Historical Record of the Tenth, or the North Lincolnshire, Regiment of Foot, / Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1685, and of its Subsequent Services to 1847

by Richard Cannon

Appointed 10th October, 1781.

When King George II. discovered the excellent qualities of the Scots Highlanders, as soldiers of the regular army, His Majesty authorized several corps to be raised among the clans, and they proved a valuable addition to the military establishment of the kingdom. One of these corps was designated the eighty-seventh, or Highland volunteers; it was raised by Robert Murray Keith, who was appointed lieut.-colonel commandant on the 10th of May, 1760. This officer served with his regiment in Germany, under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, and the Highland volunteers signalized themselves on several occasions, but they were disbanded at the peace in 1763. Lieut.-Colonel Keith was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1772, and to that of major-general in 1777; in 1781 he was appointed colonel of the Tenth foot, and promoted to the rank of lieut.-general. His services were rewarded with the dignity of Knight of the Bath. He died in 1795.

The Honourable Henry Edward Fox.

Appointed 23rd June, 1795.

This officer was appointed cornet in the first dragoon guards in 1770, lieutenant in 1773, and captain in the thirty-eighth foot in 1774. He was serving with his regiment at Boston, when the American war commenced, and throughout the campaigns which followed, he was actively employed. The thirty-eighth shared in the actions at Concord and Bunker's Hill in 1775; the capture of Long Island; the action at White Plains in 1776; and the expedition to Philadelphia in 1777. On the 12th of July, 1777, he was appointed major in the forty-ninth foot, which corps was also serving in America, from whence it was removed to the West Indies. About the period of its embarkation, he received his appointment to the lieut.-colonelcy of the thirty-eighth foot, then occupying the lines in front of New York. At the termination of the war he was appointed aide-de-camp to the King with the rank of colonel. In 1793 he received the rank of major-general, and the colonelcy of the 131st regiment, then newly raised, and two years afterwards his services were rewarded with the colonelcy of the Tenth regiment of foot; in 1799, he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general. During the war which followed the French Revolution, when the British had taken possession of several places in the Mediterranean, the services of lieut.-general the Honourable Henry Edward Fox were transferred to the Mediterranean, where he held the local rank of general, excepting at Gibraltar, in 1801, and at Gibraltar, also, in 1804. In 1808, he was promoted to the rank of general, and his services were also rewarded with the government of Portsmouth. He died in 1811.

The Honourable Thomas Maitland.

Appointed 19th July, 1811.

The Honourable Thomas Maitland, third son of James, seventh Earl of Lauderdale, was appointed ensign in the twenty-fifth foot in July 1777, and in the following year he was promoted to captain in the seventy-eighth regiment. In 1794 he obtained the lieut.-colonelcy of the sixty-second foot. He served in the West Indies during the early part of the war of the French Revolution; took an active part in the attempt to deliver, from the power of the republicans, the island of St. Domingo, where he obtained the local rank of brigadier-general in 1797; when St. Domingo was evacuated, his services were extended to the other islands, and in September, 1798, he was appointed colonel of the tenth West India regiment. On the 14th of September, 1799, he was promoted to the local rank of major-general on a particular service on the coast of France. In January, 1805, he received the rank of major-general, and in February of the same year he was appointed colonel of the third garrison battalion. He was appointed to the staff of the island of Ceylon, with the local rank of lieut.-general, on the 31st of July 1806, and in 1807, he obtained the colonelcy of the fourth West India regiment. In 1811, he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general, and removed to the Tenth regiment of foot. On the 15th of July, 1813, he was appointed governor and commander-in-chief of the island of Malta and its dependencies; and he was subsequently nominated privy councillor of Malta, commander of the forces in the Mediterranean, and Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands. He performed the important duties which devolved upon him in consequence of these appointments, to the satisfaction of the Crown, and to the advantage of the inhabitants of the islands committed to his charge, who highly prized the order, equitable rule, and personal safety they enjoyed under the protection of Great Britain. He was honoured with the dignity of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, and Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order. He was greatly beloved and esteemed among the natives of the Ionian Islands, and a monument, erected by the inhabitants of Corfu, bears an inscription, in Greek, expressive of their estimation of his character and virtues. He died at Malta, on the 17th January, 1824, and was buried in the bastion which contains the remains of the celebrated Sir Ralph Abercromby.

Sir John Lambert, G.C.B.

Appointed 18th January, 1824.