William Medows
Encyclopedia
General
Sir William Medows KB
(31 December 1738 – 14 November 1813) was an Englishman
and a general
in the British Army
.
, and Lady Frances Pierrepont, daughter of the Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull
.
He entered the British Army
as an ensign in the 50th Regiment of Foot
in 1756. In 1760 he went with his regiment to join the allied army under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, who as Frederick the Great's lieutenant was defending western Germany against the French. Medows remained in Germany till March 1764. In 1769 he obtained the lieutenant-colonelcy of the 5th Regiment of Foot, exchanging in September 1773 into the 12th Light Dragoons.
In 1770, Medows enjoyed a romantic friendship with his second cousin, Lady Louisa Stuart
, then aged thirteen, a daughter of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
. Medows was then forty-one, and Lord Bute considered him unsuitable and put a stop to it. Lady Louisa was bitterly disappointed, and never married. Later the same year, Medows married another lady, Frances Augusta Hammerton.
In 1775 Medows again exchanged into the 55th Regiment of Foot
, which was on the point of starting for America, to act against the revolted colonists. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Brandywine
in 1776, and again in the Battle of St. Lucia
in 1778.
He returned to Great Britain in 1780, and was now made colonel of the 89th regiment. Medows held a high command in the expedition sent out under Commodore Johnstone against the Cape of Good Hope
in 1781. A skirmish occurred with the French admiral, Suffren
, (also bound for the Cape) at Porto Praya
in the Cape Verde
Islands on 16 April 1781, and on arriving at the Cape of Good Hope the British found that Suffren had anticipated them and landed such strong reinforcements that an attack would be useless. Johnstone now decided to return to Europe. Medows, however, having heard that the British in the south of India were being hard pressed by Haider Ali
, sultan of Mysore
, sailed with three of the ships and a large body of troops to Madras (now Chennai
), where he arrived on 13 February 1782. He accompanied Colonel William Fullarton in an expedition from Madras against Mysore, but the sudden conclusion of peace soon put a stop to the campaign.
In September 1788 Medows received the post of commander-in-chief and governor at Bombay (now Mumbai
). He remained here till January 1790, when he was transferred to the supreme command at Madras. A war
with Tipu Sultan
, Hyder Ali's son and successor as sultan of Mysore, had arisen, and Lord Cornwallis
, the governor-general, now instructed Medows to open the campaign. Starting from Trichinopoli at the head of fifteen thousand men on 15 June 1790, Medows crossed the frontier into Mysore, and advanced in a westerly direction. On 22 July the army arrived at Coimbatore
, which was found evacuated by the enemy. While he was able to secure the district, he spread his forces too thinly, and Tipu counterattacked against the smaller detachments, and Medows was forced to withdraw his forces to a few strong points in late 1790.
Lord Cornwallis then announced his intention of undertaking sole command of the British army. Medows served under Cornwallis through the campaigns of 1791 to 1792, and commanded the right column in the night attack on the Seringapatam redoubts
on 6 February 1792. His attack was misplaced; in the dark of night he ended up capturing a different fortification than the one intended; in doing so, he dangerously exposed the British flank. Tipu attacked the weak point, and very nearly recovered his position, slightly wounding Cornwallis in the process. Tipu eventually sued for peace, and the fighting ended on 25 February while terms were negotiated. The next day, Medows attempted suicide, inflicting three bullet wounds on himself. While the reason for this is unknown, Cornwallis never blamed Medows for his actions on 6 February.
Peace was eventually agreed, with Tipu agreeing to the Treaty of Seringapatam
on 18 March. Medows resigned the prize-money (nearly £5,000) which fell to his share and distributed it among the troops. He left for Great Britain in August 1792.
On 14 December of that year he was made a Knight of the Bath
, on 12 October 1793 he was made a lieutenant-general, and in November 1796 he was appointed to the command of the 7th dragoon guards. At the brevet promotion of 1 January 1798 he was made a general and received the post of Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Wight
. In 1801 he succeeded Cornwallis for a short space as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland
.
