Field Marshal Studholme Hodgson was a British Army officer who served during the 18th century. After serving as an Aide-de-Camp to the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Fontenoy during the War of the Austrian Succession and at the Battle of Culloden during the Jacobite Rebellion, he became correspondent to William Barrington, the Secretary at War, during the French and Indian War. He went on to command the British expedition which captured Belle Île in June 1761 during the Seven Years' War so enabling the British Government to use the island as a bargaining piece during the negotiations leading up to the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
Engraving by William Bond after a painting by George Romney
The attack on Belle Île in 1761
Field marshal (United Kingdom)
Field marshal (FM) has been the highest rank in the British Army since 1736. A five-star rank with NATO code OF-10, it is equivalent to an Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Navy or a Marshal of the Royal Air Force in the Royal Air Force (RAF). A Field Marshal's insignia consists of two crossed batons surrounded by yellow leaves below the Tudor Crown. Like Marshals of the Royal Air Force and Admirals of the Fleet, Field Marshals traditionally remain officers for life, though on half-pay when not in an appointment or retired. The rank has been used sporadically throughout its history, and was vacant during parts of the 18th and 19th centuries. After the Second World War, it became standard practice to appoint the Chief of the Imperial General Staff to the rank on his last day in the post. Army officers occupying the post of Chief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of all the British Armed Forces, were usually promoted to the rank upon their appointment.
The Earl Roberts painted 1906 in the full dress uniform of a Field Marshal in the British Army
Field Marshal's uniform and baton (pertaining to the late Sir John Stanier) on display in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum, Edinburgh Castle.
Image: 1st Earl Of Orkney
Image: John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll and Duke of Greenwich by William Aikman