Sir Howard Elphinstone, 1st Baronet

Major General Sir Howard Elphinstone, 1st Baronet CB (4 March 1773 – 28 April 1846) was a commander of the Royal Engineers in the Peninsular War.

Elphinstone was the youngest son of John Elphinstone, a captain in the Royal Navy and for a period a vice-admiral in the Russian Navy. His mother was Amelia, daughter of John Warburton.

On 24 April 1793, Elphinstone was appointed a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers. He was present for the expedition that took the Cape of Good Hope in 1795, and was promoted to lieutenant on 5 February 1796 and captain on 1 July 1800. Elphinstone commanded the engineers in Sir David Baird's Indian army sent to help expel the French from Egypt in 1801. Sent on a mission to Portugal in 1806, he was the commanding engineer at the Battle of Montevideo in 1807, under the overall command of John Whitelocke. He returned to Portugal in 1808, commanding the Royal Engineers of the Peninsular army.

He saw his first service in the Peninsular War at the Battle of Roliça, where he was badly wounded and subsequently left the theatre. On 1 January 1812, he was breveted major and returned to the Peninsula, where he served until the end of the war. Promoted regimental lieutenant-colonel on 21 July 1813, after the battles of Nivelle and the Nive, Elphinstone commanded the engineers at the crossing of the Adour and the siege and battle of Bayonne.

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