Hon George Cathcart

George Cathcart was ADC to the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo. He reached the rank of major-general but was killed at Inkerman in the Crimean War.
He was born in Renfrewshire on 12 May 1794, the son of General William Schaw Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart, and his wife Elizabeth Elliot. He was educated at Eton and was commissioned into the Life Guards on 25 May 1810. His father was ambassador to Russia, and George went to Moscow as his father’s ADC. He was present at the battles between the Russians and the French invaders, and accompanied the Russian Army into Paris in March 1814. He was awarded the 4th Class Order of St Vladimir.
He attended Quatre Bras and Waterloo and after the Napoleonic Wars entered the 7th Hussars as a captain on 16 Dec 1819. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 13 May 1826 and transferred to the King’s Regiment on 20 March 1828. He was commanding officer until 1835 when he went on half-pay. He transferred to the 1st King’s Dragoon Guards on 11 May 1838. He was CO there until 1844, being promoted to colonel on 23 Nov 1841.
In 1846 he was Deputy Lieutenant of the Tower of London, but in 1852 he was appointed Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and took over the command against the Xhosa in the 8th Cape Frontier (‘Keffir’) War. This brought an end to the wars against the Xhosa people who later brought destruction on themselves in a mass cattle-killing in the erroneous belief that supernatural spirits would bring them salvation.
In 1853, Major-General Cathcart was appointed Adjutant-General to the Forces, but in the Crimean War that started a year later he was put in command of the 4th Infantry Division, but that division saw no action at the Battle of Alma. At the Battle of Inkerman he commanded the 1st Brigade and was ordered to support the Guards, but in the confused night-time battle, his men went too far under his leadership and he was shot through the heart while charging up a hill. His death was on 5 November 1854.
General Cathcart was married to Lady Georgiana Greville on 12 May 1824. They had seven daughters and one son, George Greville Cathcart, who died at the age of 9. Their daughters did not live long, apart from the last child, Emily Sarah Cathcart (1834 - 1917) who was unmarried and served as Maid of Honour and Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria.

Regimental Details | Commanding Officers