length portrait of Rivers in uniform, painted by Gainsborough in 1769, was lent to the winter exhibition at Burlington House in 1881 (Catalogue, No. 20). There are mezzotints of Lady Rivers by C. Corbutt after Miss Read, and by R. Houston after Miss Carwardine. There is no record of any speech made by Rivers either in the House of Commons or in the House of Lords.
He published: 1. ‘Letters to a Young Nobleman, upon various subjects, particularly on Government and Civil Liberty … with some Thoughts on the English Constitution, and the Heads of a Plan of a Parliamentary Reform,’ London, 1784, 8vo, anon. 2. ‘An Authentic Account of a late Negotiation, for the purpose of obtaining the Disfranchisement of Cranbourne Chace, with an Appendix’ [London], 1791, 4to, anon. 3. ‘The Present State of the Dorsetshire Militia, set forth in a Series of Letters between the Colonel and some of the Principal Officers of that Regiment, from September 1793 to this Time,’ London, 1797, 4to, anon.
The brother, Sir William Augustus Pitt (1728–1809), general, fourth son of the family, was appointed cornet in the 10th dragoons on 1 Feb. 1744, and served in the seven years' war (1756–63). He distinguished himself in several actions, and was wounded and taken prisoner at Campen. Becoming colonel in 1762, and major-general in 1770, he was promoted to be colonel of the 12th dragoons in October 1770, and five years later was transferred to the 3rd Irish horse, now the 6th dragoon guards or carabineers. He became lieutenant-general in 1777, and general in 1793, was from 1784 to 1791 commander of the forces in Ireland, and was governor of Portsmouth from 1794 till his death, and colonel of the 1st dragoon guards from July 1796. He was created a knight of the Bath in 1792. He predeceased Lord Rivers, dying at Highfield Park, Hampshire, on 29 Dec. 1809, and leaving no issue. He married Mary, daughter of Scroope, viscount Howe, of the kingdom of Ireland (Cannon, Historical Records of the First or King's Dragoon Guards, 1837: Gent. Mag. 1810, pt. i. p. 92).
[Hutchins's History of Dorset, 2nd edit. iii. 360 et passim; Chatham Correspondence, 1838, ii. 163–4; Gent. Mag. 1746 pp. 44–5, 1751 p. 427, 1771 pp. 566–7, 1773 p. 154, 1789 pt. ii. p. 762, 1784 pt. i. p. 395, 1791 pt. i. p. 490, 1795 pt. i. p. 255, 1822 pt. ii. p. 186, 1828 pt. ii. pp. 463–5; Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1715–1886, iii. 1120; Edmonson's Baronagium Geneal. 1784, suppl. vol. pp. 70–1; Burke's Extinct Peerage, 1883, p. 616; Collins's Peerage, 1812, vii. 490–2; Haydn's Book of Dignities, 1890; Official Return of List of Members of Parliament, pt. ii. pp. 87, 100, 111, 126, 139; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
PITT, JOHN, second Earl of Chatham (1756–1835), general, born on 10 Sept. 1756, was eldest son of the statesman, William Pitt, first earl of Chatham [q. v.], whom he succeeded in 1778. His mother was Hester Grenville, only daughter of Richard Grenville and sister of Earl Temple. The younger William Pitt, the statesman, was his younger brother. Entering the army as a lad in 1774, he left in 1776. Re-entering it in 1778, he was appointed lieutenant in the 39th foot, and served as a subaltern during the siege of Gibraltar in 1779–83. In 1779 he was promoted captain in the 86th or Rutland regiment, which was disbanded at the close of the American war.
In July 1788 his younger brother, then prime minister, invited him to join his ministry, and he entered the cabinet on 16 July as first lord of the admiralty. He held the office until December 1794. He was admitted to the privy council on 3 April 1789, and was created K.G. on 15 Dec. 1790. On retiring from the admiralty, to make way for Lord Spencer, on 20 Dec. 1794, Chatham retained his seat in the cabinet, being appointed lord privy seal, and on 21 Sept. 1796 he was transferred to the presidency of the council. He resigned with his brother in July 1801.
Meanwhile he maintained his connection with the army. He was promoted colonel in 1793, major-general in 1795, and colonel of the 4th (king's own) regiment of foot in 1799. In the last year he commanded a brigade in Holland under the Duke of York; he was present on 2 Oct. 1799 at the battle of Bergen, and successfully relieved General Coote when that officer was warmly engaged and hard pressed by the French. Again, on 6 Oct. he was present at the severe though indecisive affair at Beverwyk, where he was wounded. After his return home he was appointed to the responsible office of master-general of the ordnance (27 June 1801), and held it for five years, until 8 Feb. 1806. He became lieutenant-general in 1802, governor of Plymouth on 30 March 1805, and governor of Jersey on 22 Sept. 1807.
Although extraordinarily distant in manner, he was a favourite of George III, to whose favour he mainly owed his numerous employments. But he was ambitious of military distinction, and was keenly disappointed by the bestowal of the command of the army in the Peninsula on Wellesley in 1808. It is said that, to soothe his wounded feelings, he was directed to take charge in 1809 of the expedition to Walcheren, with which his name
