Oliver De Lancey (British Army officer, died 1822)

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General Oliver De Lancey (c. 1749 – 3 September 1822), also known as Oliver De Lancey Jr., was a British Army officer from a wealthy New York family with French Huguenot and Ashkenazi Jewish roots. His father was Major-General Oliver De Lancey and his mother was Phila Franks. The De Lancey family was highly influential in colonial New York.

Oliver was educated in England and joined the British Army in 1766 as a cornet in the 14th Dragoons, later becoming lieutenant in 1770 and captain in the 17th Dragoons in 1773. When the American Revolution began, he returned to America to help prepare royal regiments. His father funded loyalist units, and Oliver served on Long Island and in New York campaigns, including the Battle of Brooklyn, where his forces helped in the victory over the Americans. He rose to major in 1778, helped cover the retreat of Clinton’s forces, fought at Monmouth, and commanded outposts near New York. He later joined the staff for the South Carolina campaign, became aide-de-camp to Lord Cornwallis, and then adjutant-general to the New York army. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1781 and, after the war, returned to England with his father.

Back in Britain, he worked on settling loyalist military claims and held high commands: deputy adjutant-general at the Horse Guards (1790), Barrack-Master-General (1794), and colonel of the 17th Dragoons (1795). He became a major-general in 1794, entered Parliament for Maidstone (1796–1802), and continued rising to lieutenant-general (1801) and general (1812).

In 1804 a military inquiry found serious errors in his barracks accounts, and he was removed from the Barrack-Master-General post, but he was not prosecuted. He had to sell some land to cover losses, but remained a senior officer. He retired to Edinburgh, where he died on 3 September 1822.