Sir William Henry Elliott, (1792 – 27 March 1874) 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 ...
general.
Origins
Born in 1792 in
Spennithorne
Spennithorne is a village and civil parish in lower Wensleydale in North Yorkshire, England. The village is situated 2 miles (3.2 km) south-east of the market town Leyburn, on a slight elevation above the River Ure, which forms the so ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, he was the fourth son of Commander John Elliott,
R.N. (1759–1834), who as a midshipman had sailed on the second voyage to the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
of
Captain Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
, and his wife Isabella Todd (1762–1841).
Career
He entered the army as an ensign in the
51st (2nd Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment of Foot
The 51st (2nd Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 105th Regiment of Foot (Madras Light Infantry) to form the King's Own Yorkshir ...
on 6 December 1809. In January 1811 the 5lst joined
Lord Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
's army while encamped within the
lines of Torres Vedras
The Lines of Torres Vedras were lines of forts and other military defences built in secrecy to defend Lisbon during the Peninsular War. Named after the nearby town of Torres Vedras, they were ordered by Arthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington, ...
, and Elliott's first battle was
Fuentes de Oñoro
Fuentes de Oñoro is a village and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Salamanca (province), Salamanca, western Spain, part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon. It is located from the ...
. He was present at the capture of
Ciudad Rodrigo
Ciudad Rodrigo () is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population in 2016 of 12,896. It is also the seat of a judicial district.
The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky rise on the right bank ...
and of
Badajoz
Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...
, and at the
battle of Salamanca
The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, so ...
, and was promoted lieutenant on 13 August 1812. During the retreat from Burgos he acted as aide-de-camp to Colonel Mitchell, commanding the first brigade of the seventh division, and was wounded in conveying despatches under fire.
In June 1813, he was appointed acting aide-de-camp to Major-General Inglis, and served with him at the
Battle of the Pyrenees
The Battle of the Pyrenees was a large-scale offensive (the author David Chandler recognises the 'battle' as an offensive) launched on 25 July 1813 by Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult from the Pyrénées region on Emperor Napoleon’s ord ...
, when he was again wounded, and at the battles of the
Nivelle
Nivelle () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
Heraldry
See also
*Communes of the Nord department
* Nivelle Offensive
The Nivelle offensive (16 April – 9 May 1917) was a Franco-British operation on the Western Front i ...
and
Orthez
Orthez (; eu, Ortheze; oc, Ortès, ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, and region of New Aquitaine, southwestern France.
It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the sma ...
. He was then appointed brigade-major to the first brigade, seventh division, in which capacity he served until the end of the war. Elliott was next present with the 51st at the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
, and he had charge of the scaling-ladders at the
storm of Cambrai. He was promoted captain on 9 November 1820. From 1821–34, the 51st was stationed in the
Ionian Islands, and Elliott, who never left his regiment, was promoted major on 12 July 1831. On 27 June 1838 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel, and he commanded the 51st in Australia,
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
, New Zealand, and at Bangalore, until 1852. In that year his regiment was ordered for service in the
Second Anglo-Burmese War
The Second Anglo-Burmese War or the Second Burma War ( my, ဒုတိယ အင်္ဂလိပ် မြန်မာ စစ် ; 5 April 185220 January 1853) was the second of the Anglo-Burmese Wars, three wars fought between the Konbaung dy ...
, and Elliott was detailed to command the Madras brigade in the first campaign.
Under the superintendence of
General Godwin
''General Godwin'' was a convict ship that transported fifteen convicts from Calcutta, India to Fremantle, Western Australia in 1854. It arrived in Fremantle on 28 March 1854. The fifteen convicts were all soldiers who had been convicted by court ...
, Elliott's brigade led the way in the fierce fighting of 10, 11, and 12 April 1852, in which
Rangoon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
was captured, and in the storming of the
Shwedagon Pagoda
The Shwedagon Pagoda (, ); mnw, ကျာ်ဒဂုၚ်; officially named ''Shwedagon Zedi Daw'' ( my, ရွှေတိဂုံစေတီတော်, , ) and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda is a gilded stupa ...
on 14 April. In the second campaign, which began in September 1852, Elliott again had command of a brigade, consisting of his own regiment and two battalions of Madras native infantry, and he co-operated successfully in the capture of Donabyu, the stronghold of the outlaw Nya Myat Toon, who had a short time before defeated Captain
Granville Gower Loch
Granville Gower Loch (1813–1853) was a captain in the Royal Navy.
A son of James Loch (his brother was Henry Loch, 1st Baron Loch, and his uncle was Admiral Francis Erskine Loch), Granville Gower Loch entered the navy in 1826 and had risen to t ...
. For these services he received a medal and clasp, was made a C.B., and made commandant at Rangoon. While there he discovered and suppressed on 20 November 1853 a plot which had for its aim the destruction of all the British in Rangoon, and thus saved the British hold on the city. In 1855 he gave up the command of the regiment with which he had been so long associated and on 20 January 1857 he was promoted major-general.
He never again went on active service, but he was made a
K.C.B.
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...
in 1862 and was appointed colonel of the 51st Foot on 1 June in that year. He was promoted lieutenant-general on 27 July 1863, full general on 25 October 1871 and
G.C.B. on 24 May 1873.
Family
On 15 March 1831, at the church of
All Souls, Langham Place
All Souls Church is a Conservative evangelicalism in the United Kingdom, conservative evangelical Anglican Church, Anglican church in central London, situated in Langham Place, London, Langham Place in Marylebone, at the north end of Regent Street ...
in London, he married Jane Ashmore (1811–1879) but there is no record of any children. He died in their house at 20 Cambridge Square,
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
, on 27 March 1874, being buried in
Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Estab ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, William Henry
1792 births
1874 deaths
19th-century British people
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
British Army generals