Alexander George Woodford
Encyclopedia
Field Marshal
Sir Alexander George Woodford, KCB
, KCMG
(15 June 1782 – 26 August 1870) was a British Army
officer.
, London
, the eldest son of Lieutenant-Colonel John Woodford (d. 1800), and his second wife, Lady Susan (d. 1814), the eldest daughter of Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon
, and widow of John Fane, 9th Earl of Westmorland
. Sir John George Woodford was his younger brother. He went to Winchester College
as a commoner in 1794, and in 1799 to the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He obtained a commission as an ensign
in the 9th (the East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot
on 6 December 1794. His further commissions were dated: lieutenant
, 15 July 1795; captain, 11 December 1799; regiment
al captain in the Coldstream Guards
and lieutenant-colonel, 8 March 1810; colonel
, 4 June 1814; regimental second major
, 25 July 1814; regimental first major, 18 January 1820; regimental lieutenant colonel
, 25 July 1821; major general
, 27 May 1825; lieutenant general
, 28 June 1838; colonel of the 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot
, 25 April 1842; general
, 20 June 1854; transferred to the colonelcy of the Scots Fusilier Guards, 15 December 1861; field marshal
, 1 January 1868.
Woodford was promoted to lieutenant in an independent corps
and was brought into the 22nd (the Cheshire) Regiment of Foot
on 8 September 1795, but placed on half pay the following year, as he was too young to serve. He was again brought into the 9th Foot as captain lieutenant
of the newly raised battalion in 1799. He served with this regiment in the expedition to Den Helder
in September 1799, and was severely wounded on the 19th at Bergen
. He was brought into the Coldstream Guards on 20 December 1799. In 1803, he was appointed aide-de-camp
to Major-General Sir James Ochoncar Forbes. He rejoined his regiment to serve at the investment and bombardment of Copenhagen
in 1807. He again joined the staff of Forbes in Sicily
and the Mediterranean as aide-de-camp from March 1808 to June 1810.
From duty in London, he joined his company at Isla de León
for the Siege of Cadiz
in 1811, commanded the light battalion of the Brigade of Guards
at Ciudad Rodrigo on 19 January 1812, at Badajoz
on 6 April, at Salamanca
on 22 July, at the occupation of Madrid
and the capture on 14 August of the Retiro, at Burgos
in September and October, and in the retreat from that place. He commanded the 1st battalion of the Coldstream Guards during the battles of 1813 and 1814, including Vitoria
and Nivelle
. He was appointed aide-de-camp to The Prince Regent
on 4 June 1841 for his service in the field, and aide-de-camp to the king on the prince's accession to the throne. He commanded the 2nd battalion of the Coldstream Guards at the battles of Quatre Bras
on the 16th and of Waterloo
on 18 June 1815, at the storm of Cambrai
on 24 June, at the entry into Paris
on 7 July, and during the occupation of France
.
For his services, Woodford was frequently mentioned in despatches, and received the gold medal with two clasps for the battles of Salamanca, Vitoria, and the Nive
, the silver medal with two clasps for Ciudad Rodrigo and Nivelle, and the Waterloo medal. He was appointed a CB
(military division) and was permitted to accept and wear the insignia of knighthood of the Military Order of Maria Theresa
and of the fourth class of the Order of St George.
Woodford was lieutenant governor
and commanded the infantry brigade at Malta
from 1825 until he was transferred in a like capacity in 1827 to Corfu
. He was promoted to KCB on 13 September 1831, and appointed a KCMG
on 30 June 1832, in which year he was appointed to the command of the forces in the Ionian Islands
, and acted temporarily as Lord High Commissioner. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Gibraltar
on 28 February 1835, and Governor and Commander-in-Chief
on 1 September 1836, a position he occupied for seven years.
He was promoted to a GCB on 7 April 1852. He became Lieutenant-Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
on 25 September 1856, and succeeded to the governorship on 3 August 1868, on the death of Sir Edward Blakeney
. He died at the governor's residence, Chelsea Hospital, on 26 August 1870, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery
on 1 September.
. One of the six lancet window
s in the north transept
of Westminster Abbey
was filled with stained glass by Woodford in memory of his second son, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles John Woodford (1823–1857) of the Rifle Brigade, who was killed while leading a charge at the Siege of Cawnpore
during the Indian mutiny of 1857.
|-
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Sir Alexander George Woodford, KCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, KCMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(15 June 1782 – 26 August 1870) was a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer.
