HARDINGE, HENRY, VISCOUNT, third son of the late Rev. Henry Hardinge, rector of Stanhope, in the county of Durham, by Frances, daughter of James Best, Esq., of Chatham, was born at Wrotham, Kent, on the 30th of March 1785. He was member of a family which has long been located at King's Newton Hall, Derbyshire, and is said to have originally come from Denmark.
Having spent a short time at Eton, Henry Hardinge was gazetted ensign in a regiment of foot, October 3,1793, obtained his lieutenancy in 1802, and captaincy in 1804. It was his good fortune early to attract the notice of the Duke of Wellington, then Sir Arthur Wel lesley, under whom he served throughout the whole of the Peninsular War, and for a considerable time was upon the staff of the commander in-chief; he was also for nearly the entire period deputy-quarter master-general of the Portuguese army. He was present at the battles of Roleia and Vimiera, where he was severely wounded ; at the battle of Corunna he was by the side of the gallant Sir John Moore when he received his fatal wound. After having lost his friend at Corunna, he was present at the passage of the Douro, the battle of Busaco, the lines of Torres Vedras, and the battle of Albuera. In this engagement he displayed the greatest skill, courage, and self-command ; it was a hard-fought field ; and to the change in the fortunes of that day, effected as it was by the persevering valour of the British infantry, Lord Hardinge often pointed back in after life as having encouraged him as a general to persevere through every obstacle, and to place perfect confidence in the enduring valour of British troops. After this we find him side by side with Lord Wellington in almost every engagement of the war. He took part in the first and second sieges of Badajoz, at Salamanca, and at Vittoria, where he was again severely wounded, and also at Pampeluna. at the battles of the Pyrenees, and at Nivelle, Nive, and Gabes. When he returned to England after the close of the Peninsular war, he was justly regarded as one of the most gallant officers in the service. Upon the renewal of hostilities be was again in arms, and took an active part in the campaign of 1815 under the Duke of Wellington, upon whose staff he then was serving. Two days before the battle of Waterloo he was employed as brigadier general with the Prussian army at Ligny, where, in a skirmish with the enemy, he was wounded in the left arm, which had to be imme diately amputated, and prevented him from taking a personal part in that glorious victory. He was however rewarded with the dignity of
a K.C.B. on the enlargement of the order of the Bath in the same year, and with a pension of 3001. a year for the loss of his hand.
When, upon the resignation of Lord Goderich, in 1823, the Duke of Wellington undertook the construction of a ministry, he chose Sir Henry Hardinge (who had been returned 83 member for Durham in 1320 and again in 1826), to succeed Lord Palmerston as secretary at war. He was sworn a member of the privy council, and two years later exchanged this position for that of the chief secretaryship for Ireland, under the late Dnke of Northumberland as lord lieutenant. Hero however ho did not remain long : the duke's ministry retired from office in the autumn of the same year, and Sir Henry Hardinge returned to England. He resumed his high post however under the short-lived ministry of the late Sir Robert Peel, which lasted from November 1834 to April 1833. From this time till the return of Slr Robert Peel to power in September 1841, Sir Henry Hardinge remained in opposition. At the latter date he returned to Ireland as chief secretary under Earl de Grey, where he remained until 1844.
Towards the close of the year 1843 events arose in India to which we need not allude further than to eay, that the directors of the East India Company thought that the time had come when it was necessary for them to recall Lord Ellenborough from the high post of governor general of India. It was stated by Sir Robert Peel in his place in the House of Commons, that while the East India House and the Home Government were at isane as to the propriety of this step, they were quite of one mind as to the selection of his successor; and that when the premier recommended Sir Henry for the vacant post, on the ground of his great experience of civil matters, his high personal character, and his military eminence, the chairman of the company answered that his own choice had already fixed upon the same individual.