Edward Paget

{{Short description|British army general and colonial administrator (1775–1849)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix = General The Honourable

|name = Sir Edward Paget

|honorific-suffix =

|image = Sir Edward Paget by Martin Archer Shee 1810.jpg

|alt =

|order = 4th

|office = Governor of British Ceylon

|term_start =

|term_end =

|lieutenant =

|predecessor = Edward Barnes
(Acting governor)

|successor = James Campbell
(Acting governor)

|monarch = George IV

|birth_date = {{birth-date|3 November 1775}}

|birth_place =

|death_date = {{death-date and age|13 May 1849|3 November 1775}}

|death_place =

|nickname =

|allegiance = United Kingdom

|branch = British Army

|serviceyears =

|rank = General

|unit =

|commands =

|battles = Peninsular War

|awards = Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

}}

General Sir Edward Paget {{post-nominals|country=GBR|GCB}} (3 November 1775 – 13 May 1849) was a British Army officer.

Career

Born the fourth son of Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge, Edward Paget became a cornet in the 1st Regiment of Life Guards in 1792.{{cite DNB|wstitle=Paget, Edward}} He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Caernarvon Boroughs from 1796 to 1806.

In 1808, he was with John Moore in Gothenburg to assist the Swedish in the Finnish War. Moore's disagreements with Gustavus IV soon led to their being sent home where they were ordered to Portugal.

File:Capture du général Edward Paget le 17 novembre 1812.jpg

He served in the British Army during the Peninsular War commanding the reserve at the Battle of Corunna in 1809 and then conducting the advance to Porto in 1809, during which he lost his right arm.{{citation|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=98501#s2|title=Survey of London|volume=11|editor=H. Godfrey|year=1927|pages=37–60}} He was second in command under Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington in 1811 and was captured by French cavalry in 1812 and kept a prisoner for two years until the end of the War.{{cite web |url=http://www.war-letters.com/0025/0001.html |title=Letter from Edwin Bartlett |date=1 January 1813 |website=War Letters |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225195622/http://www.war-letters.com/0025/0001.html |archivedate=25 December 2008 |accessdate=24 August 2017 |url-status=usurped}}

From 1816 to 1821 he was a Groom of the Bedchamber in the service of George IV, including a period 1816-1820 when the latter was Prince Regent during the mental illness of his father, George III.

Briefly serving as the Governor of Ceylon in 1822, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, India on 13 January 1823 and conducted the Burmese campaigns of 1824 to 1825, relinquishing his role of as Commander-in-Chief on 7 October 1825. He commanded the British troops who suppressed the Barrackpore mutiny of 1824. In 1826 he was appointed Governor of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was also Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea from 1837 until 1849.

His eldest brother Henry William, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge (1768–1854), was in 1815 created Marquess of Anglesey and is best remembered for leading the charge of the heavy cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo. The third eldest brother, Sir Arthur Paget (1771–1840), was an eminent diplomat during the Napoleonic Wars, the fifth, Sir Charles Paget (1778–1839),Burkes Peerage (1939 edition, s.v. Anglesey, Marquess of served with distinction in the navy, and rose to the rank of vice-admiral.

Legacy

The Memorials to Governors in the Chapel of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst includes:

{{Quote|In Memory of General the Honble. Sir Edward Paget, G.C.B., Colonel 28th Foot. Died 13th May, 1849, aged 73 years. His war services are as follows: —Holland, Nimeguen, Gueldermalsen, 1794-5; Cape St. Vincent, 1797 Minorca, 1798 ; Egypt, three actions, wounded, 1801 ; Bremen, 1805 ; Sicily, 1806-7 ; Sweden and Portugal, 1808 ; Corunna and Passage of the Douro, lost right arm, 1809; Second-in-Command to Wellington, Retreat from Burgos, taken prisoner, 1812. Commander-in-Chief in India, 1822-25. Governor of this College, 1826-37. Afterwards Governor of Chelsea Hospital.{{cite book |url=http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/augustus-ferryman-mockler-ferryman/annals-of-sandhurst--a-chronicle-of-the-royal-military-college-from-its-foundat-hci.shtml |first=Major Augustus F. |last=Mockler-Ferryman |title=Annals of Sandhurst : a chronicle of the Royal Military College from its foundation to the present day, with a sketch of the history of the Staff College |location=London |publisher=William Heinemann |date=1900 |page=76}}}}