Sir George Nugent, Bt | |
---|---|
Born | 10 June 1757 |
Died |
11 March 1849 (aged 91) Westhorpe House, Buckinghamshire |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/branch | British Army |
Rank | Field Marshal |
Commands held |
97th Regiment of Foot 13th Regiment of Foot 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards Buckinghamshire Volunteers Western District Kent District Commander-in-Chief, India |
Battles/wars |
American Revolutionary War French Revolutionary Wars |
Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath |
Field Marshal Sir George Nugent, 1st Baronet, GCB (10 June 1757 – 11 March 1849) was a British Army officer. After serving as a junior officer in the American Revolutionary War, he fought with the Coldstream Guards under the Duke of York during the Flanders Campaign. He then commanded the Buckinghamshire Volunteers in the actions of St. Andria and Thuyl on the river Waal and participated in the disastrous retreat from the Rhine. He went on to be commander of the northern district of Ireland, in which post he played an important part in placating the people of Belfast during the Irish Rebellion, and then became Adjutant-General in Ireland. He went on to be Governor of Jamaica, commander of the Western District in England, commander of the Kent District in England and finally Commander-in-Chief, India.
Born the illegitimate son of Lieutenant Colonel the Hon. Edmund Nugent (who was the only son of Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent) and a Ms Fennings, Nugent was educated at Charterhouse School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
He was commissioned as an ensign in the 39th Regiment of Foot on 5 July 1773 and was posted to Gibraltar. He transferred the 7th Regiment of Foot at New York with promotion to lieutenant in September 1777 and saw action at the Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery in October 1777 and then took part in the Philadelphia campaign during the American Revolutionary War. He continued to serve in North America and became a captain in the 57th Regiment of Foot on 28 April 1778 and a major in the same regiment on 3 May 1782.