George Lewis

Who is George Lewis?

George Lewis, later remembered as Lieutenant General George Lewis CB, late Colonel Commandant of the Royal Marines' Portsmouth Division, was a career officer in the Royal Marines, active during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.

He was born in Stoke Damerel, on 2 May 1774 and his death was reported from Plymouth on 14 September 1854 by the December 1854 edition of The Gentleman's Magazine.

He was the officer commanding the ship's complement of Marines on board HMS Caesar during the Battle of Cape Ortegal in November 1805; the concluding action of the Trafalgar Campaign.

He first distinguished himself on shore whilst a Captain of Marines on HMS Hibernia, at the start of the Peninsular War. In July 1808, he disembarked at Figueira da Foz in the mouth of the Mondego River in command of a Marine detachment from the squadron, of upwards of 300 marines, in order to counter the French and to support the Portuguese.

He was present with several companies of Marines in the Netherlands from November 1813 to February 1814. This force was to become the third raiding Battalion; a precursor to the Marine Commandos of the 20th century.