George Ludlow, 3rd Earl Ludlow
British Army officer (1758–1842)
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General George James Ludlow, 3rd Earl Ludlow, GCB (12 December 1758 – 16 April 1842) was a British Army officer who served in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
United Kingdom
The Earl Ludlow | |
|---|---|
Portrait attributed to Philip James de Loutherbourg, c. 1802 | |
| Born | 12 December 1758 |
| Died | 16 April 1842 (aged 83) Cople Hall, Bedford |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Great Britain United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Service years | 1778–1842 |
Rank | General |
| Unit | 1st Regiment of Foot Guards |
| Commands | Brigade of Guards |
Conflicts | |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath |
| Other work | Equerry to the Prince of Wales Lieutenant-Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed |
Military service
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Ludlow served in the British Army as a captain during the American War of Independence. Following the British surrender at Yorktown, he was held as a prisoner of war in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In May 1782, he was one of 13 British prisoners forced to draw lots to determine which one should be executed in retaliation for the summary execution of a Patriot captain by Loyalists, in what became known as the Asgill Affair.[1] He rose to Colonel of the 1st Foot Guards 21 August 1795, and Major General 18 June 1798. In 1801 he served under Ralph Abercromby and John Hely-Hutchinson in the Egyptian campaign commanding the Guards Brigade, seeing action at the battles of Abukir and Alexandria. He was made Lieutenant General on 30 October 1805. In August 1807 he commanded the 3rd Division in the Battle of Copenhagen under Lord Cathcart. Ludlow was promoted General in June 1814.
He was a Regimental Colonel in turn of the 96th Regiment of Foot, the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot and the Scots Fusiliers.[2][3]
Family and peerage
Ludlow was the younger son of Peter Ludlow, 1st Earl Ludlow, by Lady Frances, daughter of Thomas Lumley-Saunderson, 3rd Earl of Scarbrough. Ludlow succeeded his elder brother Augustus in the earldom in 1811. As this was an Irish peerage it did not entitle him to a seat in the House of Lords. However, in 1831 he was created Baron Ludlow in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, which enabled him to take a seat in the upper chamber of parliament.[4]
Lord Ludlow died in April 1842, aged 83. He was unmarried and all his titles became extinct on his death.[2]