Historical Record of the Fourteenth, or, the Buckinghamshire Regiment of Foot / Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1685, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1845

by Richard Cannon

The Honorable William Keppel.

Appointed 31st May, 1765.

The Honorable William Keppel, fourth son of William-Anne, second Earl of Albemarle, was appointed captain and lieutenant-colonel in the First Foot Guards on the 28th of April, 1750; and gentleman of the horse to His Majesty King George II. in December, 1752. On the 21st of July, 1760, he was promoted to second major, with the rank of colonel, in the First Foot Guards; and in December of the following year, to the colonelcy of the Fifty-sixth Foot. In the succeeding spring he proceeded with his regiment on an expedition against the Havannah, with the local rank of major-general. In August the Havannah capitulated, when he took possession of the fort La Punta; and being afterwards left commander-in-chief at that station, he re-delivered the city to the Spaniards according to the conditions of the Treaty of Peace in 1763. He was promoted to the rank of major-general on the 10th of July, 1762; was removed from the colonelcy of the Fifty-sixth to the Fourteenth Foot in 1765; and was advanced to the rank of lieutenant-general in May, 1772. In 1773 he was appointed commander-in-chief in Ireland. In 1775 he was removed to the colonelcy of the Twelfth Dragoons. He was several years a representative in parliament for the borough of Windsor. His decease occurred on the 1st of March, 1782.

Robert Cunninghame.

Appointed 18th October, 1775.

This officer served several years in the Thirty-fifth Foot, in which regiment he rose to the rank of captain in December, 1752. He was soon afterwards appointed adjutant-general in Ireland, which office he held for many years. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1757;—to that of colonel in 1762;—and to the colonelcy of the Fifty-eighth Regiment in 1767. In 1772 he was advanced to the rank of major-general; three years afterwards he was removed to the command of the Fourteenth Foot; and in August, 1777, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. On the 4th of April, 1787, he was removed to the colonelcy of the Fifth, Royal Irish, Dragoons, and he was advanced to the rank of general in 1793. He died in 1797.

John Douglas.

Appointed April 4th, 1787.

John Douglas was many years an officer in the Scots' Greys, with which corps he served several campaigns in the Netherlands previously to the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748–9. He also served with his regiment in Germany, under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, from 1759 to 1762, distinguishing himself on several occasions; and on the 14th of November, 1770, he was promoted to the lieutenant colonelcy of the regiment (the Greys). In 1775 he was appointed Aide-de-Camp to the King, with the rank of colonel in the army;—in February, 1779, he was promoted to the rank of major-general; and in April of the same year he obtained the colonelcy of the Twenty-first Light Dragoons, which corps was then first embodied. His regiment was disbanded at the conclusion of the American war in 1783; and in 1787 he obtained the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Foot; he was also promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in the same year. In 1789 he was removed to the colonelcy of the Fifth Dragoon Guards, which he retained until his decease in 1790.