David Dundas (General)

Sir David Dundas

Sir David Dundas GCB , PC (* 1735 - February 18, 1820 in Chelsea (London) ) was a British general and Commander in Chief of the British Army .

Life

He was the third son of Robert Dundas, a merchant from Edinburgh , and his wife Margaret Watson, daughter of Thomas Watson, landlord of Muirhouse in Stirlingshire .

He underwent engineering training at the Royal Artillery , which he completed in 1755 in the rank of lieutenant fireworker . He then switched to the infantry as a lieutenant in the 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot , with whom he went to the Seven Years War and fought in 1758 in the Battle of Saint-Cast . In 1759 he was promoted to captain and moved to the 15th Dragoons with whom he took part in the battles at Warburg (1760), Kampen Monastery (1760) and Vellinghausen (1761). In 1762 he took part in a landing operation in Cuba , which took Havana in August .

After the war ended in the Peace of Paris (1763), he devoted himself increasingly to the study of military tactics and regularly attended the maneuvers of the French , Prussian and Austrian armies. In 1770 he was promoted to major . When the American Revolutionary War was announced in 1775 , he decided not to take part in combat and instead pursued a more intensive study of tactics. In 1775 he bought a post as Lieutenant-Colonel with the 12th Light Dragoons , which remained stationed in Ireland. In 1777 he was appointed Quartermaster-General for Ireland appointed and in 1782 for certification - Colonel promoted and 2nd Irish Horse displaced regiment.

In 1783 he left the regimental service, devoted himself entirely to improving officer training in the British Army, and wrote numerous manuals on the subject. The first was the Principles of Military Movements published in 1788 . He argued against the light infantry tactics favored by generals like Lord Cornwallis or Willam Howe during the American Revolutionary War , according to which light brigades fought in small independent groups and with cover. He had participated in the Prussian autumn maneuvers in Pomerania , Silesia and Magdeburg as an observer in 1785, 1786 and 1787 , and spoke out in favor of the linear tactics model perfected by Frederick the Great , according to which drilled battalions of the line infantry fought in formation. In 1789 he was appointed Adjutant-General for Ireland, in 1790 promoted to Major-General , in 1791 Commander of the 22nd Regiment . In 1792 his work " Rules and Regulations for the Formation, Field Exercises, and Movements of His Majesty's Forces " and shortly thereafter his work " Rules and Regulations for the Cavalry " were declared official orders for the British Army.

When war broke out with France in 1793 , he briefly took part in the siege of Dunkirk under the Duke of York and Albany before traveling to Toulon via Germany and Italy in October 1793 . In the defense of the city against the French, Dundas served as the deputy of the British Commander-in-Chief General O'Hara . When O'Hara was captured, he took command of the British troops in Toulon and eventually organized their evacuation. He led the troops to Elba and Corsica and after the conquest of Saint-Florent traveled via Italy and Germany back to the Duke of York and Albany in Flanders . As commander of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade he fought in the battles of Tourcoing and Tournay in 1794 and when the Duke of York and Albany returned to England he was given command of an 8,000-strong British army stationed on the Waal . He fought at Tuyl (December 1794) and Geldermalsen (January 1795) and took cover with his cavalry for the British retreat to Bremen . After Field Marshal Lord Harcourt had been disembarked with the infantry to England in April 1795, Dundas was given command of the remaining 24 squadrons of cavalry with which he operated in Westphalia until these were also withdrawn to England in January 1796.

For his services he was appointed commander of the 7th Light Dragoons and quartermaster general of the Horse Guards in 1796, promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and in 1797 appointed governor of the fortress Landguard Fort near Felixstowe . As a quartermaster general, he dealt with the reorganization of the army after the defeat in Flanders and troop training. In 1799 he accompanied the Duke of York and Albany on the Den Helder campaign. In 1801 he was promoted to commander of the 2nd Dragoons and governor of Fort George near Inverness and in 1802 to general . In 1804 he was ennobled as Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath and appointed governor of the veterans' home Royal Hospital Chelsea . In the latter he lived for the rest of his life after resigning from his command in 1805.

From 1809 to 1811 he was appointed to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in place of the Duke of York and Albany. The Duke was forced to resign pending an investigation by the House of Commons into a scandal involving his mistress Mary Anne Clarke . Dundas was chosen because he could consistently continue the army reforms started by the Duke, he was a close confidante of the Dukes and after the investigation he would vacate the post without complaint in favor of the Dukes. In 1809 Dundas was also admitted to the Privy Council .

In 1813 he was made an honorary colonel of the 1st or King's Dragoon Guards . As part of the reform of the rules of the Order of the Bath, Dundas was raised to the Knight Grand Cross of this order in 1815 . From then on he lived peacefully at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, where he died in 1820 at the age of 85. His marriage to Charlotte, daughter of General Oliver de Lancey (around 1749-1822) remained childless. His widow died in 1840 and his possessions fell to his nephew Sir Robert Dundas, 1st Baronet (1761-1835).

literature

• Henry Morse Stephens: Dundas, David (1735-1820) . In: Leslie Stephen (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 16, Smith, Elder & Co., London 1888, pp. 183-185.

predecessor	Office	successor
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany	Commander in Chief of the British Army 1809–1811	Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany