Sir Harry Burrard, 1st Baronet, of Lymington
General Sir Harry Burrard, 1st Baronet (1 June 1755 – 17 October 1813) was a British soldier who fought in the
Biography
Burrard was born at Walhampton on 1 June 1755, the elder son of George Burrard of Walhampton, Hampshire, who was the third son of Paul Burrard, M.P. for Lymington from 1706 to 1736, and younger brother of Sir Harry Burrard, M.P. for Lymington from 1741 to 1784 and created a baronet in 1769.[1]
Burrard became an ensign in the
After peace had been declared he returned to the guards in 1786 as lieutenant and captain in the grenadier guards, and was promoted captain and lieutenant-colonel in 1789. With the guards he served in Flanders from 1793 to 1795, and was promoted colonel in 1795, and major-general in 1798. In 1804 he became lieutenant-colonel commanding the 1st Foot Guards, and in 1805 he was promoted lieutenant-general.[1]
In 1807 he received his first command in the expedition to Copenhagen under Lord Cathcart, when he commanded the 1st Division, and as senior general under Cathcart acted as second in command. He had very little to do in the expedition; yet on his return he was created a baronet, and also made governor of Calshot Castle.[1]
In 1808 he was selected to supersede Sir
Burrard never applied for another command, but in 1810 as senior lieutenant-colonel he assumed the command of the Brigade of Guards in London.[1] He died at Calshot Castle near Fawley, Hampshire, on 17 October 1813. He was buried in Lymington churchyard.[2] He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Charles (1793–1870), an officer who rose to the rank of admiral in the Royal Navy and on whose death in 1870 the baronetcy became extinct.[1]
Family
On 20 February 1789 he married Hannah, the daughter of Harry Darby, a London merchant; they had five sons and two daughters.[2] All the sons served in the army or the navy. Two sons were killed in 1809 one of whom was acting as aide-de-camp to Sir John Moore at the Battle of Corunna. He lost a third at the siege of San Sebastián, which is said to have caused him to die of a broken heart. His wife survived him.[1][2]
In fiction
He appears in Naomi Novik's fifth Temeraire novel, Victory of Eagles, and in Dewey Lambdin's novel Kings and Emperors, book 21 of the Alan Lewrie series.
Notes
References
- Massie, Alastair W. (January 2008) [2004]. "Burrard, Sir Harry, first baronet (bap. 1755, d. 1813)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4098. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Stephens, Henry Morse (1886). "Burrard, Harry". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 7. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 440. Endnotes
- Wellington Despatches, vol. iii.;
- Napier's History of the Peninsular War, vol. i. book ii.;
- Memorial written by Sir Hew Dalrymple. Bart., of his proceedings as connected with the affairs of Spain, and the commencement of the Peninsular War, 1830;
- The Whole Proceedings of the Court of Inquiry upon the conduct of Sir Hew Dalrymple relative to the Convention of Cintra, held in the Great Hall, Chelsea College, from Monday, 14 Nov., to Wednesday, 14 Dec. 1808.
Further reading
- Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. Greenhill.
- "Sir Harry Burrard". Napoleonic Guide. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
- Lundy, Darryl (20 September 2004). "General Sir Harry Burrard, 1st Bt". thepeerage.com. p. 12976 § 129759. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
