Maj.Gen.Sir Howard Elphinstone , youngest of 8 sons. "ELPHINSTONE, Major-General Sir Howard. The set of nine Military Commissions, all signed by the monarch, appointing Elphinstone to rising ranks in the Corps of Royal Engineers and in the Army, from Second Lieutenant in 1793, to Colonel Commandant of the Corps of Royal Engineers in 1834. Other valuable signatures include the 1st Marquis Cornwallis, General William Howe, and the Duke of Wellington. 9 vellum documents, generally in good clean condition, vertical folds. 1793-1834. A rare set of commissions spanning a military career through the reigns of George III, George IV and William IV. Major-General Sir Howard Elphinstone (1773-1846) served at the Cape of Good Hope (1795), in Egypt and South America, and became the commanding Royal Engineer during the Peninsular War. The commissions comprise: 2nd Lieutenant Artillery 1793 (signed by George III and Richmond); 2nd Lieutenant Engineers 1793 (signed by George III and Richmond); First Lieutenant Engineers (signed by George III and the Marquis Cornwallis); Captain-Lieutenant Engineers 1800 (signed by George III and General William Howe); Captain Engineers 1805 (signed by George III and the Earl of Chatham, William Pitt's elder brother); Colonel Engineers 1824 (signed by George IV and the Duke of Wellington); Colonel in the Army 1830 (signed by William IV and General James Kempt); Colonel Commandant Engineers 1834 (signed by William IV and Kempt); Major-General in the Army 1837 (signed by William IV and Lord John Russell). £2000 "
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