Appointed 15th February, 1813.
This officer entered the army as an ensign in the Coldstream Guards, on the 20th January, 1777; was shortly after employed as Assistant Quartermaster-General; and on the 15th September, 1780, succeeded to a lieutenancy with the rank of captain: from November 1781, to June, 1783, he served as aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief in the West Indies. He was promoted to a company, with the rank of lieut.-colonel on 13th January, 1790, and in 1793, was appointed Deputy Quartermaster-General; but obtained permission to join the first battalion of the Coldstream Guards in Flanders, in 1794. He was appointed Governor of Chester on 2nd November, 1796. On the 26th February, 1795, he received the brevet rank of colonel; and on the 19th November, 1800, was appointed colonel of the Leicester fencibles, and on 1st January, 1805, of a battalion in the sixtieth regiment. He was advanced to the rank of major-general on the 1st January, 1798, and in April following was appointed to the Staff in Ireland, where he commanded the Limerick District during the rebellion. He was removed to the Staff in England in July, 1803, and on the 1st January, 1805, was advanced to the rank of lieut.-general; in May, 1809, was appointed lieut.-general and commander of the forces at Jamaica; and was promoted to the rank of general, on the 4th June, 1814. On the 15th February of the previous year, His Majesty King George III. conferred on him the colonelcy of the Thirteenth light infantry, which he held to the period of his decease, which occurred on the 3rd December, 1843.
Sir Robert Henry Sale, G.C.B.
Appointed 15th December, 1843.
At the early age of fourteen this officer had the honour of carrying his Sovereign’s colours as an ensign in the thirty-sixth regiment, to which he was gazetted on the 19th January, 1795; he was promoted to a lieutenancy on the 12th April, 1797, and on the 8th January following exchanged into the twelfth foot, with which regiment he served at the battle of Mallavelly gained by Lieut.-General (afterwards Lord) Harris on the 27th March, 1799. In less than two months occurred the siege of Seringapatam, where Lieutenant Sale’s services were rewarded by a medal. He served throughout the campaign of 1801, in the Wynaud country, and on the 23rd March, 1806, obtained his company. Captain Sale took part in the storming of the Travancore lines in 1809; and was at the capture of the Mauritius in 1810. On the 30th December, 1813, he was promoted to the rank of Major, and the second battalion of the twelfth being reduced in January, 1818, Major Sale was placed on the half-pay. On the 28th June, 1821, he exchanged to the Thirteenth light infantry, with which he proceeded to India, joined the expedition under Major-General Sir Archibald Campbell, and served throughout the Burmese war, being present at the capture of Rangoon and the storming of the stockades near Kemmendine, on both occasions displaying such heroism, that he received the thanks of the commanding officer on the field of battle, and particular notice in the general orders. He also stormed the seven stockades near Kumaroot and Pagoda Point: on the 1st December, of the same year (1824) he stormed the enemy’s lines, and on the 5th of that month led a body of 1600 men in the engagement which resulted in the utter defeat of the foe, who was driven from all his positions. On the 8th December, he commanded in the attack on the rear of the enemy’s lines opposite the Great Pagoda at Rangoon; and on the 15th, stormed the intrenchments at Kokien, where he was severely wounded in the head. In the following year, he commanded a brigade at the reduction of Bassein, and subsequent operations from 10th February to 2nd May, 1825. On the 2nd June, 1825, he attained the rank of lieut.-colonel; on the 1st December, he commanded the first brigade and repulsed the Shaans and Burmese at Prome, and the next day stormed the lines and heights near Prome. He was again severely wounded at the storming of Melloon on the 19th January, 1826. These services were honored with the riband of a companion of the order of the Bath. He became colonel by brevet on the 28th June, 1838, and in the following October, was appointed to the command of the first Bengal brigade of the army of the Indus, which formed the advance throughout the campaign in Affghanistan: he commanded the detachment of 2500 men sent to Girishk in May, 1839, and on the 23rd July, headed the storming party which captured the fortress of Ghuznee, deemed by the Affghans impregnable. A sabre-wound in the chin and contusions on the chest and shoulder from musket-shots were the results of this formidable conflict; but not the only results, for his services were acknowledged by Lord Keane, and Her Majesty conferred upon him the star of a Knight Commander of the Bath, and his name was enrolled in the list of Eastern Knights constituting the order of the Dooranée Empire, which had been founded by Shah Shoojah. In September, 1840, the forces sent to subdue the Kohistan country were entrusted to his command; and after storming the towns and fort of Tootumdurra, Julgar, Babookooshghur, Kardurrah, and Purwan, he compelled Dost Mahomed to surrender to the authorities at Cabool. In forcing the Khoord Cabool Pass on the 12th October, 1841, he was shot through the leg. His gallant defence of Jellalabad,—his daring sorties, and final defeat of the besieging army under Akbar Khan, for which services he received the thanks of Parliament, and was nominated a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honorable Military Order of the Bath, are detailed in the Regimental Record, and completely identify Sir Robert Sale’s name with the Thirteenth light infantry, the connexion being rendered more intimate by Her Majesty, who conferred on him the colonelcy of the regiment in December, 1843, on the decease of General Edward Morrison. On the 29th March, 1844, he was appointed by Her Majesty, Quartermaster-General to the Queen’s troops serving in the East Indies. Advancing with the army to repel the Sikh invasion, Sir Robert Sale had his left thigh so dreadfully shattered by a grapeshot at the battle of Moodkee on the 18th December, 1845, that he did not long survive the wound, but, after a distinguished career, fell like Wolfe, Sir John Moore, and other heroes, in the hour of victory.
Lieut.-General Sir William Maynard Gomm, K.C.B.
Appointed 10th March, 1846.
London: Printed by W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford-street, for Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.