Appointed 18th April, 1786.
The early services of this officer were associated with the sixteenth light dragoons, in which, upon that regiment being raised in 1759, Sir George Osborn, Bart., obtained a troop on the 20th of December of that year, and on the 13th of February, 1762, he was promoted to the rank of major in the eighteenth, Royal Irish, regiment of foot. On the 31st of March, 1763, Major Sir George Osborn was appointed deputy quarter-master-general to the Forces in Ireland, and on the 19th of November, 1765, he was promoted to the third regiment of foot guards as captain and lieut.-colonel, in which regiment he was appointed second major, with the brevet rank of colonel in the army, on the 7th of August, 1777. On the 19th of February, 1779, he was advanced to the rank of major-general, and was appointed lieut.-colonel in the third regiment of foot guards on the 25th of March, 1782. Upon the second battalion of the forty-second, Royal Highlanders, being numbered the SEVENTY-THIRD Highland regiment in 1786, His Majesty King George III. appointed Major-General Sir George Osborn, Bart., to the colonelcy of the SEVENTY-THIRD on the 18th of April of that year, and on the 11th of August following he was removed to the fortieth regiment, which he retained until his decease. On the 28th of September 1787, Sir George Osborn was advanced to the rank of lieut.-general, and to that of general on the 26th of January, 1797. General Sir George Osborn died at Chicksands Priory on the 29th of June, 1818, in the seventy-seventh year of his age.
Sir William Medows, K.B.
Appointed 11th August, 1786.
The early services of this distinguished officer are connected with the fourth horse, now seventh dragoon guards, in which corps he was appointed captain in March, 1764, and was promoted to the rank of major on the 1st of October, 1766. He was further advanced to the rank of lieut.-colonel of the fifth Fusiliers in 1769; was removed to the twelfth light dragoons in 1773, and to the fifty-fifth regiment in 1775. While serving with his regiment in North America, he evinced that valour, magnanimity, and military skill, which were afterwards more fully developed in the West, and also the East Indies. He was again removed to the lieut.-colonelcy of the fifth Fusiliers in 1777, in succession to Lieut.-Colonel Walcott, who died of wounds received at the battle of Germantown, in Pennsylvania, which was fought on the 4th of October, 1777. He commanded the fifth during the long and hazardous retreat from Philadelphia to New York; and having been appointed to act as brigadier-general, he proceeded with the expedition under Major-General James Grant to the West Indies. Brigadier-General Medows commanded the reserve, consisting of the fifth foot, grenadiers, and light infantry, at the attack of St. Lucia in December 1778; and having seized on the post of La Vigie, he evinced signal intrepidity in defending it against the attacks of a French force of very superior numbers: though severely wounded early in the day, he refused to quit his post, and finding his ammunition nearly expended, he drew up his men in front of their colours, and waving his sword, exclaimed, “Soldiers, as long as you have a bayonet to point against an enemy’s breast, defend these colours.” They did so, and secured the conquest of St. Lucia.
His distinguished bravery was rewarded in 1780, with the colonelcy of the (late) eighty-ninth regiment: and in 1781 he was promoted to the local rank of major-general in the East Indies, where he acquired numerous laurels under General the Earl Cornwallis. He was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1782, and was appointed to the colonelcy of the SEVENTY-THIRD Highland regiment on the 11th of August, 1786; and his meritorious services procured him the honor of wearing the insignia of a Knight Companion of the Bath. Sir William Medows was afterwards appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Madras. In 1792 Sir William Medows was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general; in 1796 he was appointed colonel of the seventh dragoon guards; and in 1798 was advanced to the rank of general. He was also Governor of Hull, and a member of the Privy Council in Ireland. The decease of General Sir William Medows, K.B., occurred on the 20th of November, 1813.
Gerard Lake,
(Afterwards Viscount Lake.)
Appointed 2nd November, 1796.
Gerard Lake, third son of Lancelot Charles Lake, Esq., choosing the profession of arms, was nominated to the commission of ensign and lieutenant in the first foot guards, on the 9th of May, 1758; in 1762 he was promoted to lieutenant and captain, and in 1776 to captain and lieut.-colonel. He served in North America during the War of Independence; was engaged in operations in the southern states, under General the Earl Cornwallis, and had opportunities of distinguishing himself. When Earl Cornwallis’s force was besieged in York Town, by the united French and American armies, Lieut.-Colonel Lake commanded a detachment of foot guards and grenadiers of the eightieth regiment, which made a sortie on the 16th of October, 1781, forced the entrenchments, spiked eleven heavy guns, and killed and wounded about a hundred French soldiers. On the surrender of York Town he became a prisoner of war; but hostilities were terminated soon afterwards, and he returned to England, having been promoted to the rank of colonel in February, 1782. In 1784 he was nominated major, and in 1792 lieut.-colonel in the first foot guards. In 1790 he was advanced to the rank of major-general. On the breaking out of the French revolutionary war, he was nominated to the command of the brigade of foot guards which proceeded to Flanders, and served under His Royal Highness the Duke of York. He commanded this brigade at the battle of Famars, and at the siege of Valenciennes, and highly distinguished himself at Lincelles, on the 18th of August, 1793, for which he was thanked in general orders. He also served before Dunkirk, and in other operations: and in 1794 he was rewarded with the colonelcy of the fifty-third regiment, and the government of Limerick; he was afterwards nominated Governor of Dumbarton. In 1796 he was removed to the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment: in 1797 he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general, and placed on the staff of Ireland, where he evinced talent and energy in suppressing the rebellion which broke out in 1798, and gained several important victories over the insurgents. When the French landed in Ireland, he was obliged to retire a short distance; but additional troops advancing to his aid, he intercepted the French soldiers and forced them to surrender prisoners of war. In 1800 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief in India, and colonel of the eightieth regiment; and in 1802 he was promoted to the rank of general. He arrived in India at the period when the Governor-General, the Marquis Wellesley, was displaying the energies of his mind in counteracting the intrigues of France among the native powers of Hindoostan; and the ambitious designs of the Mahratta chiefs soon called General Lake into the field, when his talents were conspicuously displayed. His spirited and judicious operations at Coel, on the 29th of August, 1803; the assault of Aly Ghur, on the 9th of September; and the overthrow of the Mahratta army near Delhi, on the 11th of September, on which occasion his charger was killed under him, produced decisive results. The country between the Ganges and Jumna rivers, called the Doab (a general name in India for the space between two rivers), became subject to British authority; and six days afterwards General Lake visited the Emperor, Shah Alum, whom he had rescued from oppression, and who conferred upon him titles which signified,—The Saver of the State,—Hero of the Land,—Lord of the Age,—and the Victorious in War.