George Don (British Army officer)

Sir George Don
Portrait of George Don
Born	30 April 1756 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	17 January 1832 (aged 75) Gibraltar
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1770 to 1832
Rank	General
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War • Siege of Fort St. Philip, Minorca French Revolutionary Wars • Flanders Campaign • Invasion of the Batavian Republic Napoleonic Wars • Walcheren Expedition
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order
Other work	Lieutenant Governor of Jersey Lieutenant Governor of Gibraltar

General Sir George Don GCB GCH (30 April 1756 – 17 January 1832) was a senior British Army military officer and colonial governor during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. His service was conducted across Europe, but his most important work was in military and defensive organization against the threat of French invasion during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Don was also frequently requested for advisory and espionage work by British generals and was once employed by the Prussian State as a spy. In 1799 he was arrested during a truce by Guillaume Brune who accused him of attempting to foment rebellion in the Batavian Republic and was not released until the Peace of Amiens. During and following the wars, Don also served as Governor of Jersey and Gibraltar, implementing organizational reforms with much success in both places.

Don was born in 1756, the second son of wine merchant John Don and his wife Anna Seton. In 1770, Don joined the army as an ensign in the 51st Regiment of Foot and was stationed in Minorca from 1774 after being made Lieutenant. Minorca was, at the time, a British-administered territory and naval base, and was heavily fortified after its capture by the Spanish and recapture in the Seven Years' War twenty years earlier. During his service on the island, Don became close acquaintances with the island's governor General Johnstone and General James Murray and served on the staff of the former as aide-de-camp and was consequently promoted to captain.