John Mansel (1729–1794) was a British Army cavalry general killed at the Battle of Beaumont. John Mansel was born in Cosgrove, Northamptonshire in 1729, son of the Reverend Christopher Mansel, and Sarah Hoare. He married Mary Anne Biggin on 9 June 1768. Among their six children, one son John (1771-1839) became a major of the 3rd Dragoon Guards and ADC to his father, another Robert (1773-1838), joined the Royal Navy and rose to the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

. In the army Mansel was made lieutenant-colonel commanding the

3rd Dragoon Guards The 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Earl of Plymouth's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1751 and the 3rd (Prince of Wales's) ...

on 27 April 1775 and became colonel of the regiment on 16 May 1781. Promoted to major-general on 28 April 1790, he commanded the 2nd (heavy) brigade of cavalry under the Duke of York and Albany in 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 ...

from May 1793. He was at the relief of Menin on 15 September, and possibly at Sainghin on 27 October, although the heavy cavalry was apparently commanded by Prince Ernest on the day, as Mansel was not yet divisional commander. In 1794 he was with Erskine's column at

Prémont Prémont () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 Communes of France, communes in the French Departments of F ...

on 17 April, but at the Battle of Villers-en-Cauchies on the 24th his command missed the action through a confusion in the orders that left

Rudolf Ritter von Otto Rudolf Ritter von Otto (1735 – 7 August 1811) began his military career in the army of the Electorate of Saxony, transferred to the Austrian army and had a distinguished combat record during the Seven Years' War and the French Revolutionary Wars. ...

with just four squadrons to face 5,000 French. At Beaumont on 26 April he led the cavalry flank attack in the valley of Cawdry and completely routed a column of infantry before plunging at the head of his troops across a ravine to attack a battery of 14 cannon on the other side.

"He passed the ravine, and, at the head of a considerable body of his men, charged the cannon with inconceivable intrepidity, and complete success. His heroic conduct decided the day; but at the mouth of this battery, after having three horses shot under him, he received his death wound. One
grape-shot Grapeshot is a type of artillery round invented by a British Officer during the Napoleonic Wars. It was used mainly as an anti infantry round, but had other uses in naval combat. In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of ammunition that consists ...
entered his chest, fracturing his spine, and coming out between his shoulders, while another broke his arm to splinters."

Mansel was buried in a redoubt with all military honours. Six generals—Abercrombie, Dundas, Harcourt, Garth, and Fox, who supported the pall—and the majority of senior officers of York's army attended the funeral. Craig attributed the failure of the heavy cavalry at Villers en Cauchies "mainly to Mansel, whom after the action of the 17th remonthe had already reported as an incompetent officer." Mansel felt he was disgraced after Villers-en-Cauchies despite being reinstated, and swore not to survive. Whether he deliberately sought death or not though is disputed. Others "seemed to feel that a brave man had been untowardly sacrificed."Wilson, quoted in Phipps, Ramsay Weston (1926), The Armies of the First French Republic and the Rise of the Marshals of Napoleon I, London: Oxford University Press Vol I p. 288

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansel, John 1729 births 1794 deaths 68th Regiment of Foot officers British Army generals People from West Northamptonshire District British military personnel killed in the French Revolutionary Wars 3rd Dragoon Guards officers British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars