Lieutenant-General John Le Couteur (1760–1835), a Jersey native, was a British military officer and colonial official. He was the father of the eponymous John Le Couteur (1794–1875).

Early life and service in India

A member of a prominent Jersey family, John Le Couteur was the son of John Le Couteur (1718–1794), and Marie Bertault. Educated at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, he obtained an ensigncy by purchase in the old 95th Foot in 1780, and served under Major Francis Peirson during the January 1781

Battle of Jersey The Battle of Jersey took place on 6 January 1781 when French forces during the American Revolutionary War unsuccessfully invaded the British-ruled island of Jersey to remove the threat it posed to French and American shipping. Jersey provided ...

. The same year, Le Couteur was promoted lieutenant in the old

100th Foot The 100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot was a British Army regiment, raised in 1858. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 109th Regiment of Foot (Bombay Infantry) to form the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regimen ...

and was sent out with that regiment to India. While in the subcontinent, he was involved in operations against Hyder Ali during the Second Anglo-Mysore War. He was appointed brigade-major to Colonel Thomas Humberston and later served with General Matthews in Malabar. He was taken prisoner at the Siege of Bednore in April 1783 by Tipu Sultan, and, following nearly a year of harsh imprisonment, was released following the

Treaty of Mangalore The Treaty of Mangalore was signed between Tipu Sultan and the British East India Company on 11 March 1784. It was signed in Mangalore and brought an end to the Second Anglo-Mysore War. Background Hyder Ali became dalwai Dalavayi of Mysore by f ...

in March 1784. Le Couteur described his campaigns in ''Letters, Chiefly from India, giving an Account of the Military Transactions on the Coast of Malabar during the late War'' (1790).

Return to Jersey

Le Couteur became captain-lieutenant in 1784, and captain in 1785, when the 100th was disbanded and he was placed on half-pay. Le Couteur returned to Jersey and became adjutant in the Jersey militia in 1787. In 1793 he married Marie (1774–1845), daughter of Sir John Dumaresq; they had two sons. He was brought on full pay in the

11th Foot The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1958 ...

in 1793, and made brigade-major of the Jersey militia, where he gained a reputation as an energetic reformer. Between 1793 and 1795, he was charged with maintaining confidential contacts, via Jersey, between the British government and French royalists. He was promoted to major in the

16th Foot The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many conflicts and wars, including both the First and Second World Wa ...

in 1797, but remained on the staff in Jersey until 1798, when he joined his regiment in Scotland as a

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 ...

lieutenant-colonel. He was appointed inspecting-officer of militia in Jersey the following year, and was assistant quartermaster-general on the island during the detention on Jersey of Russian troops from the Texel in 1799–1800. He remained inspector of militia for twelve years. In 1811, Le Couteur was appointed a major-general on the staff in Ireland, and afterwards in Jamaica, where he led a brigade for two and a half years.

Curaçao

Le Couteur was appointed lieutenant-governor of Curaçoa and its dependent islands in 1813, which he found on the verge of starvation. Curaçao, off the Venezuelan coast, was an important Caribbean commercial centre, but Anglo-American War of 1812 prevented the arrival of corn from Britain, and the orders in council banned the importation of foreign grain. Le Couteur set aside the orders to stave off famine. When the island was returned to the Dutch after the peace in 1815, the legislative bodies, the inhabitants, and Spanish refugees presented Le Couteur with addresses acknowledging the important services he had rendered to the colony. Le Couteur declined the Duke of York's offer to recommend him for command of a regiment, claiming he did not feel entitled to the honour as long as Peninsular officers remained unprovided for.

Retirement and death

He retired to Belle Vue, the home he had bought in Saint Aubin, Jersey in 1792. Le Couteur became a lieutenant-general in 1821, and died aged 74 on 23 April 1835. He was buried at St Brelade's churchyard on 27 March.

Family and legacy

Le Couteur was father of Colonel John Le Couteur, whose well-known memoirs of his War of 1812 service in the 104th Foot were edited and published by Donald Graves in 1993 as ''Merry Hearts Make Light Days''. The younger John Le Couteur also dabbled in agricultural science in later life, was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1843, and served as an aide-de-camp to William IV and Victoria.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Couteur, John 1760 births 1835 deaths British Army lieutenant generals Jersey military personnel People educated at Royal Grammar School, Guildford Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Mysore War