KING GEORGE IV (GREAT BRITAIN) - MILITARY APPOINTMENT SIGNED 12/27/1813 CO-SIGNED BY: HENRY (VISCOUNT SIDMOUTH) ADDINGTON - HFSID 53540

KING GEORGE IV of the UNITED KINGDOM
As Prince Regent, he appoints a Frederick Groskopff a Surgeon of the King's German Legion. Also signed by former Prime Minister Henry Addington, now Viscount Sidmouth, as Home Secretary.
Military Appointment signed: "George PR" as Prince Regent and "Sidmouth" as Home Secretary in brown ink. 1 page, 13¼x9½. Carlton House, London, England. 1813 December 27. Countersigned "Thos. Bates" as General of Muster. Appointment of Frederick Groskopff as Surgeon to the First Regiment of Light Dragoons of the German Legion". Paper seal affixed below signature. KING GEORGE IV (1762-1830, reigned from 1820) served as Regent of Great Britain from 1811, when his father, George III, was declared insane. As Prince of Wales he had very poor relationships both with his father, and with his wife, Princess Caroline of Brunswick, whom he forbade to attend his coronation and tried to divorce. As Regent, however, his choice of cabinet helped conclude the Napoleonic Wars (1815). War's end brought both peace and depression when government demand for supplies ceased. Prices fell and thousands became unemployed, instigating the first labor unions. He took steps to curb the depression with such acts as the Corn Law (1815). During his reign as King of Great Britain & Ireland (1820-1830), George IV's appreciation of the arts led to the development of Regent Street and Regent's Park and the restoration of Windsor Castle. He also initiated penal code reform and abolition of the death penalty (1822). George became increasingly unpopular, due in part to his lavish expenditures. His visit to Scotland in 1822 was the first by a British monarch since 1650. The Prince occupied Carlton House, completed in 1787 after he had persuaded George III to fund the mounting cost of the project, was his home throughout the Regency. HENRY ADDINGTON (1757-1844), ennobled as Viscount Sidmouth in 1805, served as Britain's Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer (1801-1804), both negotiating with and making war on Napoleon while working to re-forge an anti-French coalition of European powers. As Home Secretary (1812-1822), he was responsible for many repressive measures to curb popular unrest, including suspension of habeas corpus. When in 1803 Napoleon occupied Hanover - previously ruled by King George III of England as Elector of Hanover - many subjects from Hannover fled to Britain, and from them were recruited the King's German Legion. It fought with distinction throughout the Napoleonic Wars, receiving Battle Honors in the Peninsula Campaign and at the Battle of Waterloo, among others. By 1816, with the French expelled from Hanover, the Regiment was dissolved. Multiple folds. Heavily soiled. Toned. Surface creases. Corners worn. Irregularly cut. Otherwise, fine condition.