General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Hew Whitefoord Dalrymple, 1st Baronet (3 December 1750 – 9 April 1830) was a Scottish general in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of the governor is to act as the ...

Early life

Dalrymple was the only son of Captain John Dalrymple, of the 6th Dragoons and his second wife, Mary, ''née'' Ross (''c''.1719–1793). Following his father's death in 1753, Dalrymple's mother married Sir James Adolphus Oughton.Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 13, London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900

Military career

Dalrymple was commissioned as an ensign into the

31st Regiment of Foot The 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot to form the East Surrey Regiment in 1881. History Origins ...

in 1763,Dalrymple, Sir Hew Whitefoord
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography was promoted

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in 1766 and Captain in 1768. He took time out from the Army to study at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

from 1767 to 1768. Dalrymple was knighted in 1779 thanks to the influence of his family. Lieutenant-Colonel of the 68th Foot in 1781, he was promoted to Colonel when he transferred to the 1st Foot Guards. In 1793 he commanded a composite battalion of grenadiers in Lake's brigade under York in the

Flanders Campaign The Flanders Campaign (or Campaign in the Low Countries) was conducted from 20 April 1792 to 7 June 1795 during the first years of the War of the First Coalition. A coalition of states representing the Ancien Régime in Western Europe – Aus ...

, and saw action at Raismes 8 May, Famars 23 May, the Siege of Valenciennes 13 June – 28 July, and the Siege of Dunkirk 25 August – 10 September. He returned to Britain early in 1794 and was made

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

on 3 October. In 1796 he was appointed

Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey The Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey is the representative of the British monarch in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a Crown dependency of the British Crown. The role of the Lieutenant Governor is to act as the ''de facto'' head of state in Guernsey ...

. He became Colonel of the

81st Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) The 81st Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot to form the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in ...

in 1797, transferred to the

37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot The 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in Ireland in February 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot to become the Hampshire R ...

in 1798 and to the

Green Howards The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under vario ...

in 1810. On 1 January 1801 he was promoted

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

and from 1802 to 1806 was General Officer Commanding Northern District. In 1806 he was posted to Gibraltar to serve under Lt-General

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

. After Fox's departure he was made Acting Governor of Gibraltar, replacing

Gordon Drummond General Sir Gordon Drummond, GCB (27 September 1772 – 10 October 1854) was a Canadian-born British Army officer and the first official to command the military and the civil government of Canada. As Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Drumm ...

, November 1806– August 1808. In 1808 he was appointed Commander of the Portuguese Expedition, landing on 22 August after Junot's defeat at Vimiero to replace Wellesley and Burrard. He immediately halted Wellesley's pursuit of the beaten French to Lisbon. Lacking either confidence or intelligence, or both, on 31 August Dalrymple signed a truce with Junot allowing him to return to France in British ships with all his weapons, men and loot. This infamous truce, known as the

Convention of Cintra The Convention of Cintra (or Sintra) was an agreement signed on 30 August 1808, during the Peninsular War. By the agreement, the defeated French were allowed to evacuate their troops from Portugal without further conflict. The Convention was sig ...

, was denounced both in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Dalrymple sailed for home to face an enquiry 4 October, and never held a field command again. Sir John Moore, Dalrymple's replacement in Portugal, said he "was never able to determine on any point whatever". "Sir Hew, having never had the experience of command, seems quite at a loss how to work with the different heads of department; the troops suffer".Moore, cited in Parkinson ''Moore of Corunna'' p. 170 Made Colonel of the 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment in 1811, he was promoted General on 1 January 1812 through seniority. He was also made

Governor of Blackness Castle The Governor of Blackness Castle was a military officer who commanded the fortifications at Blackness Castle, a Scottish fortress on the Firth of Forth. Held by the Crown since 1453, Blackness saw military use until 1912 and a brief revival during ...

in 1818.

Miscellaneous

*He was nicknamed "Dowager" by the army. *Dalrymple was played by

John Woodvine John Woodvine (born 21 July 1929) is an English actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles. Early life Woodvine was born in Tyne Dock, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, Englan ...

, in the 1999

Hornblower (TV series) ''Hornblower'' is a series of British historical fiction war television films based on three of C. S. Forester's ten novels about the fictional character Horatio Hornblower, a Royal Navy officer during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic ...

episode, ''

The Duchess and the Devil ''The Duchess and the Devil'' is the third episode of the British television series '' Hornblower''. The episode first aired on 24 February 1999 on ITV. The television story is loosely based on C. S. Forester's 1950 novel ''Mr. Midshipman Horn ...

''. *Dalrymple features prominently as the governor of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

and commander in

in books 20 and 21 of

Dewey Lambdin Dewey Lambdin (January 26, 1945 – July 26, 2021) was an American nautical historical novelist. He was best known for his Alan Lewrie naval adventure series, spanning the American Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Besides the Alan Lewrie serie ...

Alan Lewrie Alan Lewrie ( KB BT) is the fictional hero and main character of Dewey Lambdin's naval adventure series of novels set during the American and the French Revolutions and the Napoleonic Wars. The series spanned some twenty-five novels with a 26th ...

series of Naval fiction.

Family

In 1783 he married Frances, daughter of General Francis Leighton, and together they had three daughters and two sons.

References

External links

*
Napoleonic GuideThe Gentlemans Magazine
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalrymple, Hew, 1st Baronet 1750 births 1830 deaths 37th Regiment of Foot officers 81st Regiment of Foot officers Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British Army generals British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars British Army commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Governors of Gibraltar Green Howards officers Grenadier Guards officers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People from Ayr