Regency Personalities Series-Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton
Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the��many period notables.
Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton
9 March 1771 ��� 11 December 1829
Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton came from a family of soldiers. His elder brother was General Sir William Henry Clinton (1769���1846), his father was General Sir Henry Clinton (1738���1795) the British Commander-in-Chief in North America during the American Revolutionary War and his grandfather was Admiral of the Fleet George Clinton (1686���1761).
Clinton received his officer’s commission in 1787. He went on to serve in the Flanders campaign as an aide-de-camp to the Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany starting in 1793. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1795. Captured by the French, he was a prisoner in 1796���1797. During the 1799 campaign in northern Italy, he was a liaison officer with Alexander Suvarov’s Russian army. He went to India as adjutant general from 1802 to 1805.
At the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, Clinton was the British military attach�� to the Russian army. He commanded the garrison of Syracuse in Sicily in 1806���1807. He became a Member of Parliament in 1808 and continued his political career for ten years
During the campaign and Battle of Corunna in 1808���1809, he served as Sir John Moore’s adjutant general. He was promoted to major-general in 1810.
During the remainder of the Peninsular War he commanded an infantry division under the Duke of Wellington. He was first appointed to command the 6th Division on 9 February 1812. During the Battle of Salamanca, his division played a key part by defeating French General Bertrand Clausel’s counterattack. He then led his division in the Siege of Burgos campaign. From 26 January to 25 June 1813, Clinton was absent and Edward Pakenham took over the 6th Division. For his conduct in the Vitoria campaign, Clinton was made a knight of the Order of the Bath.
He was absent again from 22 July to October, when he again assumed command of the 6th Division. He was given the local rank of lieutenant general in 1813. He took part in the subsequent victories at the battles of the Nivelle, the Nive, Orthez and Toulouse. At the end of the Peninsular War he was made a lieutenant general and inspector-general of infantry, and was awarded the Army Gold Cross with one clasp.
In 1815 during the Battle of Waterloo, Clinton led the 2nd Division which Wellington posted in reserve behind his right flank. The 2nd Division included the 3rd British Brigade (Maj-Gen Frederick Adam), the 1st King’s German Legion (KGL) Brigade (Col Du Plat), the 3rd Hanoverian Brigade (Col Hugh Halkett) and Lieut-Col Gold’s two artillery batteries (Bolton RA and Sympher KGL). His troops helped to defeat and pursue Napoleon’s Imperial Guard at the end of the battle.
He died on 11 December 1829.
And Coming on April 1st, 2015
Beaux Ballrooms and Battles anthology, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the victory at Waterloo in story.
Looks good, huh? The talented writer and digital artist, Aileen Fish created this.
It will be available digitally for $.99 and then after a short period of time sell for the regular price of $4.99
The Trade Paperback version will sell for $12.99
My story in the anthology is entitled: Not a Close Run Thing at All, which of course is a play on the famous misquote attributed to Arthur Wellesley, ���a damn close-run thing��� which really was ���It has been a damned nice thing ��� the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life.���
Samantha, Lady Worcester had thought love was over for her, much like the war should have been. The Bastille had fallen shortly after she had been born. Her entire life the French and their Revolution had affected her and all whom she knew. Even to having determined who she married, though her husband now had been dead and buried these eight years.
Yet now Robert Barnes, a major-general in command of one of Wellington���s brigades, had appeared before her, years since he had been forgotten and dismissed. The man she had once loved, but because he had only been a captain with no fortune, her father had shown him the door.
With a battle at hand, she could not let down the defenses that surrounded her heart. Could she?
As her father���s hostess, she had travelled with him to Brussels where he served with the British delegation. Duty had taken her that night to the Duchess of Richmond���s ball. The last man she ever expected to see was Robert, who as a young captain of few prospects, had offered for her, only to be turned out by her father so that she could make an alliance with a much older, and better positioned (wealthy), aristocrat.Now, their forces were sure to engage Napoleon and the resurgent Grande Arm��e. Meeting Robert again just before he was to be pulled into such a horrific maelstrom surely was Fate���s cruelest trick ever. A fate her heart could not possibly withstand.
