George Thomas Landmann

Colonel George Thomas Landmann (1779 – 27 August 1854) was an English military and civil engineer. He served with the Royal Engineers in Canada, Gibraltar, Portugal, Spain and Ireland. Following his retirement from the army, he worked as a civil engineer and was engineer of the London and Greenwich Railway, the world's first suburban passenger railway.

Son of Isaac Landmann, professor of artillery and fortification at the Royal Military Academy, George Landmann was born at Woolwich and became a cadet at the Academy on 16 April 1793 before joining the Royal Engineers as second lieutenant on 1 May 1795.

Stationed at Plymouth and Falmouth, he was employed in defensive fortifications at both places. In 1797, he was sent to Canada and employed until the end of 1800 in the construction of fortifications at St Joseph Island, Lake Huron, and then cut a new canal at the Cascades on the Saint Lawrence River. At the end of 1802 he returned to England, helping with fortifications at Portsmouth and Gosport.

In 1805, Landmann travelled to Gibraltar and on 1 July 1806 was promoted to captain. In 1808 he embarked as commanding royal engineer with General Spencer's corps of 7,000 men from Gibraltar, and landed in August at Mondego Bay to join Sir Arthur Wellesley. He was at the Battle of Roliça (17 August) and commanded his corps at Vimeiro on 21 August.

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