Richard Vyse

Richard Vyse was born in Lichfield on 11 July 1746. He came from a family of Church of England clerics; his father being Reverend William Vyse, residentiary and treasurer of Lichfield. His mother was Catherine Smallbroke, daughter of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. His elder brother, William, was canon residentiary and chancellor of Lichfield, and his sister, Mary, married the Bishop of Peterborough. Richard was commissioned on 13 Feb 1763, as a cornet in the 5th Dragoons. On 28 April 1784 he was appointed commanding officer of the King’s Dragoon Guards. The regimental history by Michael Mann quotes:
‘Vyse affected much the pithy style and spirit of Frederick of Prussia; but though studiously laconic, he was somewhat partial to pompous language, and not without a turn for dry caustic humour. Vyse issued recruiting instructions in December 1787 which included among 21 orders, such advice as, “You are to enlist no man who is not a Protestant, and a native of Great Britain; you are to enlist no man who has ever been in the sea service or in the Marines.” No one under 17 or above 23 years of age was to be enlisted “except any very fine Boy, who is likely to grow, who has been well educated and whose parents are respectable people.”’
An example of his pompous language can be seen in his directions to the officers of the regiment for a Royal Review in 1792:
‘Lieutenant-Colonel Vyse has drawn up the following short Abstract of Directions for Manoeuvring, which he requests the Officers and Men of the Regiment will carefully consider, and execute with that precision, activity and alertness of attention, that can alone secure to them a continuance of that approbation, the confirmation of which he knows they are all so equally and justly emulous of receiving from their Sovereign, when they have the honour of appearing before him…From the Men, silence, and attention to their Officers only is required.’
The directions continued for 16 more pages revealing Vyse’s unctuous attitude to His Majesty. However, in 1793 he took the regiment to Flanders and at Le Cateau, in April 1794, when the Brigade commander, General Mansel, made a suicidal dash into the French ranks, Vyse took over command of the British cavalry and led them in a brave action which successfully defeated the enemy and resulted in the capture of guns and prisoners, including General Chappuis. Colonel Vyse was promoted to major-general on 2 Oct 1794 and given command of the Cavalry Brigade. The next two years were spent with the army in retreat and the KDG returned to England in December 1795. He relinquished command of the regiment in 1797 and was appointed Commander of Forces in Scotland. While there he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1805 he was given Command of the Yorkshire District. He was appointed Colonel of the 3rd Dragoon Guards on 2 April 1804 until his death in 1825. He briefly became MP for Beverley in 1806, and reached the rank of General on 1 Jan 1812.
He was married twice; his first wife, Anna Susannah Spearman, who he married in 1771, died the following year. In 1780 he married Anne, daughter of Field Marshal Sir George Howard who was Colonel of the KDG from 1779 to 1796. They had two children, Major-General Howard Vyse, anthropologist and Egyptologist, and Georgiana Anne Vyse. General Sir Richard Vyse died in Lichfield on 30 May 1825.
A memorial Plaque in Lichfield Cathedral (see below) is inscribed:
‘Colonel of the 3rd or Prince of Wales Dragoon Guards. Son of the Rev William Vyse, Residentiary of Lichfield and Coventry and Archdeacon of Salop. By Catherine, daughter of the Right Reverend Richard Smallbrook, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. He married in 1771 Anna Susanna Spearman who died without issue in 1772 and was buried in the Church of St Chads at Stowe. He again married in 1780 Anne, only daughter and heiress of Field Marshal Sir George Howard KB by Lady Lucy Wentworth, daughter of Thomas Earl of Strafford who died in 1764 leaving issue, Georgiana Anne Vyse and Richard William Howard Howard Vyse.
'General Vyse served with distinction in the campaigns of 1794 and 1795 in Flanders, and subsequently held several important military commands. Greatly eminent for professional and general knowledge and for a most zealous and able discharge of the duties of his station. Of most unbounded generosity of heart, and of most polished urbanity of manners. He was born 11 July 1746 and died 30 May 1825, and was buried near his father and mother in the south aisle of this cathedral.’
A caricature etching of General Richard Vyse by J Jenkins dated 1799 is also shown below.

Regimental Details | Commanding Officers