Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Somerset KCB KH (30 December 1794 – 15 February 1862) was a British Army officer.

Military career

Born the eldest son of

Lord Charles Somerset Lord Charles Henry Somerset PC (12 December 1767 – 18 February 1831), born in Badminton, England, was a British soldier, politician and colonial administrator.Charles Mosley, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volu ...

, Somerset was commissioned a cornet on 5 December 1811 and promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 30 December 1812. He fought in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

and with the 18th Hussars at Waterloo, serving as aide-de-camp to his uncle

Lord Edward Somerset General Lord Robert Edward Henry Somerset (19 December 17761 September 1842) was a British soldier who fought during the Peninsular War and the War of the Seventh Coalition. Life Somerset was the third son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beauf ...

. On 6 October 1815, he was made a captain. Soon after his marriage, Somerset proceeded to the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

, where his father was governor, and served with the

Cape Mounted Rifles The Cape Mounted Riflemen were South African military units. There were two separate successive regiments of that name. To distinguish them, some military historians describe the first as the "imperial" Cape Mounted Riflemen (originally the ' ...

throughout the

Xhosa Wars The Xhosa Wars (also known as the Cape Frontier Wars or the Kaffir Wars) were a series of nine wars (from 1779 to 1879) between the Xhosa Kingdom and the British Empire as well as Trekboers in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa. T ...

. On 25 March 1823, he was made major, and on 17 July 1824,

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 colo ...

. In 1834, he was made a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order, and later a

Companion of the Bath 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 on ...

. In 1846, he defeated the

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

on the Gwangu, and was promoted

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

on 11 November 1851. At the conclusion of the 8th Xhosa War in 1853, he was made a Knight Commander of the Bath for his services, and left the Cape to go on the staff of the

Bombay Army The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India. It was established in 1662 and governed by the East India Company until the Government of India Act 1858 transferred all presidencies to the d ...

. He served as the Commander-in-chief of the Bombay Army from 26 March 1855 to March 1860, and then returned to England. On 29 January 1857 he was promoted lieutenant-general. He died in

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 ...

in 1862.

Family

On 1 April 1817, he married Frances Sarah Heathcote (21 June 1790 – 16 March 1886), the eldest daughter of Admiral Sir Henry Heathcote, with whom he had seven daughters and three sons: # Leonora Louisa Somerset (d. 28 September 1913), who was married to Lt-Gen. Montague Cholmeley Johnstone (3 March 1804 – 22 September 1874) on 31 December 1844, with whom she had nine children (Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, volume 1, page 221). # Col. Charles Henry Somerset (1819 – 4 November 1863), who married Christina Emma Thompson in 1848 and had issue, including

Henry Plantagenet Somerset Henry Plantagenet Somerset (19 May 1852 – 11 April 1936) was a pioneer pastoralist and politician in Queensland, Australia. Somerset was a liberal politician who represented the district of Stanley in the Queensland Legislative Assembly fr ...

, pioneer pastoralist and politician in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. # Col. Henry George Edward Somerset (28 December 1829 – 5 April 1920), who married Harriette Lade Coast on 15 October 1853 and had issue. # FitzRoy MacLean Henry Somerset (1 November 1839 – 29 June 1907), who married Ellen Amelia Arnot on 18 July 1867 and had issue. # Elizabeth Harriet Frances Somerset (1818 – 9. Nov 1869); who married on 21 September 1841 Maj.-Gen. Peter MacleanPlantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal: The Clarence Volume ..., Volume 1 by Melville Henry Massue Ruvigny et Raineval (marquis de)
/ref> Somerset stood as godfather to Henry Somerset Todd, who, in turn, transmitted the Somerset name to

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Somerset, Henry 1794 births 1862 deaths British Army generals Commanders-in-chief of Bombay Henry Somerset King's Own Scottish Borderers officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath