Major-General John Byne Skerrett (177710 March 1814) was a British army officer who fought in 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 ...

Biography

Born in Cheshire, John Byrne Skerrett was the only son of Lieutenant General John Nicholas Skerrett. He was appointed ensign in the

99th Regiment of Foot The 99th (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1824. It amalgamated with the 62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment) in 1881. History Formation The r ...

in 1783, lieutenant 79th Foot in 1784, lieutenant 19th Foot in 1791, captain 123rd Foot in 1795, captain 69th Foot 1795, major 83rd Foot in 1798, lieutenant-colonel 83rd Foot in 1800,

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the Eng ...

1803, lieutenant-colonel 10th Battalion Reserve in 1803, lieutenant-colonel 47th Foot in 1804,

brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

colonel in 1810 and major-general in 1813. In the

he was with his regiment in Cadiz in 1809 when appointed to the command of the 2nd British Brigade (2/47th (Lancashire) and 20th Portuguese Infantry, two battalions) in May. Then Skerrett and his own regiment, the 2/47th, was detached as part of the doomed attempt to aid the beleaguered Spanish garrison at

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

. Skerrett and his detachment rejoined the force at Cadiz in July. Skerrett was commander of the British defending force at the Siege of Tarifa in 1811 and 1812, and participated in the Battle of the Triana Bridge in 1812. He was a brigade commander under Sir Thomas Graham in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

from 1813 to 1814 and died in the assault on Bergen op Zoom in 1814. There is a memorial to Skerrett in the north transept of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

, London, and another, raised by his mother, was in St George's Porch of St Nicholas' Church, Newcastle upon Tyne (now Newcastle Cathedral) in the early 19th century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skerrett, John Byne British Army personnel of the Peninsular War 1778 births 1814 deaths British military personnel killed in action in the Napoleonic Wars