George Sackville Germain 1st Viscount Sackville

Home > ... > People > History > British and Irish History: Biographies > ...

George Sackville Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

George Sackville Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville , 1716-85, British soldier and statesman. He was known as Lord George Sackville until 1770, when under the terms of a will he took the name Germain. His early military career, in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War, ended in court-martial and dismissal (1760) for insubordination at the battle of Minden (1759). A member of Parliament intermittently from 1741, he attached himself to Lord North and was his secretary for the colonies (1775-82). With the 4th earl of Sandwich , Germain has received much of the blame for the British reverses in the American Revolution. He and John Burgoyne were the chief authors of a plan (see Saratoga campaign ) to end the Revolution by splitting New England from the rest of the colonies. However, his vague orders to Sir William Howe to join Burgoyne may have cost Burgoyne the campaign of 1777, while the confusion in the plans of Lord Cornwallis and Sir Henry Clinton, arising partly from Germain's ignorance of American geography, contributed to the disaster of the Yorktown campaign . He was created viscount in 1782.

Bibliography: See biography by L. Marlow (1974).

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-GermainG" title="Facts and information about George Sackville Germain 1st Viscount Sackville">George Sackville Germain 1st Viscount Sackville</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"George Sackville Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 2 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"George Sackville Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (December 2, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-GermainG.html

"George Sackville Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 02, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-GermainG.html

Learn more about citation styles

Germain, Lord George

The Oxford Companion to British History | 2002 | | © The Oxford Companion to British History 2002, originally published by Oxford University Press 2002. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Germain, Lord George (1716–85), formerly Sackville. After a promising early career, both as politician and army officer, Sackville was court-martialled for disobeying orders at Minden in 1759. Stripped of his rank and forbidden the court, he did not rehabilitate himself until the 1760s, eventually becoming American secretary in 1775. It was expected that Germain (as he was now called) would invigorate the war effort against the American colonies, but difficulties of slow communication militated against effective direction from Britain. Germain, moreover, never achieved complete control, since fellow cabinet members jealously guarded their own authority. A flawed strategist, he must share responsibility for the defeat at Saratoga (1777), having authorized two separate offensives, mistakenly hoping that each might succeed independently. He continued to hope, despite contrary evidence, that each fresh campaign would tap latent American loyalism, and was predisposed to favour the more ambitious Cornwallis over Commander-in-Chief Clinton. Germain's attitude exacerbated defects in the command structure during the prelude to Yorktown (1781). Despite this disastrous defeat, he opposed abandoning the war and resigned in 1782. He was created Viscount Sackville on his retirement.

David Wilkinson

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O110-GermainLordGeorge" title="Facts and information about George Sackville Germain 1st Viscount Sackville">George Sackville Germain 1st Viscount Sackville</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

JOHN CANNON. "Germain, Lord George." The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford University Press. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 2 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN CANNON. "Germain, Lord George." The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford University Press. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (December 2, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-GermainLordGeorge.html

JOHN CANNON. "Germain, Lord George." The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford University Press. 2002. Retrieved December 02, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-GermainLordGeorge.html

Learn more about citation styles

Germain, Lord George

A Dictionary of British History | 2004 | | © A Dictionary of British History 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Germain, Lord George (1716–85), formerly Sackville. After a promising early career, both as politician and army officer, Sackville was court‐martialled for disobeying orders at Minden in 1759. Stripped of his rank and forbidden the court, he did not rehabilitate himself until the 1760s, eventually becoming American secretary in 1775. A flawed strategist, he must share responsibility for the defeat at Saratoga (1777), having authorized two separate offensives, mistakenly hoping that each might succeed independently.

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O43-GermainLordGeorge" title="Facts and information about George Sackville Germain 1st Viscount Sackville">George Sackville Germain 1st Viscount Sackville</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

JOHN CANNON. "Germain, Lord George." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 2 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN CANNON. "Germain, Lord George." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (December 2, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-GermainLordGeorge.html

JOHN CANNON. "Germain, Lord George." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved December 02, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-GermainLordGeorge.html

Learn more about citation styles

Pictures from Google Image Search

Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture

For students and teachers!

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Popular on Newser: