Lieutenant-General Sir William Warre, CB (15 April 1784 – 26 July 1853) was an English officer of the British Army.

The company is still operating as Warre's,[1] and Sir William's portrait hangs in the city's famed Factory House.

However, a mischievous prank, in which he used sealing wax to affix the ponytail of the Portuguese member of the firm to his desk, ended his career as a merchant.

The French General told them they were lucky they were not brought before "The Iron Marshal" Louis-Nicolas Davout, "for he would have hanged you without mercy on the nearest tree.

[3] Warre attended Royal Military College, Sandhurst in the summer of 1807 and the following May was appointed aide-de-camp to Major-General Sir Ronald Craufurd Ferguson.

After his recovery, Beresford installed Warre in his staff and he served throughout Sir John Moore's campaign, ending with the Battle of Coruña in January 1809.

Warre took part in all the operations of Beresford's division in 1809–10, including the Crossing of the Douro and the capture of Porto as Arthur Wellesley.

[5] However, he fell ill with rheumatic fever during the retreat to the lines of Torres Vedras in September 1810, forcing him to return to England to recuperate.