Philip Honywood (British Army officer, died 1752)
General Sir Philip Honywood, KB (c. 1677 – 17 June 1752) was a British Army officer who rose to be a senior general and a royal court figure. He was born in Kent, the second son of Charles Ludovic Honywood and Mary Clement. His grandfather was Sir Robert Honywood. His father died when Philip was about ten.
He joined the Army as an ensign in 1694 and served with James Stanley’s regiment under William III in the Netherlands. He became a captain in the Royal Fusiliers in 1696, and later a captain in the Earl of Huntingdon’s regiment in 1702. He fought in Brabant during Marlborough’s campaigns and later served in Spain. He earned the rank of lieutenant-colonel in Wade’s regiment (which became the 33rd).
On 27 May 1709 he was promoted to colonel of the 92nd Regiment, which was disbanded in 1712, and, in 1710, he reached brigadier-general. Honywood supported the Protestant succession. When a new ministry suspected of favoring the Pretender came to power, he and other officers were dismissed. After the accession of George I, he was rewarded for his loyalty with the post of Groom of the Bedchamber in the king’s household.
On 22 July 1715 he was given the task of raising and training a cavalry corps, which became the 11th Hussars. He led the cavalry in the Jacobite rising of the Earl of Mar, commanding a brigade at Preston, where he was wounded but showed great courage. In 1719 he commanded a brigade in the expedition against Spain, taking Vigo and later taking part in the siege of the citadel there.
He was promoted to major-general in 1726 and in 1727 served on the army’s staff for a possible campaign in Holland. On 29 May 1732 he moved from commanding the 11th Dragoons to the 3rd Dragoons, and in 1735 he was promoted to lieutenant-general. In 1742 he led a British force to Flanders and commanded the troops there until the Earl of Stair arrived. In 1743 he was promoted to general and became colonel of the King’s Horse (the 1st Dragoon Guards).
At the Battle of Dettingen he led a division and personally commanded the Royal Horse Guards and the King’s Horse in a decisive charge. He continued to serve in the campaigns on the Continent with distinction, earning the Knight of the Bath. He died in 1752 and was buried with military honours at Portsmouth, where he was governor at the time of his death.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:03 (CET).