John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham
General John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, also 2nd Viscount Pitt and 2nd Baron Chatham, was a British soldier and politician. He spent a lengthy period in the cabinet but is best known for commanding the disastrous Walcheren Campaign of 1809.
John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham after John Hoppner, 1799
John Singleton Copley's The Death of the Earl of Chatham. Pitt is shown in military uniform to his father's left, while his brothers are also both portrayed.
Chatham's political career was eclipsed by that of his younger brother William Pitt who became Prime Minister in 1783.
As Master-General of the Ordnance Chatham was sceptical about the benefits of Martello Towers but oversaw their construction as part of a response to the threat of French invasion.
The Walcheren Campaign was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Sir John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, was the commander of the expedition, with the missions of capturing Flushing and Antwerp in the Netherlands and enabling navigation of the Scheldt River. Some 39,000 soldiers and 15,000 horses, together with field artillery and two siege trains, crossed the North Sea and landed at Walcheren on 30 July. This was the largest British expedition of that year, larger than the army serving in the Peninsular War in Portugal. Nevertheless, it failed to achieve any of its goals. The Walcheren Campaign involved little fighting, but heavy losses from the sickness popularly dubbed "Walcheren Fever". Although more than 4,000 British troops died during the expedition, only 106 died in combat; the survivors withdrew on 9 December.
Illness-stricken British troops evacuating the island of Walcheren on 30 August.
The journey of General Cort Heijligers to recapture Bath from the British
The bombardment of Flushing
Infantry of the 50th and 91st Regiments.