Military career
Woodford was born at 30 Welbeck StreetWelbeck Street
Welbeck Street is a street in the West End, central London, England. It has historically been associated with the medical profession.- Location :...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the eldest son of Lieutenant-Colonel John Woodford (d. 1800), and his second wife, Lady Susan (d. 1814), the eldest daughter of Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon
Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon
Cosmo George Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon KT , styled Marquess of Huntly until 1728, was a Scottish peer....
, and widow of John Fane, 9th Earl of Westmorland
John Fane, 9th Earl of Westmorland
John Fane, 9th Earl of Westmorland was an English earl. He succeeded his father the 8th Earl as Earl and as MP for Lyme Regis from 1762 .-Lord Burghersh:...
. Sir John George Woodford was his younger brother. He went to Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
as a commoner in 1794, and in 1799 to the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He obtained a commission as an ensign
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
in the 9th (the East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot
9th Regiment of Foot
The 9th Regiment of Foot was a infantry line regiment of the British Army from 1751 to 1881. It became the Norfolk Regiment following the Army reforms of 1881.-Early history:...
on 6 December 1794. His further commissions were dated: lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
, 15 July 1795; captain, 11 December 1799; regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
al captain in the Coldstream Guards
Coldstream Guards
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
and lieutenant-colonel, 8 March 1810; colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
, 4 June 1814; regimental second major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
, 25 July 1814; regimental first major, 18 January 1820; regimental lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
, 25 July 1821; major general
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
, 27 May 1825; lieutenant general
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
, 28 June 1838; colonel of the 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot
40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot
The 40th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1717 and amalgamated into The Prince of Wales's Volunteers in 1881.-Formation:...
, 25 April 1842; general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
, 20 June 1854; transferred to the colonelcy of the Scots Fusilier Guards, 15 December 1861; field marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
, 1 January 1868.
Woodford was promoted to lieutenant in an independent corps
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
and was brought into the 22nd (the Cheshire) Regiment of Foot
Cheshire Regiment
The Cheshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division.The regiment was created in 1881 as part of the Childers reforms by the linking of the 22nd Regiment of Foot and the militia and rifle volunteers of Cheshire...
on 8 September 1795, but placed on half pay the following year, as he was too young to serve. He was again brought into the 9th Foot as captain lieutenant
Captain Lieutenant
Captain lieutenant or captain-lieutenant is a military rank, used in a number of different navies worldwide.It is generally equivalent to the Commonwealth or US rank of lieutenant, and has the NATO rank code of OF-2, though this can vary....
of the newly raised battalion in 1799. He served with this regiment in the expedition to Den Helder
Den Helder
Den Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula...
in September 1799, and was severely wounded on the 19th at Bergen
Battle of Bergen (1799)
The Battle of Bergen, also called the Battle of Bergen-Binnen, was fought on 19 September 1799, and resulted in a French-Dutch victory under General Brune and General Daendels against the Russians and British under the Duke of York who had landed in North Holland...
. He was brought into the Coldstream Guards on 20 December 1799. In 1803, he was appointed aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to Major-General Sir James Ochoncar Forbes. He rejoined his regiment to serve at the investment and bombardment of Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in 1807. He again joined the staff of Forbes in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and the Mediterranean as aide-de-camp from March 1808 to June 1810.
From duty in London, he joined his company at Isla de León
Isla de León
Isla de León is a historical name for the piece of land between the city of Cádiz and the Spanish peninsula.In 1813 it was renamed San Fernando in honour of King Fernando VII of Spain for his courage in the defense of the city during the Siege of Cádiz by the French....
for the Siege of Cadiz
Siege of Cádiz
The Siege of Cádiz was a siege of the large Spanish naval base of Cádiz by a French army from February 5, 1810 to August 24, 1812 during the Peninsular War. Following the occupation of Madrid on March 23, 1808, Cádiz became the Spanish seat of power, and was targeted by 60,000 French troops under...
in 1811, commanded the light battalion of the Brigade of Guards
Brigade of Guards
The Brigade of Guards is a historical elite unit of the British Army, which has existed sporadically since the 17th century....
at Ciudad Rodrigo on 19 January 1812, at Badajoz
Battle of Badajoz (1812)
In the Battle of Badajoz , the Anglo-Portuguese Army, under the Earl of Wellington, besieged Badajoz, Spain and forced the surrender of the French garrison....
on 6 April, at Salamanca
Battle of Salamanca
The Battle of Salamanca saw Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish armies under the Duke of Wellington defeat Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces among the hills around Arapiles south of Salamanca, Spain on July 22, 1812 during the Peninsular War....
