Howard Douglas

General Sir Howard Douglas, 3rd Baronet, (23 January 1776 – 9 November 1861) was a British Army officer born in Gosport, England, the younger son of Admiral Sir Charles Douglas, and a descendant of the Earls of Morton. He was an English army general, author, colonial administrator and Member of Parliament for Liverpool.

Early life Following the death of his mother, Sarah Wood Douglas, in 1779, Howard was raised by his aunt, Helena Baillie, near Edinburgh. As a boy, he wanted to join the Royal Navy and follow in the footsteps of his father and older brother. His father agreed to take him to sea when he was 13, but Sir Charles died of apoplexy while in Edinburgh just after he arrived to collect Howard in 1789. Howard's guardians thought it better that he serve in the Army instead, and he entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in 1790. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in 1794, becoming Lieutenant a few months later.

Early career In 1795, he was shipwrecked while in charge of a draft for Canada, and lived with his men for a whole winter on the Labrador coast. Soon after his return to England in 1799, he was made a Captain-Lieutenant. In his regimental service during the next few years, he was attached to all branches of the artillery in succession, becoming Captain in 1804, after which he was placed on half-pay to serve at the Royal Military College (RMC), then located at High Wycombe. in 1819, Observations on the Motives, Errors and Tendency of M. Carnots System of Defence, and in the following year his A Treatise on Naval Gunnery (of which numerous editions and translations appeared up to the general introduction of rifled ordnance). In 1821, he was promoted to Major-General. Douglas's criticisms of Carnot led to an important experiment being carried out at Woolwich in 1822, and his Naval Gunnery became a standard text-book, and indeed first drew attention to the subject of which it treated.

Later career in Europe

On his return to Europe, he was employed in various missions, and he published about this time Naval Evolutions, a controversial work dealing with the question of breaking the line. From 1835 to 1840 Douglas, then a GCMG, was Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands, where, amongst other reforms, he introduced a new code of laws. In 1837 he became a Lieutenant-General, in 1840 a KCB, in 1841 a civil GCB, and in 1851 a full general. when he transferred as colonel to the 15th (the Yorkshire East Riding) Regiment of Foot, a position he held until his death in 1861.

From 1842 to 1847, Douglas sat as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool, where he took a prominent part in debates on military and naval matters and on the corn laws. He was frequently consulted on important military questions. and On Naval Warfare With Steam.

Personal life and death In 1797, while in Quebec City, Douglas fathered a daughter, Margaret (or Marguerite), but did not marry the mother, Catherine Normandeau. In 1799, he returned to England, and in July of that year he married Anne Dundas, daughter of James Dundas. They had ten children, Major Charles Douglas, James Dundas Douglas, Howard Douglas, General Sir Robert Percy Douglas, 4th Baronet of Carr, Reverend William Frederick Douglas, Ann Douglas, Christina Douglas, Lucy Douglas, Sarah Mary Harcourt Douglas, and Mary Douglas.

Sir Howard Douglas died in Tunbridge Wells.

Honors Douglas was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and one of the founders of the Royal Geographical Society. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford. Shortly before his death, he declined the offer of a military GCB.

His service as Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands is recognized by an obelisk on the island of Corfu.