William Dyott | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Dyott published in the edited volumes of his diaries | |
| Born | 17 April 1761 |
| Died | 7 May 1847 (aged 87) Freeford Hall |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1781–1847 |
| Rank | General |
| Unit | 4th Regiment of Foot |
| Commands | 103rd Regiment of Foot 25th Regiment of Foot |
| Battles / wars | |
| Alma mater | Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Ashbourne Nottingham High School |
| Spouse(s) |
Eleanor Thompson
(m. 1806; div. 1815) |
General William Dyott DL JP (17 April 1761 – 7 May 1847) was a British Army officer and courtier who served in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Having joined the 4th Regiment of Foot during the American Revolutionary War, he initially served in Ireland before moving to Nova Scotia where in 1788 he befriended Prince William Henry, the future William IV. Dyott undertook a series of staff appointments in England and Ireland until after the start of the French Revolutionary War when, promoted to lieutenant colonel, he took the 25th Regiment of Foot to the West Indies. In 1796 Dyott fought against Fédon's rebellion on Grenada, returning at the end of the year having lost the majority of his regiment to yellow fever.
After several more staff appointments Dyott took the 25th to serve in the Egypt campaign in 1801, arriving too late to participate in most of the campaign but seeing action at the Siege of Alexandria. In the first years of the ensuing Napoleonic Wars Dyott worked as a staff officer in Ireland, and also served George III as an aide de camp. Promoted to major-general in 1809 Dyott was ordered to take command of a brigade in the Peninsular War, but his appointment was cancelled when the army was evacuated after the Battle of Corunna. Later in the year Dyott was appointed to a different brigade for the Walcheren campaign. Quickly beset by fevers, the campaign stagnated. Dyott formed part of the garrison on Walcheren before his return to England in October.
Dyott declined to serve in the new Peninsular Army under Lord Wellington in 1810 and saw no further active service. He held staff appointments in England until his promotion to lieutenant-general in 1813. In retirement Dyott served as a deputy lieutenant and justice of the peace for Staffordshire and was active in politics as a Tory. From 1781 to 1845 Dyott had written a diary, and in 1907 these were published in two edited volumes. Lord Ponsonby describes him as "an honest, unreflecting, and unobservant man".