Lieutenant-General Thomas Desaguliers FRS (5 January 1721 – 1 March 1780) was a British Army general and a Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery.

He first saw service in Flanders in 1744, when he joined the Royal Artillery train under Colonel William Belford, and remained on the continent until the close of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1748, being present at the battle of Fontenoy, as well as many minor engagements.

[3] On his return to England, Captain Desaguliers was made chief firemaster at the Woolwich Arsenal on 1 April 1748, a post which he held for thirty-two years, until his death in 1780.

The chief firemaster was the superintendent of the arsenal, and Desaguliers was the first scientific maker of cannon and the first regular investigator into the powers of gunnery in the English army.

[3] In 1761 Desaguliers was summoned from his experiments and manufactures to take command of the siege train and the force of artillerymen intended to accompany the expedition to the island of Belleisle, off the western coast of France.

This was the first opportunity to test on a large scale the improvements made in siege artillery since the days of Marlborough, and Desaguliers was able to put his ideas into practice.

His work there was most valuable to the British military; he invented a method of firing small shot from mortars, and made the earliest experiments with rockets.

He demonstrated artillery to the Royal Family, was equerry to King George III and accompanied the monarch on morning horse rides.