Chapter IV: Part 4

The HON. JAMES O'HARA was appointed Lieutenant in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, commanded by his father, on the 15th of March, 1703; and in 1706 he proceeded with his regiment to the relief of Barcelona. In the following year he served on the staff of the army in Spain, and was wounded at the battle of Almanza, where, it is said, he was instrumental in saving the Earl of Galway's life. He served several years at Minorca; and in 1713 obtained the Colonelcy of the Royal Fusiliers, in succession to his father, at whose decease, in 1733, he succeeded to the dignity of BARON TYRAWLEY. The rank of Brigadier-General was conferred on his lordship on the 23rd of November, 1735; that of Major-General on the 2nd of July, 1739; and in August of the latter year, he was removed from the Royal Fusiliers to the FIFTH HORSE. In March, 1743, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General; and in the following month obtained the Colonelcy of the Second Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards, from which he was removed, in 1745, to the Third Troop of Life Guards, which gave him the privilege of taking the court duty of gold stick. In 1746, when King George II. had resolved to disband the Third and Fourth Troops of Life Guards, his lordship was removed to the Tenth Foot; he was again removed, in 1749, to the Fourteenth Dragoons; in 1752, to the Third Dragoons; and in 1755, to the Second, or Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards. He was appointed Governor of Portsmouth on the 1st of May, 1759, and was promoted to the rank of General on the 7th of March, 1761. He held the appointment of Governor of Minorca for several years; was employed as Envoy and Ambassador to the courts of Portugal and Russia; and died at Twickenham on the 13th of July, 1773.

JOHN BROWN.

_Appointed 1st April, 1743._

This officer entered the army as Cornet of horse on the 5th of August, 1704, and served several campaigns on the continent in the army commanded by John Duke of Marlborough. In 1735 he was Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fourth Dragoons, from whence he was removed to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the King's Horse (now First Dragoon Guards); and on the 10th of May, 1742, he was appointed Colonel of the Ninth Dragoons. On the appointment of Lieutenant-General Lord Tyrawley to the Horse Grenadier Guards, the Colonelcy of the FIFTH HORSE was conferred on Colonel Brown, who was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 26th of March, 1754, and to that of Lieutenant-General on the 15th of January, 1758: he died in 1762.

JAMES JOHNSTON.

_Appointed 3rd August, 1762._

JAMES JOHNSTON obtained a commission in the Royal Horse Guards, was at the battles of Dettingen and Fontenoy, and was appointed Major of the regiment on the 29th of November, 1750. On the 17th of December, 1754, he was promoted to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy; and he commanded the regiment at several engagements in Germany during the Seven-years' war. In 1762 he obtained the Colonelcy of the FIRST IRISH HORSE, now FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS; was appointed Major-General on the 30th of April, 1770; and on the 27th of April, 1775, was removed to the Colonelcy of the 11th Dragoons. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General on the 29th of August, 1777; and was removed to the Scots Greys on the 4th of February, 1785, the Colonelcy of which regiment he retained until his decease on the 24th of December, 1795.

JAMES JOHNSTON.

_Appointed 27th April, 1775._

This officer was cousin to the previous Colonel of the same name. He obtained the commission of Cornet in the Thirteenth Dragoons on the 5th of October, 1736, and was removed to the Royal Dragoons in 1739, in which corps he rose to the rank of Major, and was promoted to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the Thirteenth Dragoons on the 2nd of December, 1754. In April, 1759, he was reappointed to the First Royal Dragoons, and proceeding in command of the regiment to Germany, served in the battles and skirmishes of that and the two succeeding campaigns under Ferdinand Duke of Brunswick. He particularly distinguished himself at the battle of Warbourg, and was wounded at the battle of Campen. In 1762 he was promoted to the local rank of Major-General in Germany; and he commanded a brigade of cavalry during the campaign of that year. He was distinguished alike for the sterner military virtues,--for a gentlemanly deportment,--and an amiable disposition, which procured him the esteem of all ranks; and on the breaking up of the army on the continent he received a flattering mark of the approbation of the hereditary Prince of Brunswick,[27]--namely, a valuable gold snuff-box, embellished with highly-chased military trophies, accompanied by an autograph letter, of which the following is a copy:--

"Munden, ce 17 de Nov. 1762.

"Monsieur,

"Vous m'obligerez sensiblement, en acceptant la babiole que je
joins ici comme une marque de l'estime, et de la consideration
parfaite que je vous porte, et comme un souvenir d'un ami qui
jamais ne finèra d'etre.

"Monsieur,
"Votre très humble et très devoué serviteur,
"CHARLES, Pr. Her. de B."

"A Monsieur
"Le Col. Johnston."

He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the island of Minorca in 1763, and was promoted to the rank of Major-General in 1770. In the following year this meritorious officer was rewarded with the Colonelcy of the Ninth Dragoons; in 1774 he was constituted Governor of Quebec; and in 1775 he obtained the Colonelcy of the FIRST IRISH HORSE (now FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS). Two years afterwards he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General; in 1778 he was removed from the FIRST IRISH HORSE to the Sixth Enniskillen Dragoons; and was further promoted to the rank of General in 1793: he is stated to have been one of the most celebrated swordsmen of his time. The decease of this distinguished veteran occurred on the 13th of December, 1797, at Hampton, from whence he was removed with great state for interment in Westminster Abbey on the 21st of that month.

GEORGE WARDE.

