Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

John Mordaunt, Viscount Mordaunt ( 1681 – 5 April 1710) was an English soldier and politician.

Career

The eldest son of

Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough, (1658 – 25 October 1735) was a British army officer and Whig politician. He was the son of John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt, and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter and sole heiress of Thomas ...

, he was educated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, after travelling in Holland in 1699. He was elected, as a Whig Member of Parliament for

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...

in 1701 despite a petition alleging, among other things, he was still a minor. (That year he was aged about 20.) He was a political ally of his father's and managed the attempt to impeach

Lord Somers Baron Somers, of Evesham in the County of Worcester, is a title that has been created twice. The title was first created in the Peerage of England in 1697 for Sir John Somers, so that he could sit in the House of Lords and serve as Lord Chance ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in the same year. At the General Election of 1705 he vacated his seat to unsuccessfully contest

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

but returned to Chippenham later that year in a by-election caused by the death of a newly returned Whig member, and sat until 1708. He saw distinguished service during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

. As a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, he led the

forlorn hope A forlorn hope is a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the vanguard in a military operation, such as a suicidal assault through the breach of a defended position, or the first men to climb a scaling ladder against a defended ...

of the

1st Foot Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

at the

Battle of Schellenberg The Battle of Schellenberg took place on 2 July 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The engagement was part of the John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Duke of Marlborough's campaign to save the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg capital ...

in 1704, and was one of the few to survive that bloody assault. Shortly thereafter, he helped lead another furious assault at the

Battle of Blenheim The Battle of Blenheim (; ; ) fought on , was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. The overwhelming Allied victory ensured the safety of Vienna from the Franco-Bavarian army, thus preventing the collapse of the reconstituted G ...

and lost his left arm. On 25 August 1704, he was made colonel of the

Scots Fuzileers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Mar ...

in place of Brigadier Archibald Rowe, killed in the attack at Blenheim. On 26 June 1706 he exchanged regiments with

Sampson de Lalo Sampson may refer to: Military * , several Royal Navy ships * , several US Navy ships * Sampson-class destroyer, a World War I US Navy class * Sampson Air Force Base, near Seneca Lake, New York, closed in 1956 * SAMPSON, a multi-function radar s ...

, then colonel of the 28th regiment, but resumed the colonelcy of the Scots Fuzileers in 1709 when de Lalo was killed at the

Battle of Malplaquet The Battle of Malplaquet took place on 11 September 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession, near Taisnières-sur-Hon in modern France, then part of the Spanish Netherlands. A French army of around 75,000 men, commanded by the Duke of V ...

Marriage

In 1708, he married Lady Frances Powlett (d. 1715), daughter of

Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton (1661 – 21 January 1722) was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Member of Parliament for Hampshire and a supporter of William III of Orange. Life He was the son of Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, and Mary S ...

. They had two sons: *

Charles Mordaunt, 4th Earl of Peterborough Charles Mordaunt, 4th Earl of Peterborough, 2nd Earl of Monmouth (1708 – 1 August 1779) was a British peer and Member of Parliament, styled Viscount Mordaunt from 1710 to 1735. Biography He was the son of John Mordaunt, Viscount Mordaunt a ...

(1708–1779) *Lt.-Col. John Mordaunt (c. 1709–1767) He died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

on 5 April 1710, and was buried at Turvey on 13 April.

References

* Grenadier Guards officers Deaths from smallpox in England 1680s births 1710 deaths British military personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Heirs apparent who never acceded English courtesy viscounts English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 {{18thC-England-MP-stub