General George Henry Vansittart (16 July 1768 – 4 February 1824) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Life

He was the eldest son of

George Vansittart George Vansittart (15 September 1745 – 31 January 1825) was a British politician. He was the younger son of Arthur Vansittart of Shottesbrook and educated at Reading school. His brothers Arthur Vansittart and Henry Vansittart were also MPs. ...

, M.P., of

Bisham Abbey Bisham Abbey is a Grade I listed manor house at Bisham in the English county of Berkshire. The name is taken from the now lost monastery which once stood alongside. This original Bisham Abbey was previously named Bisham Priory, and was the trad ...

, Berkshire, by Sarah, daughter of the Rev. Sir James Stonhouse, 11th Baronet of

Radley Radley is a village and civil parish about northeast of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfor ...

, Berkshire. Vice-Admiral

Henry Vansittart Henry Vansittart (3 June 1732 – 1770) was an English colonial administrator, who was the Governor of Bengal from 1759 to 1764. Life Vansittart was born in Bloomsbury in Middlesex, the third son of Arthur van Sittart (1691–1760), and his w ...

(1777–1843) was his younger brother.

(1732–1770) and Robert Vansittart were his uncles. He was educated at

Winchester School Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of t ...

, at a military academy at Strasbourg, and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated on 7 November 1785. After obtaining a commission as ensign in the

19th Foot 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

on 18 October 1786, he was allowed a year's leave to study military science at Brunswick and attend the Prussian manœuvres. He became lieutenant on 25 December 1787, exchanged to the 38th Foot on 12 March 1788, and obtained a company in the 18th Foot on 23 June 1790. He joined that regiment at

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, went with it to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

in 1793, took part in the defence, and was one of the last men to leave the place. He became major in the

New South Wales Corps The New South Wales Corps (sometimes called The Rum Corps) was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment of the British Army to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps, who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia, in fortifying th ...

on 20 November 1793, and lieutenant-colonel of the

95th Foot The 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot was a British Army infantry regiment, raised in 1823. Under the Childers Reforms, it amalgamated with the 45th (Nottinghamshire) (Sherwood Foresters) Regiment of Foot to form the Sherwood Foresters in 1881 ...

on 21 February 1794. He took part with it in the expedition to the

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

under Sir Alured Clarke in 1795. He was made colonel in the army on 26 January 1797; but the 95th was broken up in the course of that year, and for the next three years he was on half-pay and in the

Berkshire Militia The Royal Berkshire Militia was an auxiliary military regiment in the county of Berkshire in Southern England. From their formal organisation as Trained Bands, in 1572 and their service during the Armada Crisis and in the English Civil War, t ...

, which his uncle, Colonel Arthur Vansittart, had previously commanded. On 10 April 1801 he became lieutenant-colonel of the 68th Foot, went with it to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

, and was present at the capture of

St Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindi ...

in June 1803. On 25 September he was promoted major-general, and served on the staff in England from 1804 to 1806, and in Ireland from 1806 to 1810, when he became lieutenant-general (25 July). While in command of the Oxford district he received the degree of D.C.L. on 26 June 1805. He had been given the colonelcy of the 12th reserve battalion on 9 July 1803, and was transferred to the 1st garrison battalion on 25 February 1805. The colours of this battalion were afterwards presented to him, and now hang in the great hall in Bisham Abbey. He became general on 19 July 1821, and died on 4 February 1824. On 29 October 1818 he had married Anna Maria, daughter and coheiress of Thomas Copson of Sheppey Hall, Leicestershire. She survived him, with one son, George Henry Vansittart the Younger (1823–1885), and a second son,

Augustus Arthur Vansittart Augustus Arthur Vansittart (24 July 1824 – 17 April 1882)The Guardian, Apr. 26, 1882 was an English scholar. Life He was the son of George Henry Vansittart of Bisham Abbey—his father predeceased his birth—and his widow Anna Maria, daughter a ...

(1824–1882), who was born posthumously. There is a portrait of him in uniform, by

Sir George Hayter Sir George Hayter (17 December 1792 – 18 January 1871) was an English painter, specialising in portraits and large works involving in some cases several hundred individual portraits. Queen Victoria appreciated his merits and appointed Hayter h ...

, at Bisham Abbey. A mourning brooch, presumably commissioned by his family, inscribed with details of his birth and death and containing a lock of his hair appeared on Episode 12 of Season 16 of

Pawn Stars ''Pawn Stars'' is an American reality television series shown on History and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a 24 ...

in September, 2019.

Sources

* Based on public domain Dictionary of National Biography entry

References

* * E. M. Lloyd, ‘Vansittart, George Henry (1768–1824)’, rev. Roger T. Stearn, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 9 March 2013
;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Vansittart, George Henry 1768 births 1824 deaths British Army generals Green Howards officers Royal Irish Regiment (1684–1922) officers British Militia officers 68th Regiment of Foot officers Sherwood Foresters officers British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Governors of British Saint Lucia George Henry