Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey (23 October 1729 – 14 November 1807) was a Lieutenant-General of the British Army during the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, and the French Revolutionary Wars. He was the father of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834.
Biography[]
Charles Grey was born on 23 October 1729 in Howick, Northumberland, England, and in 1744 he purchased a commission in the 6th Regiment of Foot in the British Army. Grey fought in Scotland during the Jacobite Rising of 1745, and in 1757 he took part in the failed naval attack on Rochefort in France under the command of James Wolfe during the Seven Years' War. Grey would fight in attacks on French coastal towns and the battle of Havana in 1762, and in 1777 he was promoted to Major-General. Grey fought at the Battle of Brandywine, and he was nicknamed "No-flint Grey" for his orders to remove the flints from his muskets and to only use bayonets during the Paoli Massacre. Grey would again use these tactics in the "Baylor Massacre" of 27 September 1778 in Old Tappan, New Jersey, and he was made a member of the Order of the Bath and a Lieutenant-General after being recalled to England. Grey was due to be appointed commander-in-chief in North America, but the American Revolutionary War ended before his appointment could occur. In 1794, Grey fought in the invasions of Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean during the French Revolutionary Wars, and from 1797 to 1807 he served as Governor of Guernsey in the English Channel. Grey died in 1807.