Lord Hastings Appointed Governor General of India (1781-1813)

Though Rawdon had won distinction in youth as a soldier and later proved himself an able statesman and administrator, the middle period of his life from 1781 to 1812 was comparatively unremarkable. Despite talent, family influence, and many public opportunities, he made no sustained effort to rise beyond mediocrity during these years.

On returning to England, he discovered that during his absence he had been elected member for Randalstown, County Antrim, to the Irish House of Commons. In early 1783 he was also raised to the British peerage as Baron Rawdon of Rawdon, County York. Apart from speaking against Fox’s India Bill in December 1783, he played little part in politics for several years.

Rawdon became closely attached to the Prince of Wales and his political interests. Though he initially supported Pitt, he gradually broke with him and by 1787 openly joined the opposition. He was ambitious and hoped for power, yet wanted political independence and sought to build a personal following through support of the Prince during the Regency crisis.

The recovery of King George III in early 1789 destroyed these hopes, and Rawdon largely disappeared again from active politics until 1797. Even so, he continued to show concern for public issues and unsuccessfully tried in 1793 to reform the severe laws against insolvent debtors.

Because of his closeness to the Prince of Wales and royal family, and possibly at the King’s request, Rawdon acted as second to the Duke of York in the duel with Colonel Lennox in May 1789. He later claimed that by delaying the signal he disturbed Lennox’s aim and thereby saved the Duke’s life, since the Duke had resolved not to fire.

On his father’s death in June 1793, Rawdon became second Earl of Moira in the Irish peerage. In October he was promoted Major-General and soon led an expedition to La Vendée to support royalist rebels trying to overthrow the French Revolution. The expedition failed, as the troops never landed; the death of La Rochejaquelein and divisions among the insurgents had already ruined prospects of success.

In 1794 the allied armies in Flanders under the Duke of York were in serious difficulty. Lack of unity among allies and the energy of the French revolutionary armies caused repeated setbacks. After defeats and the fall of Ypres on 17 June, the British retreated toward Oudenarde and then Antwerp, while the battle of Fleurus on 26 June made the allied position desperate.