George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend

George Townshend, 1st Marquess, soldier (b in Eng 28 Feb 1724; d at Rainham, Kent, Eng 14 Sept 1807). One of James Wolfe's brigadiers at the siege of Québec in 1759, Townshend assumed temporary command of the army when Wolfe was killed and the senior officer, Robert Monckton, was wounded during the battle on Sept 13; on Sept 18 he accepted the surrender of the city. A skilled caricaturist, he had amused himself during the siege by circulating cartoons ridiculing Wolfe, whom he held in contempt; and when he returned to England in Oct he was sharply and publicly criticized for his disrespectful behaviour toward the country's dead hero. The controversy, though bitter, was brief and did not impede his advancement. Ultimately Townshend achieved the rank of field marshal, climaxing a career as full of public honours as it was empty of significant accomplishment.