_Appointed 1st April, 1778._

GEORGE WARDE entered the army in the reign of George II.; was appointed Captain in the Eleventh Dragoons in 1748, and Major of the same corps in June, 1756. In 1758 he obtained the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the Fourth Dragoons, at the head of which corps he served many years, and brought it into so high a state of discipline, that, whenever King George III. reviewed the corps, he expressed his approbation of its excellent condition in the strongest terms. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in the army in 1772, and in the succeeding year he obtained the Colonelcy of the Fourteenth Dragoons. The rank of Major-General was conferred on this officer in 1777; he was promoted to the Colonelcy of the FIRST IRISH HORSE (now FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS) in the following year; and was advanced to the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1782. In 1792 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, and while in that country he devoted much of his time to the bringing of his regiment,--the FOURTH ROYAL IRISH DRAGOON GUARDS,--into a most perfect condition for active service. He possessed the soundest ideas of what cavalry ought to be; he had an aversion to slow movements, and although nearly seventy years of age, he exercised his regiment five times a week,--often leading it across the country over hedge and ditch, to the astonishment of every one. He was promoted to the rank of General in 1796, and died on the 11th of March, 1803. He was celebrated for philanthropy, and was represented by historians as a man 'of inviolable, disinterested integrity, public and private; and the bestower of benefactions scarcely less secret than extensive.'

MILES STAVELEY.

_Appointed 12th March, 1803._

MILES STAVELEY obtained a Cornetcy in the Royal Horse Guards in January, 1759, and served with that regiment a period of forty years. His first essay in arms was during the Seven-years' war in Germany, where he served under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. He also served in Flanders under his Royal Highness the Duke of York; and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Horse Guards on the 31st of December, 1794. During the following year he was promoted to the rank of Colonel in the army, and in 1798 to that of Major-General. In 1799 he obtained the Colonelcy of the Twenty-eighth, or Duke of York's own Regiment of Light Dragoons, which was disbanded at the peace of Amiens in 1802. In the following year he obtained the command of the ROYAL IRISH DRAGOON GUARDS; was subsequently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General; and died in September, 1814.

SIR HENRY FANE, G.C.B.

_Appointed 3rd October, 1814._

GENERAL SIR HENRY FANE commenced his military career as Cornet in the Sixth Dragoon Guards in 1792; in 1794 he was appointed Captain-Lieutenant in the ROYAL IRISH DRAGOON GUARDS, with which corps he served ten years, and took an active part in Ireland during the rebellion in 1798. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the regiment in 1797, and was removed to the First Dragoon Guards in 1804. In 1808 he proceeded with the army to Portugal, commanded a brigade at the battle of Roleia on the 17th of August, and at Vimiera on the 21st of that month. He also commanded a brigade under Sir John Moore in Spain, and was engaged at the battle of Corunna. Returning to Portugal, he commanded a brigade at the battle of Talavera on the 27th and 28th of July, 1809; was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 25th of July, 1810; commanded a brigade at the battle of Vittoria on the 21st of June, 1813, and at the battle of Orthes on the 27th of February, 1814; and these distinguished services have been rewarded with the Grand Cross of the Military Order of the Bath, and an honorary Cross with one clasp. He obtained the Colonelcy of the ROYAL IRISH DRAGOON GUARDS in October, 1814; was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General on the 12th of August, 1819; and was removed to the King's Dragoon Guards in 1827. On the 30th of January, 1835, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief in the East Indies, with the local rank of General; in which rank he was included in the brevet promotion on the 10th of January, 1837.

SIR GEORGE ANSON, G.C.B.

_Appointed 24th February, 1827._

FOOTNOTES:

[24] The Earl of Arran had not been long at court before an affair of gallantry involved him in a quarrel with Lord Mordaunt (afterwards the celebrated Earl of Peterborough), which produced a meeting in Greenwich Park, when, after firing their pistols without effect, they engaged with swords; Lord Mordaunt was wounded in the groin, and the Earl of Arran in the thigh, when the former accidentally broke his sword, which terminated the contest.

[25] CHARLES GODFREY, Esq., was brother-in-law to John Lord Churchill (afterwards Duke of Marlborough), having married Miss Arabella Churchill, mistress of King James II., and mother of James Duke of Berwick, one of the most successful and distinguished generals of his age, who rose to the rank of Marshal of France, and obtained a dukedom in Spain, and another in France.

[26] A detailed account of this action is given in the Record of the 6th Dragoon Guards; and also in the Record of the Fifth Foot.

[27] His Highness was afterwards reigning Duke of Brunswick. He married the Princess Augusta, sister to King George III.; and died of wounds received at the battle of Jena in 1808.

LONDON:
Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES and Sons,
Stamford Street.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

A superscript is denoted by ^x or ^{xx}. For example, und^r or
19^{th}.

Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.

Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example,
bearskin, bear skin, bear-skin; cannon-ball, cannon ball; tragical.

Pg 6, 'Lievtenant vi^s' replaced by 'Lieutenant vi^s'.
Pg 11, 'SIXTH Horse obtained' replaced by 'SIXTH HORSE obtained'.
Pg 23, the emblem "I" over "H" displayed as 'I/H' (twice).
Pg 27, 'Phoenix Park on the 22nd' replaced by 'Phœnix Park on the 22nd'.
Pg 54, 'valice' replaced by 'valise'.
Pg 55, 'mean time the legions' replaced by 'meantime the legions'.