The Earl of Orkney | |
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![]() Portrait by Martin Maingaud, 1724 | |
Born | Hamilton Palace, South Lanarkshire, Scotland | 9 February 1666
Died | 29 January 1737 London, England | (aged 70)
Buried | Taplow Court, Buckinghamshire, England |
Allegiance | ![]() ![]() |
Service/ | Royal Scots Army![]() |
Rank | Field Marshal |
Battles/wars | |
Awards | Knight of the Order of the Thistle |
Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Villiers |
Children |
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Field Marshal George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, KT (9 February 1666 – 29 January 1737), styled Lord George Hamilton from 1666 to 1696, was a British soldier and Scottish nobleman and the first British Army officer to be promoted to the rank of field marshal. After commanding a regiment for the cause of William of Orange during the Williamite War in Ireland, he commanded a regiment in the Low Countries during the Nine Years' War. He then led the final assault at the Battle of Blenheim attacking the village churchyard with eight battalions of men and then receiving the surrender of its French defenders during the War of the Spanish Succession. He also led the charge of fifteen infantry battalions in an extremely bloody assault on the French entrenchments at the Battle of Malplaquet. In later life, he became a Lord of the Bedchamber to George I and was installed as Governor of Edinburgh Castle.