General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Sir Phineas Riall, KCH (15 December 1775 – 10 November 1850) was the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

general who succeeded John Vincent as commanding officer of the Niagara Peninsula in

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during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. In 1816, he was appointed Governor of Grenada.

Military career

Riall was born at Clonmel,

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 ...

, into a wealthy Protestant landowning family. He was the third son of Phineas Riall (1737–1797) of Heywood,

Co. Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named afte ...

, whose father had founded the Riall Bank of Clonmel. His mother, Catherine, was the daughter of Charles Caldwell of Dublin and a sister of Admiral Sir Benjamin Caldwell. He was a cousin and from 1790 the brother-in-law of the traveller, author and collector General Sir George Cockburn of Shanganagh Castle, Co. Dublin.George Cockburn – An Irish Traveller and Collector
/ref> Riall entered the army as 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 1794 and rose rapidly through purchased commissions. Even though he spent seven years 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 ...

(i.e. without any regimental or staff appointment), he was a major in the 15th Regiment of Foot in 1805. He sailed with them to the

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, and seems to have first seen serious action when he commanded the regiment at the capture of

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

in 1809. The next year, he commanded a brigade at the capture of Guadeloupe. After this, he returned to England.Riall, Sir Phineas
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Over the next two years, 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 o ...

and

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through seniority. He was then posted to

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, where initially he commanded the

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district, then accompanied

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 ...

Drummond to

. On arrival, Drummond immediately halted all withdrawals and mounted an attack on the American side of the Niagara River. As part of the attack, Riall led a detachment across the river at Lewiston on 19 December 1813 and advanced south. The attack was almost unopposed, as the Americans had stripped the Niagara front of regular soldiers to furnish an ill-fated attack on Montreal. The advance was marked by the burning of almost every village, in reprisal for the American burning of Newark ten days earlier. On 30 December, Riall again crossed the Niagara River further south, and repeated the deliberate destruction at Buffalo and Black Rock, although here there were a Navy yard and several other legitimate military targets. On 5 July 1814, Riall commanded the "Right Division" of the British Army in Upper Canada, on the Niagara river. At the Battle of Chippawa, he ordered them to attack

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

's advancing American brigade. The result was a bloody defeat for the British. Riall's tactics might have been correct had he faced American militia, as he thought, but were disastrous against Scott's well-trained regulars. On 25 July, Riall's troops once again engaged Scott at the Battle of Lundy's Lane. Riall was severely wounded in the arm early in the battle, and while riding to the rear, was captured by American infantry. While he was a prisoner, a fellow captive (Canadian militia dragoon officer

William Hamilton Merritt William Hamilton Merritt (July 3, 1793July 5, 1862) was a businessman and politician in the Niagara Peninsula of Upper Canada in the early 19th century. Although he was born in the United States, his family was Loyalist and eventually settl ...

) described him as "very brave, near sighted, rather short, but stout." He was allowed to sail for England on parole in December. On 18 February 1816, he was appointed Governor of Grenada, a post he held until 1823. Thereafter, he appears to have seen very little service, although he was knighted in 1833 and eventually became full general on 23 November 1841. He was also successively Colonel of the 74th Regiment of Foot (1835 –1846) and the

15th (Yorkshire East Riding) Regiment of Foot The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before eventually being ...

(1846 to his death) Compensation received by him in 1836 in the name of his wife for slaves freed in Jamaica. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/claim/view/19278 He died peacefully in Paris in 1850.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''Portrait of Phineas Riall
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Riall, Phineas 1775 births 1850 deaths British Army generals East Yorkshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of the War of 1812 History of Buffalo, New York People from County Tipperary War of 1812 prisoners of war held by the United States Governors of British Grenada British people of the War of 1812 British military personnel of the War of 1812 Military personnel from County Tipperary