Home > William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart

In 1771 he went to St Petersburg, where his father, Charles, 9th Baron Cathcart , a general in the army, was ambassador. From 1773 to 1777 he studied law, but after succeeding to the barony in 1776 he obtained a commission in the cavalry.

Proceeding to America in 1777, he had before the close of his first campaign twice won promotion on the field of battle. In 1778 he further distinguished himself in outpost work, and at the battle of Monmouth he commanded an irregular corps, the British Legion, 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 GuardsThe Coldstream Guards are the oldest regiment of the British army in continuous active service, originating in 1650 when Oliver Cromwell founded a regiment for then Colonel George Monck. The grouping of buttons on the tunic is a common way to distinguish.

He was elected a representative peer for ScotlandScotland or in Scottish Gaelic, Alba is a country and former independent kingdom of northwest Europe, and one of the four nations comprising the United Kingdom. Scotland occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Scotland took part in a p in 1788, and in 1792 he became colonel of the 29th foot. He served with distinction in the campaigns in the Low CountriesThe Low Countries are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine and Meuse rivers—usually used in modern context to mean the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg (an alternate modern term, more often used today, is Benelux). They roughly, 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 PittWilliam Pitt the Younger ( 28 May 1759 23 January 1806) was a British politician during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He serve as Prime Minister from 1783 to 1801, and again from 1804 until his death. He is known as William Pitt the in command of the British expedition to Hanover. 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 September 6September 6 is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years). There are 116 days remaining. Events 3761 BC The first day of the Hebrew Calendar. 394 Battle of Frigidus: The Christian Roman Emperor Theodosius I defeats and kills the pagan usurper Eugeniu. Four weeks later he was created Viscount Cathcart of Cathcart and Baron Greenock of Greenock in the peerage of the United Kingdom, resuming the Scottish command on his return from the front.

On January 1January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Here a calendar year refers to the order in which the months are displayed, January to December. The first day of the medieval Julian year was usually a day other, 1812Events January 1 the Allgemeines Burgerliches Gesetzbuch, the Austrian civil code enters into force in the Austrian Empire February 2 Russia establishes a fur trading colony at Fort Ross, California February 7 The strongest in a series of massive earthqua he was promoted to the full rank of general, and a few months later he proceeded to Russia 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 the earldom (July 1814). He then went to St Petersburg, and continued to hold the post of ambassador until 1820, when he returned to England. He died at his estate near Glasgow on the 16th of June 1843.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911 Britannica