Carlos Hauffe (Napoleon's World)

Carlos Adrian Hauffe (German: Karl Adrian Hauffe) (July 1, 1790 - October 7, 1841) was a prominent Austro-Mexican general, statesman and political leader in the early Mexican Empire. An Austrian refugee of minor nobility, he was promoted rapidly within the Mexican Army in the 1830's (he himself having seen action at Prislitz as an artillery officer and having waged war in Egypt at the behest of the exile Hapsburg regime there).

He became one of the principal generals in charge of the invasion of the United States in 1839 and was both feared and admired by his American opponents, who called him Carlos the Red due to his unrelenting style of warfare. The name stuck, and he became known simply by the moniker "El Rojo" amongst his soldiers, amongst whom he commanded enormous respect. He was killed on October 7, 1841 at Covenant by a stray bullet, and the subsequent retreat by the Mexicans across Texas the following year is largely blamed on his death. Many Mexicans, in particular those of Austrian descent, largely blame the death of Hauffe for the defeat of Mexico in the Mexican-American War, the long decline of the Austrian minority in Mexican politics, and the inability of Mexico to supplant the United States as the dominant North American economic, political and military power.