General Frederick Maitland (3 September 1763 – 27 January 1848) 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 who fought during the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, 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 ...

and later served as Lieutenant Governor of

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

Life

The youngest son of the hon. Sir Alexander Maitland and Penelope, daughter of Colonel Martin Madan and

Judith Madan Judith Madan (; 26 August 1702 – 7 December 1781) was an English poet. She was the granddaughter of the diarist, Sarah, Lady Cowper (1644–1720) and aunt of the poet William Cowper. She was a correspondent, admirer and protégé of Alexan ...

the poet, he was also the grandson of

Charles Maitland, 6th Earl of Lauderdale Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

and a first cousin of Rear Admiral

Frederick Lewis Maitland Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland (7 September 177730 November 1839) was an officer in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He rose to the rank of rear admiral and held a number of commands. The most ...

(1779–1837). In 1779, the age of sixteen, Maitland joined the 14th regiment, serving as a

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

on HMS ''Union'' at the

Great Siege of Gibraltar The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the War of the American Revolution. It was the largest battle in the war by number of combatants. The American war had end ...

in 1781. He subsequently served in the West Indies on the staff of the quarter master-general, General Cuyler. He was promoted from Ensign to Brevet Major and also served as aide-de-camp to Sir Charles Grey at the relief of

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

on the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

coast in 1793. Maitland was engaged in two naval actions during this period; the first in 1793 involving the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

''Fairy'' (18 guns, commanded by Captain later Admiral

John Laforey Admiral Sir John Laforey, 1st Baronet (1729 – 14 June 1796) was a senior and controversial British naval officer of the 18th century whose extensive career was spent mainly on the North American and West Indian stations. During his career, Lafo ...

), in which Maitland commanded the Marines, in an engagement with a French 32-gun

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

, which escaped. The second, in 1797, involved the frigate ''Arethusa'' (38 guns, commanded by Captain Woolley), and Maitland commanded the cabin guns of the frigate at the capture of the French

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

, ''La Gaieté''. In 1796 Maitland was appointed secretary to General Sir Ralph Abercromby and travelled with him to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. While serving in Martinique, he was instrumental in the bloodless resolution of the rebellion of Jean Kina and later argued against punishment for any of Kina's men. Maitland was appointed quartermaster general in the West Indies in 1800, with the rank of Colonel. He commanded a brigade at the capture of St Bartholemew, St Thomas, St Martin, and Santa Cruz in 1801. He was also second in command at the taking of Surinam in 1804. In 1805 Maitland was appointed Governor of

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

at the express command of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. In 1807 he saw further action during the recapture of St Thomas and Santa Cruz which had been returned after the

Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on perio ...

in 1802. Coincidentally, Maitland received the surrender of St Thomas from Van Schogen, the same Dutch Governor he had captured the island from in 1801. In 1809 he commanded a brigade during the Invasion of Martinique. In recognition of his services, Maitland was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Dominica in 1813. He married Catherine, daughter of John Prettyjohn of

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

. They had nine children, but only three survived him. These were Harriet (1801–1850), who married Donald Maclean, Colonel Frederick Thomas Maitland (1807–1882), and Charlotte Garth (1799–1868), who married Captain Thomas Garth RN of Haines Hill in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. Maitland died at

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

on 27 January 1848.

References

* The Gentlemans Magazine 1848 p. 437 , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Maitland, Frederick 1763 births 1848 deaths British Army generals West Yorkshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Governors of British Grenada