General

General (United Kingdom)

General is currently the highest peace-time rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It is subordinate to the Army rank of Field Marshal, has a NATO-code of OF-9, and is a four-star rank....

 John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, KG

Order of the Garter

The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...

, PC

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

 (9 October 1756 – 24 September 1835) was a British peer and soldier.

Career

He was the eldest son of William Pitt the Elder

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years' War...

 and an elder brother of William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...

. He was commissioned into the 47th Regiment of Foot

47th Regiment of Foot

The 47th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1741 in Scotland, the regiment saw service over a period of 140 years, before it was amalgamated with another regiment to become The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in 1881...

 in 1774.

Later he served in various capacities, including First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Privy Seal

Lord Privy Seal

The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state...

 and Lord President of the Council

Lord President of the Council

The Lord President of the Council is the fourth of the Great Officers of State of the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord High Treasurer and above the Lord Privy Seal. The Lord President usually attends each meeting of the Privy Council, presenting business for the monarch's approval...

, in the Tory

Tory

Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...

 cabinets of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1809, during the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

, he commanded the British force in the Walcheren Campaign

Walcheren Campaign

The Walcheren Campaign was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Around 40,000 soldiers, 15,000 horses together with field artillery and two siege trains...

. He was Governor of Jersey from 1807 to 1820 and Governor of Gibraltar

Governor of Gibraltar

The Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The Governor is appointed by the British Monarch on the advice of the British Government...

 from 1820 to 1835.

Family

He married The Hon. Mary Townshend

Mary Pitt, Countess of Chatham

Mary Elizabeth Pitt, Countess of Chatham was the second daughter of the Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney.She married John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, on 10 July 1783.-Titles from birth to death:...

, daughter of the 1st Baron Sydney

Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney

Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney PC , was a British politician who held several important Cabinet posts in the second half of the 18th century...

, on 10 July 1783. He died without issue and the Earldom of Chatham became extinct.

Titles from birth to death

• Mr. John Pitt (1756–1761)
• The Hon. John Pitt (1761–1766)
• Viscount Pitt (1766–1778)
• The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Chatham (1778–1789)
• The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Chatham, PC (1789–1790)
• The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Chatham, KG, PC (1790–1835)