of Hesse and John Frederick I, the elector of Saxony.
Alva and Charles met the league’s forces at Mühlberg
on 24 April 1547. Historian George Bruce describes
Mühlberg as a clash “between the German Protestants,
9,000 strong, under the Elector Frederick of Saxony
and the Landgrave of Hesse, and the Imperial army, to-
gether 3,500 Papal troops, 13,000 in all, under Charles
V. The Protestants were totally defeated, and their two
leaders taken prisoners. The Imperialists lost 50 [men]
only.” This battle is known for being the first to see the
use of cavalry with pistols. Charles then called together
the Diet of Augsburg (1547), a meeting that acceded
to the incorporation of the Netherlands into Charles’s
empire.
Charles’s abdication in 1556 and the succession of
Spain’s Philip II as Holy Roman Emperor changed Alva’s
life for the worse. Philip did not hold the general in the
same high regard as did Charles, and Alva was sent to
the Netherlands in 1568 to put down a revolt against
Habsburg rule. Named captain general of the Nether-
lands, he established the Council of Blood, or the Coun-
cil of Troubles, to put down the insurrection. In the next
few months, more than 18,000 people were arrested and
executed for conspiring against the crown; their property
was confiscated by Alva and given to Philip II. Among
those who met their fate under the council’s dictates were
Lamoral, Count Egmont (1522–68), a Flemish general
who had fought under Charles V and won important
victories for him at Saint Quentin (1557) and Grave-
lines (1558) before he was arrested for protesting against
Alva’s excesses; and Admiral Philippe de Montmorency,
Count Horn (1518–68). Both were beheaded on 5 June
1568, and their deaths, as well as an appearance before
the council by William of Orange, precipitated a civil
war. Led by William, an army of Belgians met Alva’s
forces at Jemmingen on 21 July 1568; Alva was victori-
ous, William fled, and the “war” concluded when Alva
entered Brussels on 22 December 1568. However, this
victory did not end Belgian resistance, and increased
fighting, particularly at Haarlem (11 July 1573), led
Philip to recall Alva in 1573.
In 1580, Philip sent Alva to Portugal after that
country’s king, Henry, died without an heir; Philip in-
tended to secure the throne for himself. Alva’s forces met
a ragtag band of citizens, backing the rival claim of Dom
Antonio de Crato, at Alcântara on the Tagus River on 25
August 1580. With little experience and few weapons,
the citizens were routed by Alva’s forces, and he marched
into Lisbon, taking it for Spain. Portugal would be ruled
by Spain for the next 60 years.
Despite this last victory for Philip, Alva fell into
disfavor with the king, and he remained in Lisbon with-
out any power or recognition. He died in Lisbon on 11
December 1582 at the age of 75.References: Maltby, William S., Alba: A Biography of Fer-
nando Alvarez de Toledo, Third Duke of Alba, 1507–1582
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983); Wind-
row, Martin, and Francis K. Mason, “Alvarez de Toledo,
Fernando, Duke of Alva,” in The Wordsworth Dictionary
of Military Biography (Hertfordshire, U.K.: Wordsworth
Editions Ltd., 1997), 14–16; Bruce, George, “Alcántara I”
and “Mühlberg,” in Collins Dictionary of Wars (Glasgow,
Scotland: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995), 8, 169;
Fitzjames Stuart y Falcó, Jacobo Maria Carlos Manuel,
duke de Berwick y de Alba, The Great Duke of Alba as a
Public Servant (London: G. Cumberlege, 1947).Amherst, Jeffrey, Baron Amherst of Montreal
(1717–1797) British general
Born at Sevenoaks, in Kent, England, on 29 January
1717, Jeffrey Amherst was his father’s namesake and the
scion of an ancient Kentish family. He began his career
as a page to the duke of Dorset. In 1731, at the age of
14, he joined the English army, rising to become aide-de-
camp to General John Ligonier and seeing action during
the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) at several
engagements, including Dettingen, Fontenoy, and Rou-
coux. By the end of that conflict, he had been promoted
to serving on the staff of William, the duke of Cumber-
land, and he saw additional action at Hastenbeck and
Lauffeld. Both Ligonier and Cumberland saw something
in the young officer, and he was promoted rapidly, attain-
ing the rank of lieutenant general by 1756.
Two years later, William Pitt, the prime minister
of Great Britain, made Amherst the commander of a
force sent to Canada to capture French Canada for En-
gland, despite his lack of seniority. Amherst’s goal was
to end the French command of parts of North America
and make Canada a British colony. His force sailed from
Portsmouth and landed at the French fortress at Louis-
bourg, which, after a short siege, surrendered on 26 July- For this quick victory, Amherst was promoted to
commander in chief of all British forces in North Amer-
ica, succeeding James Abercromby.
AmheRSt, JeFFRey, bARon AmheRSt oF montReAl