He died at Bath in 1813.
General (United Kingdom)
General is currently the highest peace-time rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It is subordinate to the Army rank of Field Marshal, has a NATO-code of OF-9, and is a four-star rank....
Sir William Medows KB
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...
(31 December 1738 – 14 November 1813) was an Englishman
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
and a general
General (United Kingdom)
General is currently the highest peace-time rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It is subordinate to the Army rank of Field Marshal, has a NATO-code of OF-9, and is a four-star rank....
in the 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...
.
Military career
Sir William was the son of Philip Medows, deputy ranger of Richmond ParkRichmond Park
Richmond Park is a 2,360 acre park within London. It is the largest of the Royal Parks in London and Britain's second largest urban walled park after Sutton Park, Birmingham. It is close to Richmond, Ham, Kingston upon Thames, Wimbledon, Roehampton and East Sheen...
, and Lady Frances Pierrepont, daughter of the Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull
Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull
Evelyn Pierrepont, 5th Earl and 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull had been member of parliament for East Retford before his accession to the peerage in 1690. While serving as one of the commissioners for the union with Scotland he was created Marquess of Dorchester in 1706, and took a leading part in...
.
He entered the 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...
as an ensign in the 50th Regiment of Foot
50th Regiment of Foot
50th Regiment of Foot may refer to:*50th Regiment of Foot , or Shirley's Regiment, raised 1754*50th Regiment of Foot, formed as the 52nd and renumbered in 1756...
in 1756. In 1760 he went with his regiment to join the allied army under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, who as Frederick the Great's lieutenant was defending western Germany against the French. Medows remained in Germany till March 1764. In 1769 he obtained the lieutenant-colonelcy of the 5th Regiment of Foot, exchanging in September 1773 into the 12th Light Dragoons.
In 1770, Medows enjoyed a romantic friendship with his second cousin, Lady Louisa Stuart
Lady Louisa Stuart
Lady Louisa Stuart was a British writer of the 18th and 19th centuries. Her long life spanned nearly ninety-four years.-Early life:...
, then aged thirteen, a daughter of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute KG, PC , styled Lord Mount Stuart before 1723, was a Scottish nobleman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain under George III, and was arguably the last important favourite in British politics...
. Medows was then forty-one, and Lord Bute considered him unsuitable and put a stop to it. Lady Louisa was bitterly disappointed, and never married. Later the same year, Medows married another lady, Frances Augusta Hammerton.
In 1775 Medows again exchanged into the 55th Regiment of Foot
55th Regiment of Foot
The 55th Regiment of Foot was a British Army infantry regiment which existed from 1755 to 1881. After 1782 it had a county designation added, becoming known as the 55th Regiment of Foot. or simply the Westmorland Regiment...
, which was on the point of starting for America, to act against the revolted colonists. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Brandywine
Battle of Brandywine
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of the Brandywine or the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American army of Major General George Washington and the British-Hessian army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777. The British defeated the Americans and...
in 1776, and again in the Battle of St. Lucia
Battle of St. Lucia
The Battle of St. Lucia or the Battle of the Cul de Sac was a naval battle fought off the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies during the American War of Independence on 15 December 1778, between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy.-Background:...
in 1778.
He returned to Great Britain in 1780, and was now made colonel of the 89th regiment. Medows held a high command in the expedition sent out under Commodore Johnstone against the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
in 1781. A skirmish occurred with the French admiral, Suffren
Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez
Admiral comte Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, bailli de Suffren , French admiral, was the third son of the marquis de Saint Tropez, head of a family of nobles of Provence which claimed to have emigrated from Lucca in the 14th century...
, (also bound for the Cape) at Porto Praya
Battle of Porto Praya
The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle which took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781 between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under the Bailli de Suffren....
in the Cape Verde
Cape Verde
The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...
