This Officer entered the army in the reign of Queen Anne, and was several years Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. He obtained the rank of Colonel in the army on the 15th of November, 1711; and was promoted to the Colonelcy of the Thirty-ninth Foot on the 10th of November, 1730, from which he was removed to the Fifth Foot on the 15th of December, 1732. In 1735 he obtained the rank of Brigadier-General; in 1737 he was removed to the Ninth Dragoons; and on the 2nd of July, 1739, he was advanced to the rank of Major-General. He was several years on the staff of Ireland, and, after having been removed to the Colonelcy of the Seventh Dragoons in 1741, he proceeded in the summer of 1742 to Flanders with the army commanded by Field-Marshal the Earl of Stair. In the beginning of the following year he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General; and, having signalized himself at the battle of Dettingen under the eye of his sovereign, he was constituted a Knight of the Bath.
In 1745 Sir John Cope was Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, and a small body of troops under his immediate command were defeated by the Highlanders under the Young Pretender at Preston Pans; which unfortunate circumstance enabled the rebels to penetrate into England and advance as far as Derby. He retained the Colonelcy of the Seventh Dragoons until his decease in 1760.
ALEXANDER IRWIN,
Appointed 27th June, 1737.
Alexander Irwin commenced his military career as Ensign on the 1st of October, 1689, and, after serving the crown nearly forty-eight years in various parts of Europe, he was promoted to the Colonelcy of the Fifth Foot, by commission dated 27th of June, 1737. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 24th of February, 1744; he was subsequently on the Staff of Ireland, and also held the appointment of Lieutenant-Governor of Kinsale. He was further advanced to the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1748, and died four years afterwards.
CHARLES WHITEFORD,
Appointed 25th November, 1752.
Charles Whiteford entered the army as Cornet on the 3rd of May, 1720; and on the 27th of April, 1741, he was promoted to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the Fifth regiment of Marines, with which corps he served several years on the continent of America and in the West India islands. In 1752 King George II. conferred the Colonelcy of the Fifth Foot on Colonel Whiteford, who did not long enjoy the promotion; his decease having occurred in the summer of 1754.
LORD GEORGE BENTINCK,
Appointed 20th of August, 1754.