Alexander Carl Friedrich von Arentschildt

Alexander Carl Friedrich von Arentschildt (1806–1881) was a German military officer whose name is most often linked to Instructions for Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers of Cavalry, on Outpost Duty. Public-domain library and ebook records identify him as the author of that work and describe him as a lieutenant colonel in the First Hussars of the King's German Legion.

His manual was valued for its clear, practical focus on how cavalry officers and non-commissioned officers should handle picket and outpost service. An English version, associated with Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, was published in the 19th century and later reprinted in Richmond, Virginia, in 1861, showing that the book continued to be read and reused well beyond its original context.

Although easily available biographical information about his wider life is limited, the survival of this handbook suggests the kind of writer he was: direct, experienced, and concerned with the everyday realities of command rather than grand theory. For modern listeners, he offers a window into the working habits and military thinking of an earlier age.