Sir George Osborn , 4th Baronet Sir George Osborn , 4th Baronet ( 10 May 1742 – 29 June 1818 ) was born into the British aristocracy . He fought in the American Revolutionary War as a British officer . He served as a Member of Parliament before , during , and after that conflict . In 1777 he led a detachment of the Guards Brigade at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown . Besides his combat duties , he served as the inspector of the Hessian mercenary soldiers . After returning from America in 1777 he was promoted in rank to general officer . In 1787 he received advancement to lieutenant general . He is remembered in United States history for a clever but harsh comment that he made concerning the dead body of an American officer . Early career . Born on 10 May 1742 , Osborn was the oldest son of Sir Danvers Osborn , 3rd Baronet . He succeeded to the baronetcy when his father died in 1753 while governor of the Province of New York . Osborn was a cousin of Frederick North , Lord North who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1770 to 1782 . He was the grandson of George Montagu , 1st Earl of Halifax and the nephew of George Montagu - Dunk , 2nd Earl of Halifax . He was also a nephew of general and playwright John Burgoyne . He served as Groom of His Majesty ' s Bedchamber to King George III in 1770 . He was elected on 24 April 1769 to the House of Commons for the Bossiney constituency in Cornwall . On 12 October 1774 he was elected for the Penryn constituency in Cornwall . Like his relative Lord North , Osborn held Tory political beliefs . American Revolutionary War . During the American Revolutionary War he was captain of the grenadier company of the Guards Brigade with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the army . In addition to his other duties , he filled the post of Mustermaster - General and Inspector of the Foreign Troops . The latter responsibility required him to keep track of the strength and condition of the Hessian and other German mercenaries . The information was sent to Lord George Germain , the Secretary of State for America . For the American war , the British military establishment assembled the 1 , 000 - man Guards Brigade by choosing the men by lottery from the 1st Foot Guards , 2nd , and 3rd Foot Guards . Brigadier General Edward Mathew commanded the unit which was split into two battalions of 500 troops each . Unlike the other regiments of foot , the light and grenadier companies of the Guards fought with their parent unit rather than being converged into elite battalions . Colonel Charles O ' Hara , who later held important commands in the British army , belonged to the Guards Brigade . Among his friends , Osborn counted Lieutenant Colonel William Harcourt of the 16th Light Dragoons , Captain - lieutenant Richard FitzPatrick of the 1st Foot Guards , Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Wrottesley of the 2nd Foot Guards , and Colonel Henry Monckton of the 2nd Grenadier Battalion . Near Raritan Landing , New Jersey on May 31 , 1777 , Lieutenant William Martin of Spencer ' s Additional Continental Regiment and a 20 man patrol were ambushed by 60 Hessian mounted and foot Jägers under Captains Richard Lorey and Carl Wreden . In the first fire , three mounted Jägers were wounded , two seriously . This infuriated the others and they set upon the Americans , killing Martin and six of his men while capturing seven more . When the Americans recovered Martin ' s body , it was found to be hideously mangled with seventeen sword wounds , " most of them mortal " . The corpse was displayed to the American soldiers as proof of their enemies ' brutality . Already irritated by incidents such as the bayoneting to death of Brigadier General Hugh Mercer at Princeton , Major General George Washington sent Martin ' s remains into the British lines under a flag of truce with a letter of protest . When the wagon bearing the corpse arrived at Osborn ' s picket post , he accepted the letter but refused the dead body . His witty but heartless reply that he , " was no coroner " , was received among British officers with great amusement and even made the rounds in London . At the Battle of Brandywine on September 11 , 1777 , Mathew ' s brigade was part of Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis ' division which had reached a position on the American right rear before being detected . At 4 : 00 PM , the Guards Brigade took position on the right flank of the first line . Osborn commanded both the grenadier company on the right and the light company which deployed as skirmishers in front . They were opposed by the Maryland Division which was commanded by Major General John Sullivan . Since Sullivan was responsible for supervising the American right wing , he left the division under the leadership of Brigadier General Philippe Hubert Preudhomme de Borre . The Frenchman mishandled the Marylanders , throwing the division into confusion . With the Americans in disarray , the attack of the Guards easily swept them aside . At the end of the day , the entire brigade reported only one killed , five wounded , and two missing . Of these , one casualty was from Osborn ' s grenadiers and three from the light company . A few days after the battle Osborn and FitzPatrick caught two Guard grenadiers out plundering . The unfortunate soldiers were both sentenced to 500 lashes as punishment . The night before the Battle of Germantown on 4 October 1777 , Howe warned Osborn to expect trouble and the detached Guard grenadier and light companies took post on the far right flank next to the Queen ' s Rangers , a loyalist American unit . In the morning they were attacked by Brigadier General William Smallwood ' s Maryland militia and Brigadier General David Forman ' s New Jersey militia . The militia captured a few outworks but their organization soon unraveled in the face of opposition by professional soldiers . After driving back the American amateurs , the British swung to their left to flank Brigadier General Alexander McDougall ' s Connecticut Brigade . On 10 November during the final part of the Siege of Fort Mifflin , Howe directed Osborn to lead an amphibious assault on the fort on Mud Island . Accordingly , he assembled his grenadier company plus an additional four officers , eight NCOs , two drummers , and 150 enlisted men from the Guards Brigade and marched to Province Island on the Delaware River . They were joined there by a detachment of light infantry , the 27th Foot and the 29th Foot . Osborn planned to load eight flatboats with 35 soldiers each for the initial assault . In the event , the American garrison evacuated the fort on the night of November 15 and Osborn ' s detachment occupied the place without opposition . On 16 December 1777 , Osborn and Lord Cornwallis left Philadelphia aboard the frigate " HMS Brilliant ( 36 ) " . During his tenure as Inspector of the Foreign Troops , he cultivated excellent relations with the Hessian officer corps . Upon his arrival in England , King George promoted Osborn to brigadier general . Having obtained leave from his regiment , he then traveled in Europe . Later career . On 30 November 1780 , Osborn was elected to Parliament in a by - election , this time to the Horsham constituency in Sussex . Osborn was promoted to lieutenant general in 1787 . On 1 September 1795 , Prince Frederick , Duke of York and Albany wrote a report to King George III after inspecting military units in the Northern District . The report stated that Osborn commanded the 3rd Dragoon Guards , the 8th Foot , and the Durham militia at Whitburn . The 8th Foot was praised as the best line regiment in the district though its officers were not in regulation uniforms . Only 100 troopers of the 3rd Dragoon Guards were present since two squadrons had been sent to the continent . The Durham militia were well - drilled but their uniforms and equipment were in bad condition . Osborn died on 29 June 1818 . See also . Osborn Baronets