Appointed 20th October, 1788.
This Officer was appointed captain in the sixteenth light dragoons in 1759; he subsequently held the commission of major in the eighty-fourth, and lieutenant-colonel in the one hundred and fifth regiment, which was disbanded at the peace in 1763. In 1777 he was appointed colonel of the eighty-first regiment, and was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1781: in 1783 his regiment was disbanded; in 1787 he was appointed colonel commandant in the sixtieth, and in 1788 he obtained the colonelcy of the Royal Fusiliers, from which he was removed in the following year to the seventy-first regiment. In 1793 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. He obtained the colonelcy of the twenty-first regiment in 1803, which he retained until his decease in 1816.
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE EDWARD,
Afterwards Duke of Kent,
Appointed 9th April, 1789.
During the early part of this century the Royal Fusiliers had the honour of being commanded by a Prince who was distinguished alike for his social and military virtues:—namely, Prince Edward, afterwards Field Marshal His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the father of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen Victoria.
Prince Edward, fourth son of His Majesty King George III., was born on the 2nd of November, 1767. Being destined for the profession of arms, in the eighteenth year of his age he proceeded to Germany for the completion of his studies, and resided successively at Lunenberg and Hanover, and was appointed, on the 30th of May, 1786, colonel of the Hanoverian Guards. During the succeeding year he removed to Geneva, and while pursuing his studies at this place, His Majesty conferred upon him the Colonelcy of the 7th Royal Fusiliers. Early in 1790 he returned to England; and after passing a few days with his family he embarked, in obedience to the King's commands, for Gibraltar, in order to acquire a knowledge of garrison duty under Major-General O'Hara. While at Gibraltar he commanded for several months the 2nd, or Queen's Regiment, until the arrival of the 7th Royal Fusiliers, as a reinforcement to the garrison, in August, 1790. In 1791 he sailed with his regiment from Gibraltar for Quebec; and while serving in Canada he was promoted to the rank of major-general. From North America he proceeded, during the winter of 1793-4, through the United States to Boston, where he embarked for the West Indies, and joined the army under General Sir Charles Grey, at the commencement of the siege of Fort Bourbon, in the island of Martinique, and commanded the detached camp at La Coste, above Point Petre. During the several attacks His Royal Highness's conduct excited the admiration of the army; his life was frequently exposed to the most imminent peril; and his aides-de-camp, Captain, the late General Sir Frederick Wetherall, and Lieutenant Vesey, were wounded near his Royal Highness's person.[27] In compliment to the gallantry evinced by His Royal Highness on this occasion, the lower fort, called Fort Royal, was subsequently named Fort Edward.
After the capture of Martinique the array proceeded to St. Lucie; and His Royal Highness commanded the grenadier brigade, which, in conjunction with the light infantry brigade, under Major-General Thomas Dundas, formed the storming-party which carried Morné Fortuné. From St. Lucie the army proceeded to the island of Guadaloupe; and the flank companies were detached under Prince Edward and Major-General Dundas, who succeeded in gaining possession of Morné Marscot, and Fleur D'Epée, commanding Point à Petre. His conduct during this course of active and perilous service again excited admiration, and His Royal Highness received the thanks of Parliament. After the capture of the French West India Islands[28] His Royal Highness returned to North America, and was shortly afterwards appointed Commander of the Forces in Nova Scotia and its dependencies. On the 12th of January, 1796, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General; and, having returned to England on account of ill health, he was created, on the 23rd of April, 1799, Earl of Dublin, in Ireland, and Duke of Kent and Strathearn, in Great Britain; in the following month he was promoted to the rank of General, and appointed Commander-in-Chief of all the forces in British North America. On his return to North America his arrival was greeted by all ranks; and during his stay in that country he introduced numerous improvements in the system of conducting public business. In August, 1800, His Royal Highness returned to England; and in the following year he was appointed to the Colonelcy of the Royal Regiment of Foot. In 1802 he was appointed Governor of the important fortress of Gibraltar, whither he immediately proceeded. His habits were abstemious and regular; and he was himself a model of that strict attention to duty and discipline which he required from others; but while attempting to effect the removal of several long existing abuses and irregularities, His Royal Highness experienced that opposition which has attended every attempt to remedy evils, when the private interests and privileges of individuals are concerned. The Duke of Kent returned in 1803 to England, where he continued to reside upwards of fifteen years. He was promoted to the rank of Field-Marshal on the 5th of September, 1805; he was also elected a Knight of the Garter, constituted a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, and appointed Keeper and Ranger of Hampton Court Park.
During the period His Royal Highness resided in England, the Royal Regiment of Foot experienced the advantage of his constant care and anxiety for its interests, and of his influence in the kingdom; and the service was benefited by the care he bestowed in the introduction of regimental schools. His concern, however, embraced the welfare of all His Majesty's subjects, and there was scarcely a public charity in the metropolis which did not derive benefit from his patronage, personal eloquence, and contributions, and over many he presided. His private acts of benevolence in the cases of widows and orphans who were known to His Royal Highness as deserving objects of relief were very numerous, and the instances of his charity and philanthropy were attested by the grateful acknowledgments of those who had no claim on His Royal Highness's bounty beyond the circumstance of a husband, father, or other relative having performed faithful service under his command. The provision made by His Majesty's Government for His Royal Highness had not been equal to his necessary expenditure to support the dignity of a Prince of the royal blood; particularly for the periods he was on foreign service; and in 1816 economical views induced him to proceed to the Continent. In May, 1818, he was married at Coburg, according to the Lutheran rites, to Her Serene Highness Victoria Maria Louisa, youngest daughter of the late reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg. Shortly after the solemnities the royal pair proceeded to England, and were remarried at Kew Palace on the 11th of July, 1818, according to the rites of the Church of England. In a few weeks after this ceremony the Duke returned with his bride to the Continent; in the succeeding year they revisited England; and on the 24th of May, 1819, the Duchess gave birth, at Kensington Palace, to a daughter, named Alexandrina Victoria, Her present Majesty.