Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Harris, William George
HARRIS, WILLIAM GEORGE, second Lord Harris (1782–1845), lieutenant-general, eldest son of George, first lord Harris [q. v.] was born 19 Jan. 1782. After being at a private military academy at Chelsea under Captain Reynolds, Harris was appointed ensign in the 76th foot in May 1795, and the year after was promoted to be lieutenant in the 74th highlanders, which he joined at Wallajabad, Madras, in 1797. With that regiment he served in the army commanded by his father throughout the campaign of 1799 against Tippoo Sahib, and at the capture of Seringapatam was one of the storming-party and among the first to enter the fortress, for which he was commended on the spot by General Baird. He was sent home in charge of the captured Mysorean and French standards, which he had the honour of presenting to George III. Promoted to a company in the 49th foot (16 Oct. 1800), he joined that regiment in Jersey, and afterwards embarked with it on board the fleet under Sir Hyde Parker and Admiral Nelson. He was on board the Glatton at the battle of Copenhagen and in the Baltic cruise (for particulars see Nelson Desp. iv. 299 et seq.) In 1802 he accompanied his regiment to Canada, and won the confidence of Sir Isaac Brock [q. v.], who was then colonel of the regiment. Promoted to a majority in the 73rd, he was on his way to join that regiment in India when the expedition under Sir David Baird was despatched in the autumn of 1805 for the recapture of the Cape. Harris joined it as a volunteer, and was present at the landing and action with the Dutch army at Blue Berg. On his arrival in India he found his regiment had returned home, whither he followed it, after visiting China. In 1809, when about to embark with the regiment for New South Wales, he was counter-ordered and posted to the command of the newly raised 2nd battalion at home. In September 1812 Harris stood for Coventry, but retired in favour of Joseph Butterworth [q. v.] In 1813 he was embarked with his battalion on ‘a particular service,’ but was ordered to join the troops under General Gibbs sent to Stralsund in Swedish Pomerania. Harris was then detached with his battalion into the interior to get into communication with the army under Lieutenant-general Count Walmoden. Creeping with his small force between the huge army corps under Davoust and other French marshals then in Pomerania, Mecklenburg, and Hanover, Harris succeeded in reaching Walmoden, and contributed to the victory at Göhrde in Hanover 16 Sept. 1813, when, after the German hussars had been repulsed, he charged up a hill with his battalion, capturing a French battery in very gallant style, and causing a panic among the defenders. In November the battalion re-embarked at Warnemunde in the Gulf of Lubeck, and on arriving at Yarmouth was ordered to join the army before Antwerp under Sir Thomas Graham [q. v.] During the succeeding operations Harris distinguished himself in the presence of the Duke of Clarence (afterwards William IV) by storming and capturing the village of Merxem. He remained with his battalion in the Low Countries after the peace of 1814, and in May 1815 joined the Duke of Wellington's army. The 2nd battalion 73rd was brigaded with the 2nd battalions 30th and 69th and the 33rd foot, under Sir Colin Halkett [q. v.], and suffered heavily at Quatre Bras and Waterloo. At Waterloo Harris was shot through the right shoulder. He returned home with the battalion, and retired soon after on half-pay of the Bourbon regiment. On his retirement the officers of the 73rd presented him with a splendid sword. Harris became a major-general in 1821, and held a staff command in Ireland from May 1823 to June 1825, and commanded the northern district in England from 1825 to July 1828, where he rendered good service in quelling the civil disturbances in the manufacturing districts. He became colonel of the 86th regiment in 1832; colonel of the 73rd foot in 1835, and lieutenant-general in 1837. He was a C.B., K.C.H., and a knight of Wilhelm the Lion in the Netherlands.
In his early years Harris was an expert athlete and swimmer. As a commanding officer he was strict but kind, and appeared to have been liked by his soldiers as well as by his officers. After succeeding to the peerage as second Lord Harris in 1829, he lived in retirement on his estate at Belmont, near Faversham, Kent. He was twice married: first, 17 Oct. 1809, to Eliza Selina Ann, daughter of William Dick, M.D., of Tullymet House, Perthshire, and by her, who died 25 Jan. 1817, had two sons and one daughter; secondly, 28 May 1824, Isabella Handcock, only daughter of Robert Handcock Temple of Waterstown, Westmeath, who survived him, and by whom he had three sons and one daughter. He died at Belmont, after a few days' illness, on 30 May 1845, and was succeeded by his eldest son by his first wife [see Harris, George Francis Robert, third Lord Harris].
[Foster's Peerage; Lushington's Life of George, Lord Harris; Philippart's Royal Mil. Calendar, 1812 ed. iii. 195, 1820 ed. iv. 162; Cannon's Hist. Record 73rd Foot; Siborne's Waterloo; Ann. Reg. 1845, lxxxvii. 280; Gent. Mag. new ser. xxiv. 76. Papers relating to the operations in Germany in 1813 will be found among the Foreign Office records in the Public Record Office, under ‘Military Auxiliary Expeditions;’ and much interesting matter connected with Harris and the 73rd will be found in the Memoirs of a Sergeant of the 73rd Regiment, London, 1829.]