George Don (British Army officer)

General Sir George Don GCB GCH was a senior British Army military officer and colonial governor during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. His service was conducted across Europe, but his most important work was in military and defensive organisation against the threat of French invasion during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Don was also frequently requested for advisory and espionage work by British generals and was once employed by the Prussian State as a spy. In 1799 he was arrested during a truce by Guillaume Brune who accused him of attempting to foment rebellion in the Batavian Republic and was not released until the Peace of Amiens. During and following the wars, Don also served as governor of Jersey and Gibraltar, implementing organisational reforms with much success in both places.

Don was born in 1756, the second son of wine merchant John Don and his wife Anna Seton. In 1770, Don joined the army as an ensign in the 51st Regiment of Foot and was stationed in Minorca from 1774 after being made lieutenant. Minorca was at the time a Britishadministered territory and naval base and was heavily fortified after its capture by the Spanish and recapture in the Seven Years War twenty years earlier. During his service on the island, Don became close acquaintances with the islands governor General Johnstone and General James Murray and served on the staff of the former as aidedecamp and was consequently promoted to captain.

Source: Wikipedia