Edward Braddock.
Appointed 17th February, 1753.
Edward Braddock was appointed ensign in the Second Foot Guards on the 11th October, 1710; lieutenant of the grenadier company in 1716[20]; captain and lieutenant-colonel in 1736; major in 1743; and was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the same regiment on the 21st of November, 1745. In 1753 he was appointed to the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Foot; in the following year he was promoted major-general, and sent with a body of troops to North America; and in 1755 he was commander-in-chief in that country. Having completed arrangements for opening the campaign against the French, who had made aggressions on the British territory, he took the field with a body of regular troops, provincials, and Indians; and on the 9th of July, while marching with twelve hundred men through the woods towards Fort du Quesne, he was suddenly attacked by a body of French and Indians, who had concealed themselves behind the trees and bushes, and his men were put into some confusion. "He exerted himself to remedy this disaster as much as man could do, and, after having had five horses killed under him, he was shot through the arm and through the lungs, of which he died four days afterwards[21]."
Thomas Fowke.
Appointed 12th November, 1755.
This officer had been upwards of fifty years in the army when he was appointed to the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Foot, his first commission being dated the 25th of May, 1705. After serving the Crown fifteen years, he was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the Seventh Dragoons, by commission dated the 25th of June, 1720. In January, 1741, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the Fifty-fourth (now Forty-third) regiment, which was then first raised; and in August of the same year he was removed to the Second, or Queen's Royal regiment. His commissions of general officer were dated,—brigadier-general, 1st June, 1745; major-general, 18th of September, 1747; and lieutenant-general, 30th of April, 1754. He was governor of Gibraltar in 1756, when the island of Minorca, which was then subject to the British Crown, was attacked by the French; and having disobeyed the directions, which he received from the Secretary at War, to send a reinforcement to that island, he was tried by a general court-martial, and sentenced to be suspended for nine months; but the King, George II., directed that he should be dismissed from the service.
Charles Jefferies.
Appointed 7th September, 1756.
After a progressive service in the subordinate commissions, this officer was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Fourteenth Foot on the 12th of September, 1745, and in February following he was removed to the Thirty-fourth regiment. In January, 1756, he was promoted to colonel-commandant of a battalion of the Sixty-second Royal American regiment, now the Sixtieth, or King's Royal Rifle Corps. At this period he was with the Thirty-fourth regiment at the island of Minorca, which was soon afterwards attacked by the French, and he signalized himself in the defence of Port Mahon, particularly in repulsing an attack on the place by storm, on which occasion he was taken prisoner. His gallantry was shortly afterwards rewarded with the colonelcy of the Fourteenth regiment. He was promoted to the rank of major-general on the 27th of June, 1759. He died in 1765.