Lieutenant-General John Salomon Balthasar Sontag was a British Army officer who briefly served as General Officer Commanding the 7th Division during the Peninsular War.
John Sontag | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | General Ney |
| Born | 27 October 1747 The Hague, Netherlands |
| Died | 4 May 1816 Earl's Court, United Kingdom |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1780–1792 1793–1816 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-General |
| Unit | 12th Light Dragoons The Guides |
| Commands | Military Hospitals in the Netherlands Military Hospitals in South Britain Commandant of Lisbon 4th Brigade Commandant of Middleburg 3rd Brigade, Cadiz Brigade, 7th Division 7th Division |
| Battles / wars | |
Military career
editSontag was born the son of Johan Wilhelm Philip Sontag and his wife, Anna Hoek, in The Hague.[1]
He joined the British Army in 1779[2] and was naturalised as a British citizen in February 1780.[3] He became aide-de-camp to General Ralph Abercromby in 1795 and accompanied Abercromby during his expedition to the West Indies in 1796 and during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in 1799.[2] He also saw action during the Walcheren Campaign and became Military Governor of Middelburg in August 1809; General George Don then appointed him Head of the Provisional Government of Walcheren in November 1809. He left when the British Forces withdrew from Walcheren in December 1809.[2]
He served as temporary General Officer Commanding the 7th Division in Spain during the Peninsular War from 1 August 1811 until relinquishing his position, due to ill health, in October 1811.[4]
References
edit- ^ The Publications of the Huguenot Society of London. Vol. 27–30. 1923. p. 186.
- ^ a b c Blok, P.J.; Molhuysen, P.C. (1921). "Sontag, John". New Dutch biographical dictionary, Part 5.
- ^ "'House of Lords Journal Volume 36: February 1780 11-20'". London: Journal of the House of Lords. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
- ^ McGuigan, Ron; Burnham, Robert (2017). Wellington's Brigade Commanders. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military. p. 272. ISBN 978-1-47385-079-8.