Valentin von Harrant (1761-1834)

Karl Valentin Maria Alois Johann Nepomuk Freiherr von Harrant, a Baden officer, entered military service on 1 July 1774 as a Kadett in the infantry, and became a Leutnant in 1777. During the Revolutionary Wars he rose to Major (1792) and served as a battalion commander in Baden contingents employed on the Upper Rhine. In 1799 he was Stadtkommandant of Rastatt during the period of the Rastatt congress and its aftermath. He was promoted Oberst in 1803 and appointed commander of the Baden infantry regiment Prinz Ludwig.

In the War of the Third Coalition, Harrant commanded the Baden brigade assembled in the autumn of 1805, operating in the Danube theatre and on line-of-communications duties during the campaign that ended with the Peace of Pressburg. In 1806, with the reorganisation of Baden’s army within the Confederation of the Rhine, he became Chef of the newly established infantry regiment von Harrant (No. 4), and served in the 1806–1807 campaigns; in this period he also performed liaison and representative duties at French headquarters in connection with the Baden court. In 1808 he became Chef of infantry regiment No. 3.

For the 1809 campaign against Austria, Harrant again held field command of the principal Baden contingent (about 6,850 men). The infantry formed a brigade within the 1st Division (Legrand) of Masséna’s IV Corps, and took part in operations in Upper Austria, including actions at Schärding and the fighting at Ebersberg on the Traun. Baden units were engaged in the 21–22 May battle of Aspern–Essling and, after subsequent detachments and marches with neighbouring formations, elements of the contingent served in the operations connected with the advance toward Raab and the return to the Vienna area. Parts of the Baden brigade fought at Wagram (5–6 July) and at Znaim (11 July). During the campaign Harrant fell ill; field command passed to senior regimental commanders, and the contingent later marched home after the 1809 armistice and settlement.

Harrant was promoted Generalleutnant in 1810. From March 1812 he served as commanding general in the Upper Rhine district administration of Baden and organised mobilisation measures, including the raising of Landwehr. In 1814 he held command of Baden troops in northern France during the campaigns of the Sixth Coalition and received Baden distinctions, including the Grand Cross of the Order of the Zähringer Lion. In 1815 he served as commanding general of Baden’s 1st military district. From 1817 he served for several years as Baden envoy at the Württemberg court in Stuttgart, after which he lived chiefly in Karlsruhe. He did not marry.

Sources

• Badische Landesbibliothek Karlsruhe (PDF): Badische Biographieen – “Harrant v. Harrant, Valentin”
• LEO-BW Ortslexikon: Rastatt (Altgemeinde/Teilort)
• Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg: Findbuch J-Ac (Porträtsammlung) – Harrant, Valentin von
• Napoleon Series (PDF): Sauzey, “Baden Contingent in the 1809 Campaign”
• Wikipedia (Russian): Харрант, Валентин фон
• Wikipedia (German): Großherzogtum Baden