John Fox Burgoyne

Field Marshal Sir John Fox Burgoyne, 1st Baronet GCB (July 24, 1782 – October 7, 1871) was a senior British Army officer.

Burgoyne was the illegitimate son of General John Burgoyne and opera singer Susan Caulfield. In 1798, he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers as a Second Lieutenant. He fought against the army of Napoleon I and campaigned in the Pyrenees under the Duke of Wellington. Wellington transferred him to Burgos and later to San Sebastián to participate in the siege of Rosetta. In the War of 1812, he fought under General Pakenham as a Lieutenant Colonel and participated in the Battle of New Orleans.

In 1826, Burgoyne accompanied General Clinton to Portugal. He was appointed as Colonel in 1831. In 1838, he became a Major General and in 1845 was named Inspector-General of Fortifications, the executive head of the Royal Engineers. His memoirs prompted the fortification of the English coast.

Burgoyne was heavily involved in civil administration in Ireland, serving as Chairman of the Board of Works (1831-45). During the Irish Potato Famine, he led the efforts to provide relief from mass starvation. In 1851, he was promoted to Lieutenant General. Before the outbreak of the Crimean War, he went to Constantinople to assist in its fortification and that of the Dardanelles. During the siege of Sevastopol, he arranged for the bombardment of Malakoff. Upon his return to England in 1856, he received a baronetcy. In 1865, he was made the Commander of the Tower of London and retired in 1868 as a Field Marshal.

John Fox Burgoyne died on October 7, 1871 in Kensington, and is buried in the nearby Brompton Cemetery, London. [http://www.brompton.org/Residents.htm]

He was the father of Hugh Talbot Burgoyne.

Bibliography

* "Treatise on the Blasting and Quarrying of Stone", London: 1852.
* "Military Opinions of Sir John Fox Burgoyne", London: 1859.

References

* This article is based on a translation of the corresponding article from the German Wikipedia, retrieved on 13 April 2005.

External links

* [http://www.remuseum.org.uk/rem_his_bio.htm Royal Engineers Museum: Sapper Biographies]

Persondata
NAME=Burgoyne, John Fox
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=19th century British Field Marshal
DATE OF BIRTH=July 24 1782
PLACE OF BIRTH=London, England
DATE OF DEATH=October 7 1871
PLACE OF DEATH=London, England