Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington
Oil Painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington
Born: 17 March 1753 in Elvaston, Derbyshire
Died: 5 September 1829 (aged 76)
Brighton, East Sussex, England
Residence - Elvaston Castle
Stanhope was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in 1769. During the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War as Viscount Petersham, he commanded the 29th Regiment of Foot's Grenadier company and was an aide-de-camp to General John Burgoyne.
He was Colonel of the 85th Regiment of Foot (1778–1783), the 65th Regiment of Foot (1783–1788) and the 29th Regiment of Foot (1788–1792). He was finally Colonel of the 1st Life Guards from 1792 to his death. He was promoted full general in 1803 and made GCH in 1821.
From 1805 to 1812 he was Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, and he was sent on diplomatic errands to Vienna and to Berlin. Viscount Petersham can be seen in the famous painting "The Burial of General Fraser at Saratoga" standing above Simon Fraser.
He was briefly elected to serve as Member of Parliament for Thetford in 1774 and then sat from 1776 to 1779 as one of the members for Westminster.