General Charles Churchill (2 February 1656 – 29 December 1714) was an English army officer who served during the War of the Spanish Succession

War of the Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...

.

Life

Churchill was the son of Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill (1620-1688)

Sir Winston Churchill FRS , known as the Cavalier Colonel, was an English soldier, historian, and politician. He was the father of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, as well as a mixed-line ancestor of his 20th-century namesake, Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.Churchill was the son of...

 and Elizabeth Drake. He became Lieutenant of the Tower of London in 1703. At Blenheim

Battle of Blenheim

The Battle of Blenheim , fought on 13 August 1704, was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV of France sought to knock Emperor Leopold out of the war by seizing Vienna, the Habsburg capital, and gain a favourable peace settlement...

, serving under his elder brother 1st Duke of Marlborough

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...

, he commanded 18 battalions at the center of the allied line. At the battle of Ramillies

Battle of Ramillies

The Battle of Ramillies , fought on 23 May 1706, was a major engagement of the War of the Spanish Succession. For the Grand Alliance – Austria, England, and the Dutch Republic – the battle had followed an indecisive campaign against the Bourbon armies of King Louis XIV of France in 1705...

, again serving under his brother, he ordered four brigades of foot to attack the village.

From 1706 to 1711 he served as Governor of Guernsey.

Family

Churchill married Mary Gould, daughter of James Gould

James Gould (died 1707)

James Gould was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1677 and 1695.Gould was the son of James Gould of Dorchester and his wife Margery Savage, daughter of George Savage of Bloxworth His father was a wealthy woollen merchant in Dorchester and MP for the...

 (later married to the Montagu Venables-Bertie, 2nd Earl of Abingdon

Montagu Venables-Bertie, 2nd Earl of Abingdon

Montagu Venables-Bertie, 2nd Earl of Abingdon PC was an English nobleman. The eldest son of James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon and Eleanora Lee, he was styled Lord Norreys until he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Abingdon on the latter's death on the 22 May 1699...

. He was the father of Charles Churchill

Charles Churchill (governor)

Lieutenant General Charles Churchill was a British Army General and a Member of Parliament.-Career:Born the natural son of Elizabeth Dodd and General Charles Churchill and so the nephew of the 1st Duke of Marlborough, Churchill spent his early career in the British Army during the War of the...

 and the grandfather of Charles Churchill (of Chalfont)

Charles Churchill (of Chalfont)

Charles Churchill was the only son of Lieutenant-General Charles Churchill by the actress Anne Oldfield. His grandfather, also Charles Churchill, was a British army officer and brother of the 1st Duke of Marlborough....

. His sister was Arabella

Arabella Churchill (royal mistress)

Arabella Churchill was the mistress of King James II, and the mother of four of his children...

 a royal mistress, and his brother George became an admiral.