Alexander Hamilton CB (17654 June 1838) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

who was injured at the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16June 1815 but recovered sufficiently to command a battalion at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

two days later.

Career

He was appointed an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in the

84th Regiment of Foot The 84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot was a regiment in the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot to form the York and Lancaster Regiment, wit ...

on 1April 1794 then removed to the

30th Regiment of Foot 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

on the 2April 1797. Promotions followed to lieutenant on 22March 1791; to captain on 2September 1795; to major on 1April 1804; to lieutenant-colonel in the army on 4June 1811 and lieutenant-colonel of the 2nd Battalion, 30th Foot on 25July 1811. Hamilton was present at the landing of the British troops at

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

in August 1793 and was severely wounded at Cape Brune on the 14October the same year. In January 1794 he was part of the expedition to Corsica where he led the attack on the

Martello tower Martello towers, sometimes known simply as Martellos, are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. They stand u ...

on the first landing and was present at the taking of St. Fiorenza and the

Siege of Bastia The siege of Bastia was a combined British and Corsican military operation during the early stages of the French Revolutionary Wars. The Corsican people had risen up against the French garrison of the island in 1793, and sought support from the ...

. Hamilton next saw action on 14March and 2July as commander of a detachment of the 30th Foot acting as marines aboard under George Campbell; he was subsequently thanked by Cambell for his assistance in quelling a mutiny amongst the crew of the ship. Appointed Brigade Major to Brigadier-General Thomas Graham, Hamilton was present at the Siege of Malta then joined the

Expedition to Egypt The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the ...

under Lieutenant-General Sir

Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ir ...

. While in Egypt he was thanked by Lieutenant-General Sir John Doyle in public orders for his conduct in the engagements of the 13 and 21 March and 17August 1801. Hamilton then commanded several light infantry battalions in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

before his regiment joined

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

's army in Portugal. He was present at the Siege of Cádiz during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

, commanded the battalion at the 1811

Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro In the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro (3–5 May 1811), the British–Portuguese Army under Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida. A bloody stalema ...

and after promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, again commanded his battalion at the

Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, ...

the following year. He received the thanks of Lieutenant General Sir

Thomas Picton Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton (24 August 175818 June 1815) was a British Army officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. According to the historian Alessandro Barbero, Picton was "respected for his courage and feared for his irascible t ...

for his services at

Quatre Bras Quatre Bras (, French for crossroads; literally "four arms") is a hamlet in the municipality of Genappe, Wallonia, Belgium. It lies on the crossroad of the Charleroi-Brussels road (currently named N5) and the Nivelles-Namur road south of Genappe ...

where he was seriously injured in the leg. A tourniquet was applied in preparation for amputation three times but on each occasion the surgeon was called away and it was decided to let the leg recover on its own. On the recommendation of

he was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) on 22June 1815 for his services at Quatre Bras and Waterloo. He died at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

, London on 4June, 1838 and is buried in the now vanished St Luke's Churchyard in Charlton, Kent.

References

;Bibliography * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Alexander 1765 births 1838 deaths British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars 30th Regiment of Foot officers