Josiah Champagné, G.C.H.
Appointed 14th June, 1819.
On the 28th of January, 1775, Josiah Champagné was appointed Ensign in the thirty-first foot, and embarking with his regiment, in March, 1776, for the relief of Quebec, then besieged by the Americans, he arrived in Canada in May, and took part in the operations by which the troops of the United States were forced to quit the British provinces. He remained on active service in Canada during the remainder of the American war, was promoted to a lieutenancy in his regiment in July, 1777, and, returning to England at the peace in 1782, was nominated captain in the ninety-ninth foot (afterwards disbanded) in 1783, and removed to the third foot in March, 1784. He joined the Buffs at Jamaica in May of the same year; and in 1789, when the Nootka Sound question threatened to involve Great Britain and Spain in war, he embarked with a detachment of his regiment on board the fleet: he returned to England soon afterwards. He again embarked for the West Indies, with his regiment, in 1793—the Buffs forming part of the expedition under Lieut.-general Sir Charles Grey; but their destination was afterwards changed to Ostend; and they subsequently joined the armament under Major-general the Earl of Moira, prepared to aid the French loyalists. In the same year Captain Champagné was promoted to the majority of the eightieth foot, and afterwards to a lieut.-colonelcy in the same corps. In 1794 he again proceeded to the Continent, and, after serving in the retreat through Holland, returned to England. He embarked for the coast of France in 1795, and served with the expedition under Major-general Doyle which took possession of Isle de Dieu. In 1796 he proceeded with his regiment to the Cape of Good Hope, and towards the close of the same year sailed to the East Indies. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1797; and in 1800 he was nominated to command an expedition against Batavia, with the rank of Brigadier-general, but this enterprise was countermanded; and he was afterwards named second in command of the army which proceeded from India to Egypt in 1801. He returned to England in 1803; and in September of that year he was promoted to the rank of Major-general. On the 22nd of February, 1810, he was rewarded with the colonelcy of the forty-first foot; and in July following promoted to the rank of Lieut.-general. In 1819 he was removed to the SEVENTEENTH regiment. He was honored with the dignity of Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order; and was advanced to the rank of General in 1821. He died on the 31st of January, 1840.
Sir Frederick Augustus Wetherall, G.C.H.
Appointed 17th February, 1840.
This officer entered the service in August, 1775, as Ensign in the SEVENTEENTH foot. He embarked at Cork with the regiment in September following for Boston, North America, where he remained during the siege, and accompanied his corps at the evacuation to Halifax in March, 1776. In June following he proceeded with the army under the command of Sir William Howe to Staten Island, preparatory to the attack of New York. In August, 1776, he received a lieutenancy; in which rank he served five years, and was constantly employed in North America and Europe. He was present at the battles of Brooklyn, Whiteplains, Fort Washington, Princetown, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth, exclusive of several affairs of posts, in North America. He was embarked and did duty as a Captain of marines on board His Majesty's ship Alfred, and was in the battles of Cape Finisterre and St. Vincent, under Sir George Rodney, previous to the relief of Gibraltar. On 17th May, 1781, he raised an independent company, which was embodied in the hundred and fourth regiment, and was employed on the island of Guernsey. On 16th April, 1783, he exchanged into the eleventh regiment, and proceeded to Gibraltar, where he did duty six years. In 1790 he attended the Duke of Kent to Quebec, and accompanied his Royal Highness as aide-de-camp to the West Indies in 1794; he was at the taking of Martinique, where he received two wounds. On 1st March, 1794, he was appointed Major in the eleventh foot, and employed as Deputy-adjutant-general to the forces in Nova Scotia, under the command of the Duke of Kent, to which situation he was appointed on 23rd August, 1794. On 20th May, 1795 he was appointed Lieut.-colonel in Keppel's regiment, and employed at St. Domingo under the command of Lieut.-general Sir Adam Williamson and Major-general Forbes; he was intrusted by the latter officer with despatches for Sir Ralph Abercromby at Barbadoes, and on the passage was taken by a French frigate, and wounded in action; he remained at Guadaloupe a prisoner of war upwards of nine months, and when exchanged was appointed Adjutant-general to the forces under the command of the Duke of Kent in North America. On 3rd August, 1796, he was removed to the lieut.-colonelcy of the eighty-second regiment, and on 29th April, 1802, received the brevet of Colonel. He afterwards raised the Nova Scotia fencible regiment in North America, of which he was appointed colonel on 9th July, 1803, and Adjutant-general and Brigadier to the forces on the Caribbee Island station in May, 1806. On the 25th of October following he was removed to the Cape of Good Hope, when he served as Brigadier to the forces in that colony until 1809; he obtained the rank of Major-general on 25th October of that year, and was appointed to the Staff in India. On his passage from the Cape to India he was again taken prisoner in the Company's ship Wyndham, after a severe action, by a French squadron, in the Mozambique Channel, and carried to the Isle of France, when, after being confined two months, he was exchanged, and sailed for Calcutta. He served there as second in command, under Sir Samuel Auchmuty, on the expedition against Java, which terminated in its conquest. For his services on that occasion he had the honour to receive a medal, and the thanks of both Houses of Parliament. His next appointment was to the command in Mysore and its dependencies, which he held until June, 1815, when he returned to England. He received the rank of Lieut.-general on 4th June, 1814. On 10th January, 1837, he was advanced to the rank of General, and His Majesty King William IV. conferred upon him the colonelcy of the sixty-second regiment. On 17th February, 1840, the Queen bestowed upon him the colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH regiment, in which he commenced his military career. He died at Ealing, in Middlesex, on the 18th of December, 1842, having attained the advanced age of eighty-eight years.
General Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B.
Appointed from the seventy-sixth regiment,
on 2nd January, 1843.