page_title: Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge
section_title: Army career
hierarchical_section_title: Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge / Army career
caption_attribution_description: English: Denis Dighton (1792-1827) painting "The Final Charge of the British Cavalry at the Battle of Orthez" in National Trust, Plas Newydd.
context_page_description: Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge, GCB, PC, was a British Army officer and politician. After serving in the Peninsula War and the Waterloo Campaign he became Secretary at War in Wellington's ministry. After a tour as Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1830 he became Secretary at War again in Sir Robert Peel's cabinet. He went on to be Governor-General of India at the time of the First Anglo-Sikh War and then Commander-in-Chief of the Forces during the Crimean War.
context_section_description: Born the son of the Reverend Henry Hardinge, Rector of Stanhope, and Frances Hardinge (née Best) and educated at Durham School and Sevenoaks School, Hardinge entered the British Army on 23 July 1799 as an ensign in the Queen's Rangers, a corps then stationed in Upper Canada. He was promoted to lieutenant by purchase in the 4th Regiment of Foot on 27 March 1802 and transferred to the 1st Regiment of Foot on 11 July 1803 before becoming a captain of a company by purchase in the 57th Regiment of Foot on 21 April 1804. In February 1806 he was sent to the newly formed Staff College at High Wycombe.
  He saw action at the Battle of Roliça on 17 August 1808, at the Battle of Vimeiro on 21 August 1808, where he was wounded, and at Corunna on 16 January 1809 where he was by the side of Sir John Moore when the latter was killed. He was promoted to major on 13 April 1809 and appointed deputy-quartermaster-general in the Portuguese army and was present at many of the battles of the Peninsular War. Promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1811, he saved the day for the British at Battle of Albuera on 16 May 1811 by taking responsibility at a critical moment and strongly urging General Cole's division to advance. He took part in the Battle of Vitoria on 21 June 1813, where he was wounded again, and was also present at the Battle of the Pyrenees in July 1813 and the Battle of Nivelle on 10 November 1813. He commanded the Portuguese brigade at the Battle of Orthez on 27 February 1814 and the Battle of Toulouse on 10 April 1814. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in January 1815.
  When war broke out again in 1815 after Napoleon's escape from Elba, Hardinge returned to active service as a brigadier. Attached to the staff of the allied Prussian Army under Marshal Blucher, he was present at the Battle of Ligny on 16 June 1815, where he lost his left hand by a shot, and thus was not present at Waterloo two days later. Wellington presented him with a sword that had belonged to Napoleon. Hardinge remained attached to the Prussian army of occupation in France until 1818.
  He was promoted to brevet colonel on 19 July 1821 and to major-general on 22 July 1830.
caption: The Battle of Orthez, at which Hardinge commanded the Portuguese brigade, during the Peninsular War
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