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Who really said it

I Hope He Will Bite My Other Generals and Make Them Mad, Too

Attributed to King George II 1683–1760 · King of Great Britain and Ireland, 1727–1760
Attributed Free to reuse

Always credited to George II, replying to a warning that an officer (later named as James Wolfe) was mad. The earliest known printing is a secondhand anecdote from 1786, published after the king had died, and no contemporary record confirms that he said it. The popular wording also merges that 1786 text with a 1909 biography.

Last verified 1 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Unconfirmed quote & credit

“I Hope He Will Bite My Other Generals and Make Them Mad, Too” attributed to King George II in a secondhand anecdote first printed in John Ireland's Letters and Poems by the Late Mr. John Henderson (1786), p. 60; veracity uncertain. · Verbatim: “I wish to my God he would bite some of my Generals, and make them mad too.”

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Evoking the world of King George II — King of Great Britain and Ireland, 1727–1760. Theme: "I Hope He Will Bite My Other Generals and Make Them Mad, Too". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

The earliest printed version

Work
Letters and Poems by the Late Mr. John Henderson, with Anecdotes of His Life
Anecdotes by
John Ireland
Published
1786, London (printed for J. Johnson)
Page
60

It brought to my recollection an anecdote I have heard of his late majesty, who, naming an officer that he intended should command in an expedition of some consequence, was told by the Duke of Newcastle that “the gentleman was by no means eligible for so important a station, being positively mad.” Is he, replied the king, he shall go for all that, and before he sets out I wish to my God he would bite some of my Generals, and make them mad too.

Long ‘s’ modernized. The officer is not named in this earliest version. Later retellings make him James Wolfe.

Letters and Poems by the Late Mr. John Henderson (1786) at the Internet Archive

How the story grew

  • 1786 — John Ireland recalls “an anecdote I have heard” of the late king. The Duke of Newcastle calls an unnamed officer “positively mad,” and the king wishes he would “bite some of my Generals, and make them mad too” (1786 book at Internet Archive ↗).
  • 1791 — The New-York Magazine names General Wolfe and the Quebec expedition (Quote Investigator ↗): “If he is mad, so much the better; and if he is mad, I hope to God he’ll bite some of my generals” (Wikiquote ↗).
  • 1909 — Beckles Willson’s biography gives the now-familiar form: “Mad, is he?” … “then I hope he will bite some of my other generals!” (The Life and Letters of James Wolfe at Internet Archive ↗).
  • 2013 — Quote Investigator traces all of these versions. It finds that the earliest print appeared after all the men involved were dead and calls the story “an entertaining yarn of uncertain veracity” (Quote Investigator ↗).
Public domain

The earliest wording comes from John Ireland’s anecdotes in a book published in London in 1786. The “Mad, is he? … my other generals” phrasing comes from Beckles Willson’s The Life and Letters of James Wolfe (1909). Both were published before 1931, so in the United States they are in the public domain.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

What the popular version gets wrong

George II is the only speaker ever credited, so the problem is not who said it. The problem is that the story changes from one telling to the next.

“Mad, is he? Then I hope he will bite some of my other generals and make them mad, too.” Composite

No single source we found gives this exact sentence. “Make them mad too” comes from the 1786 anecdote ↗. “Mad, is he?” and “my other generals” come from Willson’s 1909 biography ↗, which leaves out “make them mad.”

General James Wolfe Added later

The earliest version names no officer. Per Quote Investigator ↗, Wolfe and the Quebec expedition first appear in a 1791 New York magazine.

The Earl of Chesterfield, not the Duke of Newcastle Variant

An 1804 Naval Chronicle retelling has the Earl of Chesterfield say that Wolfe “had all the rashness of a madman,” while the 1786 and 1791 versions name Newcastle (Quote Investigator ↗).

This is a good story credited to George II, but the evidence for it is a secondhand anecdote first printed in 1786, after the king had died. Quote Investigator ↗ calls it “an entertaining yarn of uncertain veracity.”

Context

Why the story stuck

James Wolfe died in 1759 on the Plains of Abraham during the battle for Quebec, and he became one of Britain’s best-known military heroes. A king brushing off a charge of “madness” as the very quality his other commanders lacked made a neat story about Wolfe, and joke books and biographies kept retelling it.

Willson’s 1909 biography explains the joke. He writes that George was “thinking of the failures of Mordaunt, Loudoun, Abercrombie and his own son, Cumberland.” That framing is Willson’s interpretation, written long after the event, and the 1786 source does not contain it.

“I wish to my God he would bite some of my Generals, and make them mad too.” — the 1786 version

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Leadership Courage

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigator: I Hope He Will Bite My Other Generals and Make Them Mad, Tooquoteinvestigator.com

The main research on this quote: every version from 1786 to 1966, with the verdict “uncertain veracity.”
Letters and Poems by the Late Mr. John Henderson (1786)archive.org

A full scan of the earliest known printing, from John Ireland’s anecdotes.
The Life and Letters of James Wolfe (Beckles Willson, 1909)archive.org

The biography that gives the “Mad, is he? … my other generals” form.
George II of Great Britain on Wikiquoteen.wikiquote.org

Gives the 1791 New-York Magazine wording, with its citation.
James Wolfe on Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

Wolfe’s life and death at Quebec. It presents the remark as a story that circulated.

The author

About King George II

King George II

1683–1760 · King of Great Britain and Ireland, 1727–1760

George II was the second Hanoverian king of Great Britain and Ireland. He reigned from 1727 until his death in 1760, a period that included the Seven Years’ War, in which James Wolfe was killed taking Quebec. His sharp reply to a courtier’s warning about Wolfe is one of the best-known anecdotes about him, though it rests on later retellings, not a contemporary record.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Earliest documented in

John Ireland, “Anecdotes of His Life,” in Letters and Poems by the Late Mr. John Henderson (London: J. Johnson, 1786), 60. See also Garson O’Toole, “I Hope He Will Bite My Other Generals and Make Them Mad, Too,” Quote Investigator, January 15, 2013.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘I Hope He Will Bite My Other Generals and Make Them Mad, Too’?” Last verified 1 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/i-hope-he-will-bite-my-other-generals-and-make-them-mad-too/

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