George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, English soldier and politician, 3rd Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1716)
George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, PC (26 January 1716 – 26 August 1785), styled The Honourable George Sackville until 1720, Lord George Sackville from 1720 to 1770 and Lord George Germain from 1770 to 1782, was a British soldier and politician who was Secretary of State for America in Lord North's cabinet during the American War of Independence.
His ministry received much of the blame for Britain's loss of thirteen American colonies. His issuance of detailed instructions in military matters, coupled with his failure to understand either the geography of the colonies or the determination of the colonists, may justify this conclusion. He had two careers, a military career, where he rose to the rank of Major-General, and a political carer, in which he rose to the rank of Secretary of State for the Colonies. His military career had distinction, but ended with a court martial. Sackville served in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War, including at the decisive Battle of Minden. His political career ended with the fall of the North government in March 1782.