A half-length portrait facing right. George Legge wears armour, lace cravat and a brown full bottom wig. Having attained a command at a very early age, in 1667 he distinguished himself in the actions of the Third Dutch War, first in command of the ‘Fairfax’ and afterwards the ‘Royal Katherine’. After England decided Tangier was too expensive to maintain, in 1683 Dartmouth was given command of the expedition to remove the garrison and destroy the defences. This he accomplished with skill in difficult circumstances. As a close friend of James II he superseded Sir Roger Strickland as commander-in-chief on the eve of the Revolution, but was prevented by the weather from intercepting William’s invading fleet. Eventually he saw the hopelessness of James’s position and surrendered the fleet to William. Nevertheless he was arrested and died in the Tower. The portrait was offered to Greenwich Hospital Collection in 1829 by a descendant, Henry Legge.