Major General Thomas Dundas (30 June 1750 – 3 June 1794) was a British military officer, politician, and Governor of Guadeloupe. He held a seat in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

between 1771 and 1790.

Life

Born the son of Thomas Dundas of Fingask, Dundas was educated at Edinburgh High School and entered the British Army in 1766, rising to Major of the

65th Foot The 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1756 as the 2nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, 12th Regiment of Foot. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 84th (York and L ...

.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> He was elected Member of Parliament for the Stewartry of Orkney & Shetland in 1771 retaining the seat until 1780. As

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

of the

80th Foot The 80th Regiment of Foot (Staffordshire Volunteers) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot to form the South Staffordshire Regim ...

he saw action in the American Revolutionary War, serving under

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...

in the raid against Richmond. Under Arnold and William Phillips, he was present at the capture of Williamsburg, Blandford, the attack on Osborne's, and Manchester. Then he passed under the command of Chrarles Cornwallis. He commanded the left wing at Green Spring. With Banastre Tarleton, he was bottled up by the Marquis de Choisy at Gloucester during the siege of Yorktown. Assigned as joint commissioner for carrying out the capitulation, he was made a prisoner of war after the fall of Yorktown. He was promoted to Colonel on 20 November 1782. After repatriation, he was appointed to the board of commission in 1782 to examine claims for compensation to those "who having remained loyal to the mother country, had suffered in their rights, properties and profession." Thomas Dundas memorial, St Paul's Cathedral

Thomas Dundas memorial, St Paul's Cathedral

Dundas married Lady Elizabeth Eleanora Home (d. 1837), daughter of Alexander, ninth Earl Home, on 9 January 1784. He was elected MP for Orrkney again in 1784 and sat until 1790. Dundas was briefly Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey in 1793. He was promoted to Major General on 12 October 1793. After the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, he served in the West Indies, commanding the 2nd Brigade under Charles Grey in Barbados in 1794. He served in the second invasion of Martinique in February and commanded the military forces under John Jervis in the invasion of Guadeloupe, landing on 12 April and capturing

Grande-Terre Grande-Terre Island (french: île de Grande-Terre / île de la Grande-Terre; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwantè) is the name of the eastern-half of Guadeloupe proper, in the Lesser Antilles. It is separated from the other half of Guadeloupe ...

. After accepting the French surrender on 20 April, he was made Governor of Guadeloupe, but died on 3 June of yellow fever and was buried in the primary bastion of Fort Maltilde. When the French later regained possession of the island Victor Hugues issued a declaration on 10 December, which stated "That the body of Thomas Dundas, interred in Guadeloupe, shall be taken up and given as prey to the birds of the air." This aroused great outrage in England and prompted a memorial in

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

. This was erected in 1805 and was sculpted by John Bacon.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis

References

* Dictionary of National Biography * Christopher Hibbert: ''Redcoats and Rebels: The War for America, 1770-1781'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dundas, Thomas 1750 births 1794 deaths British Army major generals British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars South Staffordshire Regiment officers 65th Regiment of Foot officers 68th Regiment of Foot officers Deaths from yellow fever Infectious disease deaths in France People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Governors of Guadeloupe Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1768–1774