by companies or in the line, of the display of horsemanship by the officers, sergeants, and corporals, and of the exercise of arms. The afternoon was spent in visiting the stables, and admiring the good qualities of some of the horses, who were trained to all kinds of privations, and to eat whilst the report of the pistol sounded in their ears. Our veterans, the greatest part of whom were inured to the climate, and who were the only cavalry of the line in the army of Georgia, had rendered distinguished services in the war against the Persians. On the peace with this power being concluded, they were stationed in their present cantonments, as an advanced post. Their proximity to the Lesghis kept them continually on the alert, and rendered this service, though useful to the soldiers, by no means pleasant.
At night the posts around our encampment were doubled, the qui vive of the sentries confounding itself with the sharp howlings of the tchacals [jackals], which are here so numerous that droves of them advanced towards our encampment to seize on our poultry as soon as it grew dark.
The river Alazann, which is within six or seven versts of Karakhach, is fordable at various times in the year, a circumstance which rendered the exterior service of our camp extremely complicated on dark nights, as the plain extending to the river is covered with thick forests.
A few weeks before my arrival, and on one of these dark nights, some twenty Lesghis descended from the mountains, and crossing the Alazann, succeeded in silently making their way on foot through the cordon formed by the sentries. On arriving at the door of one of the three barracks, they poniarded [stabbed] the sentry stationed there before he had time to give the alarm, and penetrating with the same audacity into the interior of the barrack, where the soldiers were asleep, distributed themselves right and left, and plunged their poniards [small daggers] into the first dragoons they met, till the groans and cries of the dying and wounded awakening their comrades, the confusion became general, especially as the Lesghis, who could recognize each other by their beards, had extinguished the lights and continued their horrible massacre on the defenseless soldiers, who endeavored to gain the door and seize their arms. Patrols having at length arrived with lights, the Lesghis sought to cut their way through them; but seeing the impracticability of this, some of them stabbed themselves on the spot, and the rest surrendered, testifying their joy at the sight of the bleeding corpses of Christians by whom they were surrounded. The fanaticism they evinced, when they underwent the punishment due to their atrocious deeds, proved that their poniards had been directed by their barbarous priests.
This lesson, which might have been still more fatal had the Lesghis been more numerous, and less rash by neglecting to seize on the arms, which are symmetrically placed near the entrance, cost the regiment more than sixty men killed or dangerously wounded; but it produced the extraordinary vigilance which was observable at the time of my arrival at the cantonment, and which one night occasioned the death of a new enemy. A sentry seeing something gently approaching towards him, challenged the object, and observing that it continued advancing without vouchsafing him an answer, immediately fired and effectually arrested its progress. When the patrol repaired to the spot they found that the intruder was a tiger, then in its last agonies.
Opposite to our encampment, on the other side of the Alazann, and at a distance of eighteen or twenty versts, is the city of Belohakan [Balakən], situated at the foot of the Caucasus, and inhabited by the Eingalos [Ingilos], a people whom the Lesghis keep in the most horrible state of slavery, and who formerly belonged to Georgia; but who being too industrious, and attached to their native soil, would never abandon it, during the different revolutions which that country has undergone, and became subject to their present masters. That city carries on a great trade with Tiflis, principally in bourkas, which are manufactured there; and as the traders pass through Karakhach, our colonel, who was the commandant of this district, and from whom they must obtain a passport for Georgia, was obliged to have near him an Eingalo [Ingilo], who understood the Russian language, and served as interpreter. This man had become so familiarized with the officers, that the colonel allowed him to sit at our table. One day we remarked that the interpreter was absent, a circumstance which seldom occurred ; but, as we were finishing our dessert, he entered the dining-room in high spirits, bringing under his arm a bundle, carefully tied, which, he said, contained a fine water melon for our dessert. This fruit, in the middle of December, is considered a great delicacy, and we all expressed a wish that he should produce it, when he immediately untied the bundle, and, to our great horror, we beheld the head of a Lesghi, whom he had killed in fight on the other side of the Alazann during a sporting expedition, roll on the table. Disgusted at this action, which among these barbarous mountaineers would pass as an excellent joke, we all rose from table, and retired to another apartment, whilst the Eingalo [Ingilo] sat down to dinner, and, at every mouthful he took, amused himself with turning the head, which he kept close to his plate, first one way and then another.
Much is said in Europe of the knout, which, it is asserted, a Russian chief frequently applies to his officers. I shall not attempt here to investigate the origin of this opinion, which is often supported with open malice, but merely confine myself to state a fact among the many which every day occur.
Colonel Klimonskoi being displeased with a certain officer of our corps, struck him in the presence of several of his comrades. The outraged officer withdrew; and on the following morning the colonel, seeing him enter the breakfast-room, advanced towards him, and, taking him aside, manifested a wish to give him the satisfaction due to a comrade. The officer, whose character was not of the firmest, understood these words, and immediately declared himself satisfied. All his comrades, who had hitherto maintained that reserve which the affair required, freely gave their opinion ; and from that moment the officer was so greatly despised by all, that he could no longer appear at the same table, and was obliged to remain in his own apartment under the pretext of illness, until the general-in-chief granted the petition which this unfortunate young man addressed to him, for permission to retire from the service, under the usual plea of ill-health.
Some time after this an occurrence similar to the above took place between two officers of different ranks. The inferior officer demanded a satisfaction; blood was spilt; the affront was washed away and the chief and the subordinate became good friends. Indeed, the tolerance with which dueling is looked upon in a nation wholly military, is in itself a guarantee to officers of an inferior rank to be respected by their superiors, since these cannot offer them an affront with impunity. Often, however, the opinions on this subject, among this class of people in Russia, are even chivalrous.
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| Alexander Yakubovich (by N. Bestuzhev, 1831) |
Hunting was at Karakhach the amusement of most of the officers on festival days; but we were obliged to take certain precautions that we might not be hunted instead of hunting. All kinds of game were so abundant in these environs, (where wild goats are still very numerous,) that the six hunters, whom the colonel kept constantly employed in this occupation, furnished so much game to the cantonment, that frequently no other meats were provided than those absolutely required for the service of the hospital.
The natural attachment of my comrades to the customs of their country, induced them to keep the carnival in the fashion of Russia, though of course on a very small scale. Thus, during the short time that the temperature allowed of this kind of amusement, we had Russian mountains, skating, and courses in sledges. In the evening we took tea, and punch was freely served, with pipes of Turkish tobacco, whilst chess and cards, enlivened by the music of the regiment, formed the usual diversion of the winter evenings. The wife of the chaplain of our regiment was the only lady at Karakhach; but the retirement in which she lived deprived us of her company. Her husband, however, who was still young, and whose character and conduct rendered him an object of general esteem, was the ornament of our parties ; a circumstance which was the more highly valued by us, as it is by no means common among the military Russian clergymen. But, indeed, I have known few men more worthy of the respect and friendship which we all, without distinction of religion, felt for him, his tolerance being not the least of his virtues.
I cannot say as much of the doctor, who, without the unremitting cares and attendance of the officers on their sick soldiers, would, after two autumns, have made of Karakhach a vast cemetery. Indeed, the want of good doctors is very much felt in the army of the Caucasus; and this can be attributed only to the negligence of the government at St. Petersburg; a negligence which is the more blamable, as in this part of the empire the soldiers are very subject to sickness. Our corps, like all the others in Russia, furnished men every year to the imperial guard, who were replaced by the conscripts, who are periodically raised throughout the empire. But such was the gross ignorance of the three doctors entrusted with the care of our hospital, (which by the disinterestedness of the colonel, and the affection of the officers for the soldiers, might in every respect serve as a model to any in Russia,) that when they were allowed to act according to their own judgment, three parts of those conscripts fell victims to the fevers prevalent in the country.
Thus the officers and soldiers of the regiment stationed at Karakhach spent most of the time which was not employed in their military duties in acts of friendship and benevolence; constantly struggling with assassins, and surrounded with wild beasts, serpents, scorpions, and swarms of insects, by which we were tormented in our beds, and which disappeared only during the winter season; our knowledge of the events that were passing in the world being confined to the slight information contained in the prikaz [order] which was every week sent from St. Petersburg, and which arrived with more or less regularity, according to the practicability of the passage of couriers through the chain of the mountains.
In the midst of this kind of exile, supportable only because with a military philosophy we all endeavored to overcome the crosses and ennui incident to this kind of life, I received, towards the latter end of February, 1820, the first intelligence from my exiled friends. The circumstance of its probably being the first Spanish letter which has ever been received at the Caucasus, and the person (General Mina) by whom it was written, appear to me worthy of mention here.
The spring beginning now to be felt at Karakhach, the regiment prepared to leave this part of the country, to establish in the month of May their summer encampment at Tzarskoie, which is situated on the high lands forming a continuation of the Signachsk hills, and which is twelve versts distant from Karakhach. This place is well provided with good water, and considered the most salubrious in the environs.
The arrival of General [Alexey] Yermolow at Tiflis, together with the inactivity in which the regiment was likely to remain at Tzarskoie, and my desire to render myself useful during the summer, induced me to ask permission from the general-in-chief to proceed to the capital. Having obtained it, I set off from Karakhach on the 20th of March, accompanied by some officers of the regiment, who were also proceeding to the capital. On our second day's journey we passed through the German colonies, which are within five versts of the capital. These colonists, who are natives of Wurttemberg, were sent into Georgia through the influence of the empress mother [Maria Feodorovna, nee Sophie Dorothea of Wurttemberg], who wished to relieve the misery of the indigent class of her native country. Their proximity to Tiflis enables them to furnish the market with butter, hams, potatoes, and other vegetables which were before unknown to the Georgians. The houses built for them by the government are well adapted to the climate; whilst the protection which they meet, both from the authorities and from those Germans employed in the country, contribute much to their prosperity.
We arrived early on the 5th of April at Tiflis, where my friend the Baron Renempkamph again invited me to take up my quarters at his house. Having immediately presented myself to General Yermolow, and expressed a wish of rendering myself useful during the summer out of my regiment, studiously concealing from him the real state of my health, which was still in a most deplorable state, I obtained the only favour he had in his power to grant, namely, my remaining at Tiflis near his person until an opportunity should offer.
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