Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

Sir Henry Clinton (9 March 1771 – 11 December 1829) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who served in the

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (sometimes called the Great French War or the Wars of the Revolution and the Empire) were a series of conflicts between the French and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompas ...

. He came from a family of soldiers. His elder brother was William Henry Clinton and his father was General Sir Henry Clinton the British Commander-in-Chief in North America during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, and his grandfather was Admiral of the Fleet George Clinton (1686–1761).

Early military career

Clinton first went to sea as a midshipman in 1786 in with Captain Erasmus Gower who was flag captain to Commodore John Elliot. Elliot was commander-in-chief and governor of Newfoundland from 1786 to 1788. Clinton suffered from severe seasickness and left the navy at the completion of three years with Captain Gower in Newfoundland. He received his officer's commission in 1787. He went on to serve in the Flanders campaign as an aide-de-camp to the Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, starting in 1793. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1795. Captured by the French, he was a prisoner in 1796–1797. During the 1799 campaign in northern Italy, he was a liaison officer with Alexander Suvarov's Russian army. He went to India as adjutant general from 1802 to 1805. At the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, Clinton was the British military attaché to the Russian army. He commanded the garrison of Syracuse in Sicily in 1806–1807.

Parliamentary career

He became a member of parliament for Boroughbridge in 1808, holding the seat for the next 10 years.

Peninsula

During the campaign and

Battle of Corunna The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a Briti ...

in 1808–1809, he served as Sir John Moore's adjutant general and was promoted to major-general in 1810. During the remainder of the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

he commanded an infantry division under the Marquess of Wellington (later the Duke of Wellington). He was first appointed to command the 6th Division on 9February 1812. During the

Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of the Arapiles) took place on 22July 1812. An Anglo-Portuguese Army, Anglo-Portuguese army under the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Earl of Wellington (future ...

, his division played a key part by defeating French General Bertrand Clausel's counterattack. He then led his division in the

Siege of Burgos At the siege of Burgos, from 19 September to 21 October 1812, the Anglo-Portuguese Army led by General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington tried to capture the castle of Burgos from its French garrison under the command of General ...

campaign. From 26January to 25June 1813, Clinton was absent and Edward Pakenham took over the 6th Division. For his conduct at the Vitoria campaign, Clinton was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB). He was absent again from 22July to October, when he again assumed command of the 6th Division. He was given the local rank of lieutenant general in 1813. He took part in the subsequent victories at the battles of the Nivelle, the Nive, Orthez and

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. At the end of the Peninsular War he was made a lieutenant general and inspector-general of infantry, and was awarded the Army Gold Cross with one clasp.

Waterloo

In 1815 during the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

, Clinton led the 2nd Division which Wellington posted in reserve behind his right flank. The 2nd Division included the 3rd British Brigade (Maj-Gen Frederick Adam), the 1st King's German Legion (KGL) Brigade (Col Du Plat), the 3rd Hanoverian Brigade (Col

Hugh Halkett Hugh Halkett, Royal Guelphic Order, GCH, Order of the Bath, CB, (30 August 1783 – 10 December 1863) was a British army officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. During his military career, he served in both the Brit ...

) and Lieut-Col Gold's two artillery batteries (Bolton RA and Sympher KGL). His troops helped to defeat and pursue Napoleon's Imperial Guard at the end of the battle.

Later life

In 1815 he was made Colonel of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), a position he held until his death. He died at his country residence in Ashley, Hampshire on 11 December 1829. He had married Susan, the daughter of Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho. They had no children.

Places named for Clinton

* Clinton, Ontario,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Notes

References

* Chandler, David. ''Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars.'' Macmillan, 1979. * Glover, Michael. ''The Peninsular War 1807-1814.'' Penguin, 1974. * Haythornethwaite, Philip. ''Uniforms of Waterloo in color.'' Hippocrene, 1974. * Oman, Charles. ''Wellington's Army, 1809-1814.'' Greenhill, (1913) 1993.

External links

* *
Clinton Papers
at the

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a Victorian era, late-Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to t ...

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Clinton, Henry 1771 births 1829 deaths British Army lieutenant generals British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars British Army commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) officers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Tory MPs (pre-1834) UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 Recipients of the Army Gold Cross Henry People of the Battle of Waterloo