Islands on 16 April 1781, and on arriving at the Cape of Good Hope the British found that Suffren had anticipated them and landed such strong reinforcements that an attack would be useless. Johnstone now decided to return to Europe. Medows, however, having heard that the British in the south of India were being hard pressed by Haider Ali
Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born Hyder Naik, he distinguished himself militarily, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's rulers...
, sultan of Mysore
Kingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...
, sailed with three of the ships and a large body of troops to Madras (now Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
), where he arrived on 13 February 1782. He accompanied Colonel William Fullarton in an expedition from Madras against Mysore, but the sudden conclusion of peace soon put a stop to the campaign.
In September 1788 Medows received the post of commander-in-chief and governor at Bombay (now Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
). He remained here till January 1790, when he was transferred to the supreme command at Madras. A war
Third Anglo-Mysore War
The Third Anglo-Mysore War was a war in South India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the British East India Company and its allies, including the Mahratta Empire and the Nizam of Hyderabad...
with Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...
, Hyder Ali's son and successor as sultan of Mysore, had arisen, and Lord Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis KG , styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as The Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator...
, the governor-general, now instructed Medows to open the campaign. Starting from Trichinopoli at the head of fifteen thousand men on 15 June 1790, Medows crossed the frontier into Mysore, and advanced in a westerly direction. On 22 July the army arrived at Coimbatore
Coimbatore
Coimbatore , also known as Kovai , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a major commercial centre in Tamil Nadu and is known as the "Manchester of South India"....
, which was found evacuated by the enemy. While he was able to secure the district, he spread his forces too thinly, and Tipu counterattacked against the smaller detachments, and Medows was forced to withdraw his forces to a few strong points in late 1790.
Lord Cornwallis then announced his intention of undertaking sole command of the British army. Medows served under Cornwallis through the campaigns of 1791 to 1792, and commanded the right column in the night attack on the Seringapatam redoubts
Siege of Seringapatam (1792)
The 1792 Siege of Seringapatam was a battle and siege of the Mysorean capital city of Seringapatam at the end of the Third Anglo-Mysore War. An army led by Charles, Earl Cornwallis consisting of British East India Company and British Army forces, along with allied forces from the Maratha Empire...
on 6 February 1792. His attack was misplaced; in the dark of night he ended up capturing a different fortification than the one intended; in doing so, he dangerously exposed the British flank. Tipu attacked the weak point, and very nearly recovered his position, slightly wounding Cornwallis in the process. Tipu eventually sued for peace, and the fighting ended on 25 February while terms were negotiated. The next day, Medows attempted suicide, inflicting three bullet wounds on himself. While the reason for this is unknown, Cornwallis never blamed Medows for his actions on 6 February.
Peace was eventually agreed, with Tipu agreeing to the Treaty of Seringapatam
Treaty of Seringapatam
The Treaty of Seringapatam, signed 19 March 1792, ended the Third Anglo-Mysore War. Its signatories included Lord Cornwallis on behalf of the British East India Company, representatives of the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Mahratta Empire, and Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore.-Background:The war...
on 18 March. Medows resigned the prize-money (nearly £5,000) which fell to his share and distributed it among the troops. He left for Great Britain in August 1792.
On 14 December of that year he was made a Knight of the Bath
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...
, on 12 October 1793 he was made a lieutenant-general, and in November 1796 he was appointed to the command of the 7th dragoon guards. At the brevet promotion of 1 January 1798 he was made a general and received the post of Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. In 1801 he succeeded Cornwallis for a short space as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland
Commander-in-Chief, Ireland
Commander-in-Chief, Ireland was title of the commander of British forces in Ireland before 1922.The role nominally is held by the President of Ireland today as the supreme commander of the Defence Forces.-Commanders-in-Chief, Ireland, 1700-1922:...
.
He died at Bath in 1813.