on 22 July, at the occupation of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and the capture on 14 August of the Retiro, at Burgos
Siege of Burgos
At the Siege of Burgos, from 19 September to 21 October 1812, the Anglo-Portuguese Army led by General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington tried to capture the castle of Burgos from its French garrison under the command of General of Brigade Jean-Louis Dubreton. The French repulsed every...
in September and October, and in the retreat from that place. He commanded the 1st battalion of the Coldstream Guards during the battles of 1813 and 1814, including Vitoria
Battle of Vitoria
At the Battle of Vitoria an allied British, Portuguese, and Spanish army under General the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, leading to eventual victory in the Peninsular War.-Background:In July 1812, after...
and Nivelle
Battle of Nivelle
The Battle of Nivelle took place in front of the River Nivelle near the end of the Peninsular War . After the Allied siege of San Sebastian, Wellington's 80,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops were in hot pursuit of Marshal Soult who only had 60,000 men to place in a 20-mile perimeter...
. He was appointed aide-de-camp to The Prince Regent
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
on 4 June 1841 for his service in the field, and aide-de-camp to the king on the prince's accession to the throne. He commanded the 2nd battalion of the Coldstream Guards at the battles of Quatre Bras
Battle of Quatre Bras
The Battle of Quatre Bras, between Wellington's Anglo-Dutch army and the left wing of the Armée du Nord under Marshal Michel Ney, was fought near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815.- Prelude :...
on the 16th and of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
on 18 June 1815, at the storm of Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
on 24 June, at the entry into Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on 7 July, and during the occupation of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
For his services, Woodford was frequently mentioned in despatches, and received the gold medal with two clasps for the battles of Salamanca, Vitoria, and the Nive
Battle of the Nive
The Battles of the Nive were fought towards the end of the Peninsular War. Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish army defeated Marshal Nicolas Soult's French army in a series of battles near the city of Bayonne.Unusually, for most of the battle, Wellington...
, the silver medal with two clasps for Ciudad Rodrigo and Nivelle, and the Waterloo medal. He was appointed a CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(military division) and was permitted to accept and wear the insignia of knighthood of the Military Order of Maria Theresa
Military Order of Maria Theresa
The Military Order of Maria Theresa was an Order of the Austro-Hungarian Empire founded on June 18, 1757, the day of the Battle of Kolin, by the Empress...
and of the fourth class of the Order of St George.
Woodford was lieutenant governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
and commanded the infantry brigade at Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
from 1825 until he was transferred in a like capacity in 1827 to Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
. He was promoted to KCB on 13 September 1831, and appointed a KCMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
on 30 June 1832, in which year he was appointed to the command of the forces in the Ionian Islands
Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
, and acted temporarily as Lord High Commissioner. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
on 28 February 1835, and Governor and Commander-in-Chief
Governor of Gibraltar
The Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The Governor is appointed by the British Monarch on the advice of the British Government...
on 1 September 1836, a position he occupied for seven years.
He was promoted to a GCB on 7 April 1852. He became Lieutenant-Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Hospital Chelsea
The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for British soldiers who are unfit for further duty due to injury or old age, located in the Chelsea region of central London, now the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is a true hospital in the original sense of the word,...
on 25 September 1856, and succeeded to the governorship on 3 August 1868, on the death of Sir Edward Blakeney
Edward Blakeney
Field Marshal Sir Edward Blakeney PC GCB GCH was a British Army Field Marshal.-Background:Born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Blakeney, was the fourth son of Colonel William Blakeney, who sat in the Parliament of Ireland, and his wife Sarah née Shields...
. He died at the governor's residence, Chelsea Hospital, on 26 August 1870, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in Kensal Green, in the west of London, England. It was immortalised in the lines of G. K. Chesterton's poem The Rolling English Road from his book The Flying Inn: "For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen; Before we go to Paradise by way of...
on 1 September.
Family
Woodford married, in 1820, Charlotte Mary Ann (died 21 April 1870), daughter of Charles Henry Fraser, British minister at HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. One of the six lancet window
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
s in the north transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
was filled with stained glass by Woodford in memory of his second son, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles John Woodford (1823–1857) of the Rifle Brigade, who was killed while leading a charge at the Siege of Cawnpore
Siege of Cawnpore
The Siege of Cawnpore was a key episode in the Indian rebellion of 1857. The besieged British in Cawnpore were unprepared for an extended siege and surrendered to rebel Indian forces under Nana Sahib, in return for a safe passage to Allahabad. However, under ambiguous circumstances, their...
during the Indian mutiny of 1857.
Sources
Attribution|-