Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir William Brereton (29 December 1789 – 27 July 1864) 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 nineteenth century who served as colonel-commandant of the 4th Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery in the 1860s.

Family

Brereton was descended from the

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

family of Brereton of

Brereton Hall Brereton Hall is an Elizabethan prodigy house north of Brereton Green, next to St Oswald's Church in the civil parish of Brereton, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I liste ...

, through the Irish branch, the Breretons of Carrigslaney,

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

, of whom some details were given by Sir Fortunatus Dwarris in ''Archæologia'', vol. xxxiii., and in Mervyn Archdall's edition of ''Lodge's Peerage of Ireland'', ii. 251. In a biographical notice he is described as a son of Major William Brereton, who fought at Culloden, and younger half-brother of Major-General Robert Brereton of New Abbey,

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

(formerly of 30th and 63rd regiments), and

Lieutenant-Governor of St. Lucia This is a list of viceroys in Saint Lucia from the first French settlement in 1650, until the island gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1979. Saint Lucia was colonized by the British and French in the 17th century and was the subjec ...

, who died in 1818.

Early life and military career

Brereton was born in 1789, and entered the Royal Military Academy as a "

Gentleman Cadet Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University A ...

" in 1803,

passing out Passing may refer to: Social identity * Passing (sociology), presenting oneself as a member of another sociological group ** Passing (gender), presenting oneself as being cisgender ** Passing (racial identity), presenting oneself as a member of ...

on 10 May 1805 as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the Royal Artillery, and gaining promotion to

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

on 7 June 1806. He served in the

Peninsular A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

and Waterloo campaigns from December 1809 to June 1815, including the defence of Cádiz, where he commanded the guns at Fort Matagorda, the

battle of Barrosa The Battle of Barrosa (Chiclana, 5 March 1811, also known as the Battle of Chiclana or Battle of Cerro del Puerco) was part of an unsuccessful manoeuvre by an Anglo-Iberian force to break the French siege of Cádiz during the Peninsular War ...

, where he was wounded, the Burgos retreat, the battles of

Vitoria Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

and the Pyrenees, the

siege of San Sebastián In the siege of San Sebastián (7 July – 8 September 1813), part of the Peninsular War, Allied forces under the command of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington failed to capture the city in a siege. However in a second siege the Alli ...

, where he was temporarily attached to the breaching batteries, the battles of

Orthez Orthez (; eu, Ortheze; oc, Ortès, ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, and region of New Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the sma ...

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

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 ...

, and Waterloo. During the greater part of the time, he was one of the

subaltern Subaltern may refer to: *Subaltern (postcolonialism), colonial populations who are outside the hierarchy of power * Subaltern (military), a primarily British and Commonwealth military term for a junior officer * Subalternation, going from a univer ...

s of the famous " H Troop" of the

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link ...

commanded by Major W. Norman Ramsay, with which he was severely wounded at Waterloo. He became a second captain on 5 November 1816, and was placed on

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 ...

the year after. On 23 January 1819, while still on half-pay, he was promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. He was brought on full pay again in 1823, and, performed further varied service at home and in the colonies. He was invested as a

Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (german: Königliche Guelphen-Orden), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name ...

in 1837 and as a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

in 1838. Brereton served as inspector-general of the

Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

between 1839 and 1843, being promoted to

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

on 17 August 1843. He was then sent to China, where he was second in command under General George D'Aguilar in the 1847

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavio ...

to the

Bocca Tigris The Humen, also Bocca Tigris or Bogue, is a narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta that separates Shiziyang in the north and Lingdingyang in the south near Humen Town in China's Guangdong Province. It is the site of the Pearl River's discharge ...

, and at the capture of the city of Canton. He received promotion to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in November 1851. During the early part of the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

, Brereton, who was then on the strength of the horse brigade at Woolwich, was present with the Black Sea fleet, as a guest on board , carrying the flag of his relative, Vice-Admiral Sir James Dundas, and directed the fire of her rockets in the attack upon the forts of Sevastopol on 17 October 1854. He was appointed the Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery on 12 April 1864, and was promoted to

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

on 16 December the same year. He was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1861. Brereton, having had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general a few days before, died at his chambers in the Albany, London, on 27 July 1864, aged seventy-four. In his will, executed on 10 April 1850, and proved on 16 August 1864 (

personalty property is property that is movable. In common law systems, personal property may also be called chattels or personalty. In civil law systems, personal property is often called movable property or movables—any property that can be moved fr ...

sworn under £25,000), he left the sum of £1000, the interest to be applied in perpetuity to encourage the game of cricket among the non-commissioned officers of horse and foot artillery stationed at Woolwich.

Publications

* ''The British Fleet in the Black Sea'', (1857?) privately printed * Selections from Paixhans' ''Constitution Militaire de France'', (1850) in the ''Proceedings'' of the Royal Artillery Institution., vol. i. (1857).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brereton, William 1789 births 1864 deaths British Army lieutenant generals British Army personnel of the Crimean War British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars British military personnel of the First Opium War Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Inspectors-General of the Royal Irish Constabulary Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Royal Artillery officers