William Cornwallis

Sir William Cornwallis GCB, ( February 25, 1744 *, † June 5, 1819 ) was a British Admiral and brother of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis.

He fought until 1765 with honors from the British coasts against the French, then in America, especially in Jamaica against Picquet de la Motte, and was in the East Indies since 1781 much to the conquest of the French possessions in. On June 23, 1793, he brought the French fleet in the Indian waters a complete defeat and became commander of the British naval power there. After returning to Britain, he was in 1799 raised to the admiral of the red flag, the command resulted in the channel for a short time in 1801 and from 1803 to 1806 and retired after into private life. It was 1815 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath and died on 5 June 1819.