View source for Thomas Grosvenor (British Army officer)

{{Short description|British politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          =Thomas Grosvenor
| image         =File:Thomas Grosvenor by Robert Bowyer.jpg
| caption       =Thomas Grosvenor by [[Robert Bowyer]]
| birth_date          =30 May 1764
| death_date          =20 January 1851 (aged 86)
| placeofburial_label = 
| placeofburial =
| birth_place  =
| death_place  =[[Richmond Hill, London|Richmond Hill]], [[London]]
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nickname      =
| allegiance    =[[United Kingdom]]
| branch        =[[British Army]]
| serviceyears  =1779–1851
| rank          =[[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]]
| unit          =[[3rd Foot Guards]]
| commands      =Brigade Commander at the [[Battle of Copenhagen (1807)|Battle of Copenhagen]]
| battles       ={{Tree list}}
*[[American Revolutionary War]]
*[[French Revolutionary Wars]]
**[[Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition|Flanders Campaign]]
***[[Battle of Raismes]]
**[[Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland]]
***[[Battle of Alkmaar (1799)|Battle of Alkmaar]]
*[[Napoleonic Wars]]
**[[Battle of Copenhagen (1807)|Copenhagen Expedition]]
**[[Walcheren Expedition]]
{{tree list/end}}
| awards        =
| relations     =
| laterwork     =
}}
[[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] '''Thomas Grosvenor''' (30 May 1764 – 20 January 1851) was a [[British Army]] officer. After serving as a junior officer defending the [[Bank of England]] during the [[Gordon Riots]] he took part in the [[Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition|Flanders Campaign]] including the retreat into [[Germany]] during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. He served as a brigade commander at the [[Battle of Copenhagen (1807)|Battle of Copenhagen]] and was then deployed to [[Walcheren]] in the [[Netherlands]] where he served as deputy commander of a division led by [[Eyre Coote (British Army officer)|Sir Eyre Coote]] during the disastrous [[Walcheren Campaign]].

==Military career==
[[File:Landing Calantsoog.jpg|thumb|A painting of the [[Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland]] which Grosvenor participated in]]

===Early career===
Born the third son of [[Thomas Grosvenor (1734–1795)|Thomas Grosvenor]] (1734–1795) and Deborah (née Skynner) Grosvenor, he was educated at [[Westminster School]] and [[Commissioned officer|commissioned]] into the [[Grenadier Guards|1st Foot Guards]] on 1 October 1779.<ref name=odnb>{{cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/11675?docPos=2|title=Thomas Grosvenor|year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/11675 |accessdate=23 February 2014}}</ref> 

He was in charge of security at the [[Bank of England]] during the [[Gordon Riots]] in 1780.<ref name=odnb/> Promoted to [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] on 20 April 1784 and [[lieutenant-colonel]] on 25 April 1793, he took part in the [[Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition|Flanders Campaign]] including the retreat into [[Germany]] in Spring 1795 during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]].<ref name=heath154>Heathcote, p. 154</ref>

Grosvenor succeeded his father as [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[City of Chester (UK Parliament constituency)|Chester]] in 1795.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13768|date=7 April 1795|page=321}}</ref> 

He took part in the [[Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland]] in August 1799 and was promoted to [[brigadier-general]] while serving under [[Ralph Abercromby|Sir Ralph Abercromby]] in [[Holland]] on 18 November 1800.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15311|date=15 November 1800|page=1294}}</ref> In parliament he opposed the bill against [[bull-baiting]] introduced in 1802.<ref name=odnb/> 

Promoted to [[major-general]] on 29 April 1802, Grosvenor held various brigade commands in Southern England between 1803 and 1805.<ref name=heath154/> He had a keen interest in [[horse racing]] and his horse, [[Briseis (British horse)|Briseis]], won [[Epsom Oaks|The Oaks]] in June 1807.<ref name=odnb/>

===The Walcheren campaign===
Grosvenor served as a brigade commander at the [[Battle of Copenhagen (1807)|Battle of Copenhagen]] in August 1807 for which he was rewarded with promotion to [[lieutenant-general]] on 25 April 1808.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16142|date=3 May 1808|page=622}}</ref> However, in Autumn 1809 he was deployed to [[Walcheren]] in the [[Netherlands]] where he served as deputy commander of a division led by [[Eyre Coote (British Army officer)|Eyre Coote]] during the disastrous [[Walcheren Campaign]] which ended in failure when many of the British troops died of [[malaria]].<ref name=heath154/> 

In January 1810, he spoke in Parliament in support of [[Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon|Lord Porchester]]'s demands for an inquiry into the disastrous expedition that had taken place the previous year and with which Grosvenor had been so closely associated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1810/jan/26/expedition-to-the-scheldt#S1V0015P0_18100126_HOC_30|title=Expedition to the Scheldt|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=26 January 1810|access-date=23 February 2014}}</ref>

===Later career===
Grosvenor was promoted to full [[general]] on 12 August 1819.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=17505|date=12 August 1819|page=1441}}</ref> In 1820 he had a fortunate escape during the [[Cato Street Conspiracy]] when an angry mob overturned his carriage into the [[River Dee (Wales)|River Dee]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/grosvenor-thomas-1764-1851|title=Thomas Grosvenor|publisher=History of Parliament|accessdate=23 February 2014}}</ref> Around the same time he started renting the Warren House in [[Loughton]], probably as it was on the way to [[Newmarket Racecourse]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theydon.org.uk/lhs/Downloads/LHS%20166.pdf|title=Field Marshal Thomas Grosvenor (1764-1851) in Loughton|publisher=Loughton & District Historical Society|date=September–October 2005|accessdate=23 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.enfieldindependent.co.uk/features/newsfeatures/8938937.HISTORY__Loughton_then_and_now/|title=Loughton then and now|work=Enfield Independent|date=29 March 2011|accessdate=23 February 2014}}</ref> He stood down as Member of Parliament for Chester in 1826 to make way for his cousin's son, [[Robert Grosvenor, 1st Baron Ebury|Robert Grosvenor]], and instead became Member of Parliament for [[Stockbridge (UK Parliament constituency)|Stockbridge]].<ref name=odnb/> In June 1825 another of Thomas Grosvenor's horses, [[Wings (horse)|Wings]], won the Epsom Oakes.<ref name=odnb/> He retired from parliament in 1830.<ref name=heath154/>

Grosvenor also served as honorary colonel of the [[97th (Queen's Own Germans) Regiment of Foot|97th Regiment of Foot]] in 1807 and then as honorary colonel of the [[65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot|65th Regiment of Foot]] from 1814 to his death.<ref name=heath154/> He was promoted to [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|field marshal]] on 9 November 1846<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=20660|date=10 November 1846|page=3987|supp=y}}</ref> and died at his home, [[Mount Ararat, Richmond|Mount Ararat]] at [[Richmond Hill, London|Richmond Hill]] on 20 June 1851.<ref name=heath154/>

==Family==
In 1797 Grosvenor married Elizabeth Heathcote (daughter of [[Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 3rd Baronet]]); after the death of his first wife he married Anne Wilbraham (daughter of George Wilbraham MP) in 1831.<ref name=heath154/> There were no children from either marriage.<ref name=odnb/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|last=Heathcote|first=Tony|title=The British Field Marshals, 1736–1997: A Biographical Dictionary |publisher= Leo Cooper|location=Barnsley|year= 1999|isbn= 0-85052-696-5}}

== External links ==
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-thomas-grosvenor | Thomas Grosvenor }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|gb}}
{{succession box 
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[City of Chester (UK Parliament constituency)|Chester]] 
  | years  = 1795&ndash;1800
  | with   = [[Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster|Viscount Belgrave]]
  | with2  = 
  | with3  = 
  | with4  =
  | before = [[Thomas Grosvenor (1734–1795)|Thomas Grosvenor]]<br />[[Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster|Viscount Belgrave]]
  | after  = Parliament of the United Kingdom
|}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box 
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[City of Chester (UK Parliament constituency)|Chester]] 
  | years  = 1801&ndash;1826
  | with   = [[Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster|Viscount Belgrave]] 1801&ndash;1802
  | with2  = [[Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor (1762–1819)|Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor]] 1802&ndash;1807
  | with3  = [[Sir John Grey Egerton, 8th Baronet|John Grey Egerton]] 1807&ndash;1818
  | with4  = [[Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster|Viscount Belgrave]] 1818&ndash;1826
  | before = Parliament of the Great Britain
  | after  = [[Robert Grosvenor, 1st Baron Ebury|Lord Robert Grosvenor]]<br />[[Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster|Viscount Belgrave]]
|}}
{{succession box 
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Stockbridge (UK Parliament constituency)|Stockbridge]] 
  | years  = 1826&ndash;1830
  | with   = [[George Wilbraham]]
  | before = [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|Edward Stanley]]<br />[[John Foster Barham]]
  | after  = [[George Wilbraham]]<br />[[William Sloane-Stanley]]
|}}
|-
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box | title=Colonel of the [[65th Regiment of Foot]]|  before=Edmund Stevens | after= [[Samuel Benjamin Auchmuty]] | years=1814–1851}}
|-
{{succession box | title=Colonel of the [[96th Regiment of Foot|97th (later 96th) Regiment of Foot]]|  before=[[Charles Stuart (British Army officer, born 1753)|Charles Stuart]] | after= [[Gordon Drummond]] | years=1806–1814}}
{{end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosvenor, Thomas}}
[[Category:1764 births]]
[[Category:1851 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Westminster School, London]]
[[Category:British field marshals]]
[[Category:Grenadier Guards officers]]
[[Category:Grosvenor family|Thomas]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies]]
[[Category:British MPs 1796–1800]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1801–1802]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1802–1806]]
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[[Category:UK MPs 1812–1818]]
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[[Category:65th Regiment of Foot officers]]