General Sir George Brown GCB


From the age of 25 Sir George Brown spent 25 years in London as a staff officer in Horse Guards. But he already had an excellent service record having been in the retreat to Corunna and all the battles of 1810 and 1811. He was badly wounded at Talavera and Bladensburg. His conduct in the Peninsula War had elevated him to the rank of major in his early 20s. After his long spell at Horse Guards he found himself once more on a protracted campaign abroad, this time fighting the Russians in the Crimea. He was 64 years old but he led the troops in action, having a horse shot under him at the Alma, and being wounded at Inkerman. He also carried out administrative duties in camp. He was a strict disciplinarian but loved by his men.

1790 Born 3rd July in Elgin, Scotland
1806 Commissioned into 43rd Light Infantry
1806 Mediterranean
1807 Copenhagen
1808 Peninsula War, Vimeiro, Corunna
1809 Wounded at Talavera
1810 Peninsula with the Light Division
1811 Captain. Staff College at Great Marlow
1812 85th Foot. Nivelle and Nive
1814 Wounded at Bladensburg in America
1815 Lieutenant-Colonel on the Staff at Horse Guards
1831 Colonel
1850 Adjutant General (until 1853)
1851 Colonel of 77th Regiment. 11th Apr
1852 Lieutenant-General
1854 Command of Light Division in Crimea
1854 Colonel of 7th Royal Fusiliers. 22nd Dec
1855 Invalided home from Crimea 29th June
1860 Commander-in-Chief, Ireland
1863 Colonel of the 32nd Duke of Cornwall's LI. 1st Apr
1863 Colonel-in-Chief of the Rifle Brigade. 18th Apr
1865 Died on 27th Aug


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by Stephen Luscombe