Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Wade Thornton, KCH (1 June 1764 – 6 April 1854) was a British military officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars.

Life

Thornton was born in

Northumberland County, Virginia Northumberland County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 11,839. Its county seat is Heathsville. The county is located on the Northern Neck and is part of the Northern Neck George Washin ...

, to Presley Thornton and Charlotte Belson. His father was a wealthy and politically powerful planter who was descended from William Thornton, who arrived from England before 1649. His father died when he was of an early age and his mother moved the family to England before the start of the Revolutionary War. Thornton entered the King's Army at the rank of lieutenant in 1779. He served in the Low Countries in 1792, and was wounded at the

Battle of Famars The Battle of Famars was fought on 23 May 1793 during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. An Allied Austrian, Hanoverian, and British army under Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld defeated the French Army of the North le ...

and lost an arm during the Battle of Lannoy during the

Flanders campaign The Flanders Campaign (or Campaign in the Low Countries) was conducted from 20 April 1792 to 7 June 1795 during the first years of the War of the First Coalition. A coalition of states representing the Ancien Régime in Western Europe – Aus ...

the following year. He rose to the rank of captain in 1793, lieutenant-colonel in 1811, colonel in 1825, major-general in 1837 and finally lieutenant-general in 1846. In 1831 Thornton was knighted by

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

and made a Knight Commander of the

Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (german: Königliche Guelphen-Orden), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name ...

. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Hull in 1816. Thornton had a close relationship with the British Royal family over his life, serving under the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...

and saving the Duke's life during the

in 1793. He was equerry to the Duke of Cumberland from 1813 until his death and had a close relationship with

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

. Thornton was among the chief mourners at the funeral of H.R.H. Princess Sophia. Thornton died on 6 April 1854 in his private apartment at St James's Palace. He was buried in St. Mary's Churchyard, Paddington, next to the grave of his mother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Charles Wade British Army lieutenant generals 1764 births 1854 deaths People from Northumberland County, Virginia British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars American emigrants to the United Kingdom