General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

William Schaw Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart (17 September 175516 June 1843) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and diplomat who served as the British ambassador to Russia from 1805 to 1806.

Early life

Cathcart born at Petersham, London, on 17 September 1755, and educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. He was the son of Charles Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart and his wife Ann Hamilton.

Military career

In 1771 he went to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, where his father, Charles Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart, a general in the army, was ambassador. He became an excellent horseman in Russia then from 1773 to 1777 he studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and was afterwards called to the Scottish Bar. He succeeded to the lordship upon his father's death in 1776, and inherited several properties including Schawpark an estate near

Sauchie Sauchie is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies north of the River Forth and south of the Ochil Hills, within the council area of Clackmannanshire. Sauchie has a population of around 6000 and is located northeast of Alloa and ...

where his father had commissioned

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

to remodel the mansion house but the works were incomplete when his father died.Clackmannan and the Ochils by Adam Swan ISBN 07073 0513 6 In 1777 he obtained a commission in the 7th Dragoons. Proceeding to

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1777, he had before the close of his first campaign twice won promotion on the field of battle. He transferred to the 17th Light Dragoons. In 1778 he further distinguished himself in outpost work, and at the

Battle of Monmouth The Battle of Monmouth, also known as the Battle of Monmouth Court House, was fought near the Village of Monmouth Court House, New Jersey, Monmouth Court House in modern-day Freehold Borough, New Jersey and Manalapan, New Jersey, Manalapan, on J ...

he commanded the

British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British Charitable organization, charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. ...

, with conspicuous success; for a time also he acted as quartermaster-general to the forces in America. He returned home in 1780, and in February 1781 was made captain and lieutenant colonel in the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

. In September 1784 Cathcart organised the first formal cricket match in Scotland, in the grounds of Schawpark and commissioned a family portrait by David Allan to commemorate the event. He was elected a

Scottish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords after the Acts of Union 1707 abolished the unicameral Parliament of Scotland, where all Scottish Peers had been entit ...

in 1788, and in 1792 he became colonel of the 29th Foot. He served with distinction in the campaigns in the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

, 1793–1795, in the course of which he was promoted major general; and in 1801 he was made a lieutenant general, having in the meanwhile received the appointments of Vice Admiral of Scotland (1795), privy councillor (1798), and colonel of the 2nd Life Guards (1797). From 1803 to 1805 Lord Cathcart was Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, and in the latter year he was sent by Pitt to supersede Sir George Don in command of the 14,000 strong British

Hanover Expedition The Hanover Expedition, also known as the Weser Expedition, was a British invasion of the Electorate of Hanover during the Napoleonic Wars. Coordinated as part of an attack on France by the nations of the Third Coalition against Napoleon by W ...

. He occupied Hanover on 14 December and joined with Werdereffsky's Russian column of

Tolstoi Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

's corps. After skirmishes with the French forces of at

Springe Springe () is a town in the Hanover (district), district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Deister hills, southwest of Hanover. Town structure * Springe (core settlement, seat of the mayor), population 13,184 * Ben ...

, Cathcart was forced to withdraw after the Franco-Prussian agreement of 27 January 1806 handing over Hanover to Prussia, and re-embarked for the United Kingdom on 7 February 1806. After the recall of this expedition Cathcart commanded the forces in Scotland until 1807, when he was placed in charge of the expedition to Copenhagen, which surrendered to him on 6 September. Four weeks later he was created Viscount Cathcart of Cathcart and Baron Greenock of Greenock in the

peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

, resuming the Scottish command on his return from the front. On 1 January 1812 he was promoted to the full rank of general, and a few months later he proceeded to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

as ambassador and military commissioner. In the latter capacity he served with the headquarters of the allies throughout the War of Liberation (1812–1814); his success in the delicate and difficult task of maintaining harmony and devotion to the common cause amongst the generals of many nationalities was recognized after the war by his elevation to an earldom (July 1814). He then went to

, and continued to hold the post of ambassador until 1820, when he returned to the United Kingdom. He died at his estate near

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 16 June 1843. He is buried in

Paisley Abbey Paisley Abbey is a parish church of the Church of Scotland on the east bank of the River Cart, White Cart Water in the centre of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, about west of Glasgow, in Scotland. Its origins date from the 12th century, base ...

with a monument by William Mossman erected in 1848.

Family

Cathcart married Elizabeth Elliot, the daughter of the

lieutenant-governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Andrew Elliot Andrew Elliot (November 1728 – 25 May 1797) was a British merchant and official who served as the Acting and last British Governor of New York in 1783. Early life Elliot was born November 1728 in Edinburgh, the son of Sir Gilbert Elliot, 2 ...

, on 10 April 1779. The couple had ten children, the first five being born in the 1780s. Their first child, Louisa, was born in New York on 25 January 1780, but died soon after her birth. Other children included the army officers

Sir George Cathcart Major-General Sir George Cathcart (12 May 1794 – 5 November 1854) was a Scottish general and diplomat. He was killed in action at the Battle of Inkerman during the Crimean War. Military career Cathcart was born in Renfrewshire, a younger ...

and Sir Charles Cathcart, both of whom became generals, the latter inheriting the peerage on his father's death. William's first-born son, William Cathcart, entered the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

but died of yellow fever in 1804 while in command of his ship HMS ''Clorinde''. Cathcart took two of his sons with him during his appointment as ambassador to Russia, Captain Frederick Macadam Cathcart served as his private secretary and Lieutenant George Cathcart functioned as his aide-de-camp. Cathcart's last son, Adolphus Frederick Cathcart, was born on 28 June 1803.

References

Books cited

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External links