>OlliverWithDoubleL: added short description

2021-05-04T08:33:43Z

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{{Short description|18/19th-century British Army general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = The Lord Harris
| image = Lord G. Harris GCB (1893) (14777920371).jpg
| caption = Lord George Harris GCB
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1746|03|18|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1829|05|19|1746|03|18|df=y}}
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial =
| birth_place =
| death_place =
| placeofburial_coordinates = 
| nickname =
| allegiance = {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[United Kingdom]]
| branch = [[Image:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]]
| serviceyears =
| rank = [[Lieutenant General (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]]
| unit =
| commands = [[Madras Army]]
| battles =
| awards = [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}

[[File:Belmont House - geograph.org.uk - 1597121.jpg|thumb|240px|Belmont House, Throwley, Kent. The home of General Harris.]]
[[File:Lord Harris Residence 01, Seringapatam.jpg |thumb|240px|Lord Harris Residence, later residence of [[Purnaiah]], [[Seringapatam]]]]
'''George Harris, 1st Baron Harris''' [[Order of the Bath|GCB]] (18 March 1746 – 19 May 1829) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] soldier.

==Military career==
Harris was the son of the Reverend George Harris, [[curate]] of [[Brasted]], [[Kent]]. He was educated at [[Westminster School]] and at the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]], he was commissioned to the [[Royal Artillery]] in 1760, transferring as an ensign in the [[5th Regiment of Foot|5th foot (Northumberland Fusiliers)]] in 1762. Three years later he became lieutenant, and in 1771 captain. His first active service was in the [[American War of Independence]], in which he served at [[battle of Lexington|Lexington]], [[battle of Bunker Hill|Bunker Hill]] (severely wounded) and in every engagement of [[William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe|Howe]]'s army except one up to November 1778.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Harris, George, 1st Baron|noicon=1}}</ref>

By this time he had obtained his majority, and his next service was under [[William Medows|Major-General Medows]] at [[Battle of St. Lucia|St. Lucia]] in 1778–1779, after which his regiment served as marines in [[George Rodney|Rodney]]'s fleet. Later in 1779 he was for a time a [[prisoner of war]]. Shortly before his promotion to lieutenant-colonel in his regiment (1780) he married Anne Carteret Dickson.<ref name="Anne" group="n">Anne Carteret Dickson (1758-30 July 1833), daughter of Charles Dickson. Her niece was [[Catherine Eliza Richardson]] (née Scott) and her nephew James Scott was [[Aide-de-camp|ADC]] to General Harris at the Siege of Seringapatam. See Rootsweb WorldConnect: [http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kosmoid&id=I16770 Anne Dickson], [http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kosmoid&id=I16779 Catherine Eliza Scott], [http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kosmoid&id=I16781 James Scott]</ref> After commanding the 5th in Ireland for some years, he exchanged and went with General Medows to [[Bombay]], and served with that officer in India until 1792, taking part in various battles and engagements, notably [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]]'s attack on [[Seringapatam]] in the [[Third Anglo-Mysore War]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1794, after a short period of home service, he was again in India. In the same year he became major-general, and in 1797 Commander-in-Chief of the [[Madras Army]]. Up to 1800 be commanded the troops in the presidency, and for a short time he exercised the civil government as well. In December 1798 he was appointed by [[Richard Wellesley, 2nd Earl of Mornington|Lord Mornington]], the governor-general, to command the field army which was intended to attack [[Tipu Sultan]], and in [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War|a few months of campaigning]] Harris reduced the [[Kingdom of Mysore]] and [[Battle of Seringapatam#Siege|stormed the great stronghold]] of Seringapatam, where the Tipu died in its defence.<ref name="EB1911"/>

He received [[prize money]] of £100,000 for the Seringapatam campaign,<ref>{{Cite book|author=Joslin, Litherland and Simpkin.|title=British Battles and Medals.|page=24. Published Spink, London. 1988}}{{ISBN|0907605257}}</ref> his success establishing his reputation as a capable and experienced commander, with its political importance leading to his being offered the reward (which he declined) of an Irish peerage. He returned home in 1800, became lieutenant-general in the army the following year, and attained the rank of full general in 1812. He bought [[Belmont House and Gardens|Belmont House]] near [[Faversham]] in 1801.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1815 he was made a peer of the United Kingdom under the title '''Baron Harris''', of Seringapatam and Mysore and of Belmont in the County of Kent. In 1820 he was appointed [[Order of the Bath|GCB]], and in 1824 was made governor of [[Dumbarton Castle]]. He was colonel of the [[73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot]] from 1800 to his death.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Lord Harris died at Belmont in May 1829. His descendant, the [[George Harris, 4th Baron Harris|4th Baron Harris]] (b. 1851), best known as a cricketer, was Under-Secretary for India (1885–1886), Under-Secretary for war (1886–1889) and Governor of Bombay (1890–1895).<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|escutcheon = Vert on a chevron embattled, erminois between three hedgehogs Or, as many bombs Sable fired Proper a chief of augmentation thereon the gates and fortress of Seringapatam the draw-bridge let down and the Union flag of Great Britain and Ireland hoisted over the standard of Tippoo Sahib all Proper.
|crest = On a mural crown Or a royal tiger passant-guardant Vert striped Or spotted of the first pierced in the breast with an arrow of the last vulned Gules charged on the forehead with a Persian character for Ryder and crowned with an Eastern coronet both of the first. |supporters = Dexter a Grenadier soldier of the 73rd Regiment in his regimentals Proper supporting with his exterior hand a staff thereon hoisted the union flag of Great Britain and Ireland over that of the standard of Tippoo Sahib and beneath the tri-coloured flag entwined, inscribed with the word " Republique " ; sinister a Malay soldier in his uniform Proper supporting a like staff thereon hoisted the flag of the East India Company Argent striped barwise Gules with a canton, over the standard of Tippoo Sahib with the tri-coloured flag entwined beneath as on the dexter inscribed with the word "Franeaise" all Proper.
|motto = My Prince and My Country.<ref>{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage |year=1949}}</ref>}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=n}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

;Attribution
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Harris, George, 1st Baron|ref=none}}

==Further reading==
*[[Stephen Rumbold Lushington]], ''Life of Lord Harris'' (London, 1840), and the regimental histories of the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers and 73rd Highlanders.

==External links==
* {{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=John |title=Men of Kent and Kentishmen |year=1892 |publisher=Cross & Jackman |location=Canterbury |page=62 |edition=Subscription |chapter=[[s:Men of Kent and Kentishmen/George, Lord Harris|George, Lord Harris]]}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Alured Clarke]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Madras Army|C-in-C, Madras Army]]|years=1797–1800}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sir John Braithwaite, 1st Baronet|John Braithwaite]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Colonel of the [[73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot|73rd Regiment of Foot]]|years=1800–1829}}
{{s-aft|after=Sir [[Frederick Adam]]}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{succession box | before=New Creation | title=[[Baron Harris]] | after=[[William Harris, 2nd Baron Harris|William George Harris]] | years=1815–1829}}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, George Harris, 1st Baron}}
[[Category:1746 births]]
[[Category:1829 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Westminster School, London]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Mysore War]]
[[Category:British Army generals]]
[[Category:Royal Northumberland Fusiliers officers]]
[[Category:Peers of the United Kingdom created by George III]]

George Harris, 1st Baron Harris - Revision history

>OlliverWithDoubleL: added short description