George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield
George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield PC KB (born December 25, 1717 in Stobs , † July 6, 1790 in Aachen ) was a general in the British Army . He took part in various military ventures. He is best known as the governor of Gibraltar during the long siege from 1779 to 1783 .
family
He was a later son of Sir Gilbert Eliott, 3rd Baronet (of Stops) and his wife Eleanor. He himself married Anne Pollexfex († 1772) in 1748. She was the daughter of Sir Francis Henry Drake, 4th Baronet (of Buckland Abbey). With this he had two children, Anne and Francis Augustus.
Military career
He attended the university in Leiden and the French military school of La Fère . Between 1735 and 1736 he served as a volunteer in the Prussian army to expand his military knowledge. On his return he attended the Royal Military Academy Woolwich . Then he got an officer position as a military engineer. Since there was no corresponding unit, he also got a job with the 2nd Horse Grenadier Guards, commanded by his uncle James Eliott.
He took part in the War of the Austrian Succession between 1742 and 1748 . He was wounded in the Battle of Dettingen in 1743. He also took part in the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745. That same year Eliott was promoted to captain. In 1749 he became a major and in 1754 a lieutenant colonel. He was temporarily aide-de-camp of George II. Eliott was commissioned to build a light cavalry unit based on the model of the Prussian and Austrian hussars and was appointed Colonel of the 1st Light Dragoons in 1759.
Eliott was known for his simple lifestyle - he only drank water and was a vegetarian - and for well training and running his regiment. He led the unit during the Seven Years' War on the German theater of war between 1759 and 1761. As major general, he took part in the battle of Minden as commander of a cavalry brigade in 1759 . He played an important role in the battle near Emsdorf in 1760.
In 1761 he was in command of a cavalry unit at the landing company on the Belle-Île . During the conquest of Cuba and the siege of Havana in 1762, he was deputy commander of the landing forces after George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle . In 1763 he returned to Great Britain. His prize and booty share was £ 25,000. With this he buys the Heathfield country estate in Sussex . At the end of the war, George III. Eliott's regiment by personal inspection and the honorary title of King's Own Royal light dragoons. In 1765 Eliott was made lieutenant general.
Great Siege of Gibraltar
He was appointed Commander in Chief in Ireland in 1774. But in 1775 he took over the office of governor of Gibraltar. He did not arrive at his place of work until 1777.
After the French entered the American War of Independence , the danger of a Spanish attempt to retake Gibraltar increased since 1778. Eliott tried to have the fortifications reinforced by the engineer William Green . The until then mostly civil engineers who worked in Gibraltar, Eliot placed under his direct command. This later became the pioneer corps of the Royal Engineers .
In June 1779 the Spaniards began the blockade of Gibraltar. In the months to come they assembled a strong force. This was initially 14,000 strong. There was also a fleet to prevent supplies across the sea. The British had about 5,400 soldiers and several hundred sailors at their disposal.
Mainly the Spaniards wanted to force the trapped people to surrender by starving them. A British fleet under George Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney , succeeded in delivering its first supplies in early 1780. This was not enough in the long run and at the end of the year hunger and disease began to set in. A large relief convoy brought relief in April 1781.
As a result, the Spaniards increased their bombing by land and sea. These were no longer directed only towards the fortifications, but also towards the city. Thereupon erupting unrest had Eliott forcibly suppressed. The Spaniards reinforced their troops and tried to advance their positions so far that they could reach all parts of Gibraltar with their guns. Eliott prevented this by failing.
From then on, the Spaniards limited themselves to bombardment. After the conquest of Menorca, the Spaniards received reinforcements from the French allied with them. They planned a coordinated attack operation from sea and land. The attack from sea caused Eliott to be beaten off with glowing cannonballs in September 1783. The opponents limited themselves to continuous fire at the fortress. With the beginning of peace negotiations, the war was stopped. In the Peace of Paris of September 3, 1783, the British were granted possession of Gibraltar.
It was largely thanks to Eliott's leadership that the British survived the siege for more than two and a half years. He has canceled all rank and class privileges with regard to the allocation of food. By doing so, Eliott managed to maintain morale. At the same time, he relied on strict discipline. Quite a number of soldiers were executed for desertion, theft or drunkenness.
Last years
Eliott was knighted as Knight Companion of the Order of Bath on January 8, 1783 . He returned to Great Britain in 1787 and was celebrated there. He was granted a pension of £ 1,500 a year and was raised to Baron Heathfield , of Gibraltar in the Peerage of Great Britain on July 6, 1787 . Before returning to Gibraltar, he fell ill and went to Aachen to recover. He rented Kalkofen Castle . Eliott died in Aachen and was buried there.
In the Botanical Garden of Gibraltar a memorial commemorates Eliott.
literature
- James Falkner: Eliott, George Augustus, first Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar (1717–1790) In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; Online version, accessed August 10, 2013
- René Chartrand: Gibraltar 1779–83: The Great Siege. New York 2008, p. 18.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 1, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 173.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Eliott, George Augustus, 1st Baron Heathfield |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Heathfield, George Augustus Eliott 1st Baron |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British officer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 25, 1717 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Stobs |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 6, 1790 |
| Place of death | Aachen |