Sir Charles Grey, First Earl Grey: Royal Soldier, Family PatriarchHistorian Paul David Nelson has written the first complete scholarly biography of Sir Charles Grey, First Earl Grey, one of the most important British Army commanders in the eighteenth century. Considering Grey's importance, and the prominence of the family he helped to found, it is surprising that he has been neglected by history. Only a short sketch in the Dictionary of National Biography, and an article by Sir John Fortescue in the Edinburgh Review have ever attempted even perfunctory assessments of his life. As a man and an army officer, Grey represented some of the best qualities of eighteenth-century British civilization. In America, he fought during the War of American Independence and in 1794 in the West Indies against France. Hence, as Nelson shows, his career is important in American History. Given his long service to the British nation in all her wars from 1744 to 1800, it is clear from Nelson's account that Grey is an important character in British history as well. During his lifetime, Grey proved himself a reliable and successful soldier, earning and deserving all his honors: Knight of the Bath in 1782, baron in 1801, viscount and earl in 1806. Nelson shows that Grey was an aggressive fighter who often achieved amazing feats of arms, often simply because of his driving personality and his most outstanding personality trait, loyalty. |
Contents
17 | |
Fighting in America 17721777 | 31 |
Loyal Lieutenant 17771778 | 47 |
The War Widens 17781779 | 60 |
Plymouth Station 1779 | 75 |
Britain Besieged 17791781 | 90 |
Loss of America 17811783 | 107 |
Family and Finances 17831793 | 124 |
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Common terms and phrases
Amherst André's Journal appointed April arrived assault attack August Basse Terre Bowood Papers Britain British army Captain Carleton Charles Grey Clinton Papers coast commander in chief Cornwallis defensive Dragoons Duke of York Dundas to Grey Durham enemy England expedition Fallodon February Fisher to Grey fleet forces Fort Bourbon French Germain Grant Grey and Jervis Grey Papers Grey received Grey to Clinton Grey to Dundas Grey to Shelburne Grey told Grey wrote Grey's Guadeloupe Henry George Grey Howe's Howick islands January Jervis's John July June king later letter Light Infantry London Lord Lord Cornwallis Lord Loudoun Lordship Lucia March Martinique military Northumberland November October officers operations ordered Pitt Plymouth Prescott prize money rebels Regiment Rochambeau sail Saint-Domingue Samuel Whitbread Seapower ships Sir Henry Clinton Sir Henry Grey soldiers tion told Shelburne troops Washington Wayne West Indian West Indies Whitbread William WLCL York to Grey
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Page 237 - View of the Evidence Relative to the Conduct of the American War Under Sir William Howe, Lord Viscount Howe, and General Burgoyne. London: