William Byrd III William Byrd III William Byrd III (September 6, 1728January 1 or January 2, 1777) was the son of William Byrd II and the grandson of William Byrd I. He inherited his family's estate of approximately 179,000 acres of land in Virginia and continued their planter prestige as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He chose to fight in the French and Indian War rather than spend much time in Richmond. In 1756 he was colonel of the Second Virginia Regiment. William Byrd III had a reputation as a notorious gambler. He initiated what was said to have been
Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal Battle of Helsingborg and was promoted to Major General. In 1715 he was involved in the landing at Rügen and the subsequent siege of Stralsund. He then joined the French arny and was appointed Lieutenant General on 13 March 1721. On 6 June 1731, he was awarded the Danish Order of the Elephant. He later joined the Imperial military service, where he achieved the rank of Field Marshal. Charles married on 24 November 1725 in Eisenach Caroline Christine (1699–1743), daughter of Duke John William III of Saxe-Eisenach, with whom he had the following children: Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal Charles