Thomas Desaguliers
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Lieutenant-General Thomas Desaguliers FRS |
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|---|---|
| Born |
5 January 1721 Cannon Row, Westminster, Middlesex |
| Died |
1 March 1780 Woolwich, Kent, England |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of Great Britain
|
| Service/branch |
 British Army
|
| Years of service | 1740–1780 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-General |
| Unit | Royal Artillery |
Lieutenant-General Thomas Desaguliers FRS (5 January 1721 – 1 March 1780) was a British Army general and a Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery.
Desaguliers was born 5 January 1721, the youngest son of Dr. John Theophilus Desaguliers. He was the grandson of Jean Desaguliers who, as Protestant pastor of Aytré, near La Rochelle, was exiled in 1682 prior to the revocation of the edict of Nantes. Jean was ordained in the Anglican Church, but served briefly as lecteur at the French chapel in Swallow Street, London.
As a young man Thomas Desaguliers was a Freemason who accompanied his father to masonic meetings and is mentioned in the 1738 edition of the Constitutions of the Freemasons. There is no evidence that he continued his masonic activity.
Desaguliers entered the Royal Regiment of Artillery as a cadet on 1 January 1740, and was promoted to second lieutenant on 1 September 1741, first lieutenant on 1 February 1742, captain-lieutenant on 3 April 1743, and captain on 1 January 1745. He first saw service in Flanders in 1744, when he joined the Royal Artillery train under Colonel William Belford, and remained on the continent until the close of the war of the Austrian succession in 1748, being present at the battle of Fontenoy, as well as many minor engagements.
On his return to England, Captain Desaguliers was made chief firemaster at the Woolwich Arsenal on 1 April 1748, a post which he held for thirty-two years, until his death in 1780. The chief firemaster was the superintendent of the arsenal, and Desaguliers was the first scientific maker of cannon and the first regular investigator into the powers of gunnery in the English army. In 1749, he was among those who designed and supervised the fireworks for the first performance of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 5 February 1757.
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