General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir John Wilson (1780–1856) was a British Army officer who served in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, and was acting

Governor of British Ceylon The governor of Ceylon was the representative in British Ceylon, Ceylon of the British The Crown, Crown from 1795 to 1948. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council of Ceylon, Executive Council and Commander-in-Chief o ...

in 1831. He entered the British Army as an ensign in the

28th Foot The 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1694. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot to form the Gloucestershire R ...

in 1794 and was promoted lieutenant the following year. He fought in the Capture of St Lucia and of St Vincent in 1796. In July of that year he was captured and exchanged in Guadaloupe, but was captured again in 1797. He was however able to rejoin his regiment in Gibraltar and take part in the Capture of Minorca in 1798. In 1799 he was given the command of a company in the newly formed Minorca Regiment which was posted to Egypt in 1801, where Wilson took part in the Battle of Alexandria. He was promoted Major in 1802. In 1808 the Minorca Regiment, now renamed The Queen's Own German Regiment, was sent to Portugal, where Wilson was severely wounded at the

Battle of Vimiero In the Battle of Vimeiro (sometimes shown as "Vimiera" or "Vimeira" in contemporary British texts) on 21 August 1808, the British under General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the Duke of Wellington) defeated the French under Major-Gener ...

. In 1809 he was back on the Peninsular as part of the

Loyal Lusitanian Legion The Loyal Lusitanian Legion (LLL) was a foreign volunteer corps of the British Army, organized with Portuguese émigrés in England, that fought in the Peninsular War. The LLL was created by the initiative of Portuguese Army Colonels José Maria ...

under Sir Robert Wilson, harassing the French in the vicinity of

Ciudad Rodrigo Ciudad Rodrigo () is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca (province), Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population in 2016 of 12,896. It is also the seat of a judicial district. The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky r ...

. In 1810 he was made Chief of Staff under Silveira, a Commander of the Portuguese troops. In 1911 he was made Governor of the province of Minho. In 1813 he rejoined Wellington's army, commanding a Portuguese brigade at the

Siege of San Sebastian A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characte ...

, the Passage of the Bidassoa and the

Battle of Nivelle The Battle of Nivelle (10 November 1813) took place in front of the river Nivelle near the end of the Peninsular War (1808–1814). After the Allied siege of San Sebastian, Wellington's 80,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops (20, ...

. He was again severely wounded near Bayonne. He was made brevet colonel and knighted in 1814, and made a CB the following year. Promoted Major-general in 1825, Wilson commanded the British troops in Ceylon from 1831 to 1839, acting as governor for a short period. He was made KCB in 1837 and promoted Lieutenant-general in 1838. In 1835 he fought a duel with Charles Marshall, the Chief Justice, which took place in the Cinnamon Gardens,

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, once a plantation. In 1836 he was given the colonelcy of the

82nd Foot The 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Prince of Wales's ...

, transferring to 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 1841, a position he held until his death. He was promoted full general on 20 June 1854. He died in his London home in 1856.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, John 1780 births 1856 deaths Devonshire Regiment officers Governors of British Ceylon General Officers Commanding, Ceylon British Army generals English duellists 28th Regiment of Foot officers 96th Regiment of Foot officers British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars British Army personnel of the Peninsular War Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath