Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot

George Marquis of Huntly, Appointed 29th January, 1820

George Marquis of Huntly, son of Alexander fourth Duke of Gordon, was appointed to a commission in the 35th Regiment in 1790. He soon afterwards raised an independent company of foot, and was appointed, on the 25th of January, 1791, Captain in the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment. In July, 1792, he was appointed Captain-Lieutenant and Lieut.-Colonel in the 3rd Foot Guards; and, proceeding with his company to the Netherlands in the following year, he was engaged with the French at St. Amand and Famars, and in the siege of Valenciennes; also in the action before Dunkirk, and the affair at Lannoy. In the beginning of 1794 his Lordship raised the 100th (afterwards 92nd) regiment, of which he was appointed Lieut.-Colonel Commandant; and he proceeded with his regiment to Gibraltar, but on his return to England he was captured by a French privateer. He subsequently rejoined his regiment at the island of Corsica, where he served upwards of a year, and obtained the rank of Colonel on the 3rd of May, 1796. He was soon afterwards appointed Brigadier-General in Ireland, where he served during the rebellion. In 1799 he proceeded with the expedition to Holland, and was actively employed until the 2nd of October, when he was wounded. His Lordship was promoted in 1801 to the rank of Major-General; and in 1803 he was appointed to the Staff in North Britain, where he served three years. In January, 1806, he was removed to the Colonelcy of the 42nd Royal Highlanders; and on the 25th of April, 1808, he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General. He commanded a division of the army in the expedition to Walcheren in 1809, and was promoted to the rank of General on the 12th of August, 1819. In the following year he obtained the Colonelcy of the Royal Regiment, and was constituted a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath about five months afterwards. He succeeded, on the decease of his father, in 1827, to the dignity of Duke of Gordon, and was also appointed Governor of Edinburgh Castle, and Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland; and in 1834 he was removed from the Royals to the 3rd Foot Guards. This kind-hearted and gallant nobleman and soldier, who was distinguished for an uninterrupted succession of acts of kindness and philanthropy, died on the 28th of May, 1836.