GEORGE WILLIAM FREDERICK CHARLES, second Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Tipperary and Baron Culloden (1819–1904), field-marshal and commander-in-chief of the army, was only son of Adolphus Frederick, first duke [q. v.], the youngest son of George III. His mother was Augusta Wilhelmina Louisa, daughter of Frederick, landgrave of Hesse Cassel. He was born at Cambridge House, Hanover, on 26 March 1819, and being at that time the only grandchild of George III, his birth was formally attested by three witnesses—the duke of Clarence (later William IV), the earl of Mayo, and George Henry Rose, P.C. His father was governor-general of Hanover, and Prince George lived there till 1830, when he was sent to England to be under the care of William IV and Queen Adelaide. His tutor was John Ryle Wood, afterwards canon of Worcester, who had great influence over him and won his lasting attachment. At Wood's instance he began a diary, as a boy of fourteen, a singularly naive confession of his shortcomings, and he kept it up to within a few months of his death. In 1825 he was made G.C.H., and in Aug. 1835 K.G. In 1836 he rejoined his parents in Hanover, his tutor being replaced by a military governor, lieutenant-colonel William Henry Cornwall of the Coldstream guards. He had been colonel in the Jäger battalion of the Hanoverian guards since he was nine years old; he now began to learn regimental duty both as a private and an officer.
On the accession of his first cousin, Queen Victoria, in June 1837, Hanover passed to the duke of Cumberland, and the duke of Cambridge returned with his family to England. On 3 Nov. Prince George was made brevet colonel in the British army, and in Sept. 1838 he went to Gibraltar to learn garrison duties. He was attached to the 33rd foot for drill. After spending six months there and six months in travel in the south of Europe, he came home, and was attached to the 12th lancers, with which he served for two years in England and Ireland. On 15 April 1842 he was gazetted to the 8th light dragoons as lieutenant-colonel, but ten days afterwards he was transferred to the 17th lancers as colonel. He commanded this regiment at Leeds, and helped the magistrates to preserve the peace of the town during the industrial disturbances in August.
On 20 April 1843 he was appointed colonel on the staff, to command the troops in Corfu. He spent two years there, and on Lord Seaton's recommendation he received the G.C.M.G. He was promoted major-general on 7 May 1845. After commanding the troops at Limerick for six months, he was appointed to the Dublin district on 1 April 1847, and held that command five years. He had a large force under him, and worked hard at the training of the troops. In 1848 political disturbances made his post no sinecure. By the death of his father on 8 July 1850 Prince George became duke of Cambridge, and an income of 12,000l. a year was voted him by Parliament. He was made K.P. on 18 Nov. 1851. For nearly two years from 1 April 1852 he was inspecting general of cavalry at headquarters, and the memoranda on the state of the army which he then drew up (Verner, i. 39–59) show how much he concerned himself with questions of organisation. He was in command of the troops at the funeral of the duke of Wellington. On 28 Sept. 1852 he was transferred as colonel from the 17th lancers to the Scots fusilier guards.
In February 1854 the duke was chosen to command a division in the army to be sent to the Crimea. He accompanied lord Raglan to Paris on 10 April, and went thence to Vienna, bearing a letter from the Queen to the Emperor Francis Joseph. Leaving Vienna on 1 May, he reached Constantinople on the 10th. He was promoted lieutenant-general on 19 June, went with his division (guards and highlanders) to Varna, and thence to the Crimea. At the Alma (20 Sept.) he and his men were in second line, behind the light division; but when the latter fell back before the Russian counter attack, the guards and highlanders came to the front and won the battle. At Inkerman (5 Nov.) the duke with the brigade of guards (the highlanders were at Balaclava) came to the help of the 2nd division very early in the day, and retook the Sandbag battery. His horse was shot under him, and he found himself left with about 100 men, while the rest pushed on down the slope. Kinglake describes him ‘with an immense energy of voice and gesture … commanding, entreating, adjuring’ the men to keep on the high ground. By the advance of another Russian column he was nearly cut off from the main position, and he and his aide-de-camp ‘had regularly to ride for it in order to get back’ (Verner, i. 79). The guards lost 622 officers and men out of 1361 engaged.
The duke's courage was high, but he had not the imperturbability needed for war, and his health had suffered at Varna.
