General Sir William Augustus Pitt senior officer British Army
General Sir William Augustus Pitt, KB was a long-serving if undistinguished senior officer of the British Army whose sixty years of service covered several major wars and numerous postings as garrison and regiment commanders. He also dabbled in politics and served as MP between 1754 and 1761. He came from a notable political family: his father was also an MP and his elder brother became Baron Rivers. Pitt was born in approximately 1728, the sixth but second surviving son of George Pitt, MP for Wareham and his wife Mary Louisa. His date of birth is not known for sure and indeed very little information is available about his early life. He may have attended Winchester College as a school boy as his elder brother George is known to have done, but nothing is known for sure of his activities until 1744 when he received a commission to join the 10th Dragoons as a cornet. In the dragoons Pitt registered solid if unspectacular service and was not engaged on active service until the outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756. During the war, Pitt's service remains vague, but it is known that he gained distinction for his bravery in action and was severely wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Kloster Kampen in 1760. Released on parole, Pitt returned to his regiment at the war's conclusion and was made a full colonel. Between 1754 and 1761, Pitt had been the Member of Parliament for Wareham, a Dorset constituency with approximately 500 voters. He lost his seat whilst a prisoner in France and did not enter politics again, even after his brother's elevation to the House of Lords. In 1763, Pitt married Mary Howe, the daughter of Emanuel Howe, 2nd Viscount Howe, but the marriage failed to produce children. In 1770, Pitt was promoted to major-general while maintaining the colonelcy of the 12th Dragoons. His forces were not deployed during the American Revolutionary War and in 1775 he transferred to the 3rd Irish Horse, again not seeing any action. In 1777 he w
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