George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney
| The Earl of Orkney | |
|---|---|
The 1st Earl of Orkney
|
|
| Born |
9 February 1666 Hamilton Palace, South Lanarkshire |
| Died |
29 January 1737 (aged 70) London, England |
| Buried at | Taplow Court, Buckinghamshire |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of Scotland Kingdom of Great Britain
|
| Service/branch |
Royal Scots Army British Army
|
| Rank | Field Marshal |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Knight of the Order of the Thistle |
Field Marshal George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney KT (9 February 1666 – 29 January 1737), styled Lord George Hamilton from 1666 to 1696, was a British soldier and Scottish nobleman and the first British Army officer to be promoted to the rank of field marshal. After commanding a regiment for the cause of William of Orange during the Williamite War in Ireland, he commanded a regiment in the Low Countries during the Nine Years' War. He then led the final assault at the Battle of Blenheim attacking the village churchyard with eight battalions of men and then receiving the surrender of its French defenders during the War of the Spanish Succession. He also led the charge of fifteen infantry battalions in an extremely bloody assault on the French entrenchments at the Battle of Malplaquet. In later life he became a Lord of the Bedchamber to George I and was installed as Governor of Edinburgh Castle.
Born the son of William Douglas, 1st Earl of Selkirk and Anne, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, Hamilton was commissioned into the His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Foot, a regiment for which his uncle, Lord Dumbarton, held the colonelcy, on 9 May 1684.
Hamilton became a lieutenant colonel of Lloyd's Regiment of Enniskillen Foot in June 1689 and, having been promoted to brevet colonel, commanded the regiment at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, at the Siege of Athlone in June 1691 and at the Battle of Aughrim, where he was wounded, in July 1691 during the Williamite War in Ireland. He also commanded the regiment at the Siege of Limerick in October 1691 and then became colonel of the Royal Fusiliers in January 1692 before fighting with that regiment at the Battle of Steenkerque in August 1692 in the Low Countries during the Nine Years' War. Rewarded with the colonelcy of the 1st Regiment of Foot in late 1692, he participated in further battles in Ireland before returning to the continent to fight at the Battle of Landen in July 1693 and at the Siege of Namur, where he was wounded, in July 1695 during the latter stages of the Nine Years' War.
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