William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart

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William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart

William Schaw Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart KT , PC (born September 17, 1755 in Petersham , † June 17, 1843 on Cartside near Glasgow ) was a British general and diplomat .

Life

Cathcart was the son of the Scottish nobleman Charles Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart . He first studied law in Glasgow . After his father's death in 1777 he inherited his title and joined the British Army . During the American War of Independence he particularly stood out at the Battle of Monmouth , at times he was also Quartermaster General of the British troops in North America. In 1786 he was elected to the House of Lords as Representative Peer for Scotland and held that position for five consecutive terms.

In 1793, at the beginning of the coalition wars , Cathcart was promoted to brigadier and then took part in the campaign in Flanders , in which he again distinguished himself. In 1794 he was appointed major general. On January 8, 1795, he fought a bloody battle with the French near Büren ; he remained in Germany with a few cavalry squadrons until December , while the rest of the army had returned to Great Britain in May.

In 1801 King George III appointed him . to lieutenant general and in 1803 to commander in chief of Ireland .

In the following years he was Commander in Chief in Scotland. In 1807 Cathcart was in command of the land troops destined for Copenhagen . After the Danish government refused to hand over the Danish fleet to the British, Cathcart ordered the fleet to bombard the city. The city surrendered on September 6th after three days of shelling, killing around 2,000 people and destroying 30% of the buildings. Cathcart returned to Great Britain with a booty of 17 ships of the line and 17 frigates , a large number of Danish gunboats were sunk. He was rewarded for this on November 9, 1807 with the hereditary titles of Viscount Cathcart , of Cathcart in the County of Renfrew , and Baron Greenock , of Greenock in the County of Renfrew. The titles belong to the Peerage of the United Kingdom and were associated with a hereditary seat in the House of Lords.

In 1812 he was promoted to general ; a few months later Cathcart went to Russia as envoy of the British Crown . He took part in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814 in the wake of Tsar Alexander (see Wars of Liberation ) and took part as a British diplomat at the Congress of Châtillon and the Congress of Vienna .

On June 18, 1814 he was made Earl Cathcart . Until 1820 he continued to represent the United Kingdom as ambassador at the Tsar's court.

William Schaw Cathcart died on June 17, 1843 on his country estate Cartside near Glasgow, where he had spent the last years of his life.

Marriage and offspring

On April 10, 1779, he married Elizabeth Elliot in New York . With her, he had four daughters and five sons, all of whom had military careers:

  • Captain William Cathcart, Master of Cathcart (1782-1804)
  • General Charles Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart (1783-1859)
  • Colonel Hon. Frederick McAdam of Craigangillan (1789-1865)
  • General Hon. Sir George Cathcart (1794-1854)
  • Lt.-Col. Hon. Adolphus Frederick Cathcart (1803-1884)

literature

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Charles Cathcart Lord Cathcart
1776-1843 		Charles Cathcart
New title created Viscount Cathcart
1807-1843 		Charles Cathcart
New title created Earl Cathcart
1814-1843 		Charles Cathcart
personal data
SURNAME Cathcart, William, 1st Earl Cathcart
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cathcart, William Schaw Cathcart 1st Earl; Cathcart, William Cathcart 10th Lord
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British general and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH 17th September 1755
PLACE OF BIRTH Petersham
DATE OF DEATH June 17, 1843
Place of death at his country estate Cartside near Glasgow